How Much Do You Know About Top Fuel Dragsters?

In 2017, Brittany Force, a member of the legendary Force family, was crowned the Top Fuel Dragster champion. She won the series from Steve Torrence by just 81 points.

A Top Fuel dragster is a thirsty thing. When at full throttle and hurling down the asphalt, it is guzzling 1.5 gallons of nitro fuel a second. That puts it on par with a Jumbo 747 in the thirsty stakes!

Joe Amato scored 52 drag race victories over the course of his career along with 5 NHRA Top Fuel championships. He was also the first to take his car through the 260 and 280 mph barrier in competition setup.

A Top Fuel dragster in competition setup can reach up to 335 mph. That is over 500 km/h. Now, that is some speed!

Drag racing’s first black champion, Antron Brown, has won the championship on no less than four occasions. He is a co-host of Top Gear America.

Travelling at around 335 mph means a Top Fuel covers plenty of ground... fast! In fact, it will cover 1000 ft (around 300 meters) in just 3.6 seconds. Amazing!

In under a second, 0.8 seconds to be exact, a top-fuel dragster is running at over 60 mph from a standing start. That's about three times faster than a sports car like Porsche 911. Within 200 meters of starting, it is approaching 300 mph.

The engines in modern Top Fuel dragsters are limited to 500 cubic inches by the National Hot Rod Association. The compression ratio in these engines is around 6.5:1.

Top Fuel dragster fuel is 90 percent nitromethane and 10 percent methanol. When burned, it provides 2.3 times more power than regular gasoline.

Top Fuel dragsters each have eight outlet pipes for their exhaust systems. These are 18 inches long and 2.75 inches in diameter. Made of steel, they are often called "zoomies."

10,000 brake horsepower! That's just mind blowing. But yes, that is what a Top Fuel dragster pushes out in order to get the vehicle up to 335 mph over the course of a run.

Top Fuel dragsters have dual magnetos. These supply the spark plugs in the engine with an incredible 44 amps during a competitive run, which destroys the electrodes.

Tony Schumacher is an eight-time NHRA Top Fuel dragster champion. He titled in 1999, from 2004 to 2009 and again in 2014. In 2005, he recorded the fastest Top Fuel dragster quarter-mile run, with a top speed of 337.5 mph.

Strangely enough, for all that power, a Top Fuel dragsters engine does not rev that much higher than a normal car. They spin at around 9,500 RPM at full speed.

8 Gs! That's fighter pilot territory. But in order to get a Top Fuel dragster up and over the 300 mph mark on a 1000 foot track, that's the force a driver will have to withstand!

That white flame is pure hydrogen that has been burned. How? Well, the exhaust stacks get so hot that the hydrogen left to burn after the water vapor is effectively vaporized by the heat. And it looks spectacular!

A full-revving Top Fuel dragster engine will generate an impressive 150 dB. That's like standing 25 meters away from a jet taking off. Better take some earplugs!

A NHRA Top Alcohol dragster legend, Blaine Johnson won that class championship for four years in a row from 1990 to 1993. He moved to the prestigious Top Fuel class but died in a crash in 1996, the first fatality since 1971.

Lightweight but still powerful, a Top Fuel dragster engine weighs around 496 lbs. That's thanks to the fact that the block and many other parts are made from aluminum. The block itself weighs just 187 lbs.

Shirley Muldowney won three Top Fuel Dragster championship titles in the late '70s and early '80s. She was the first woman to be given a Top Fuel dragster racing license and is considered a pioneer in the sport.

The Top Fuel drag racing champion in 1977, 1980 and 1982, Shirley Muldowney is affectionately known as the 'First Lady of Drag Racing.'

After finishing behind Brittany Force by just 81 points to lose out on the 2017 title, Steve Torrence went one better in 2018. He was crowned the Top Fuel drag racing champion when he finished 304 points ahead of Tony Schumacher.

Not only has Gary Scelzi won the NHRA Top Fuel championship on three occasions, but he also won the 2005 Funny Car championship as well. Now, that's impressive!

No, not at all. All helmets must be full face with the HANS neck safety devices fitted to them as well. This helps prevent serious neck injuries in the result of an accident.

Although they generate crazy amounts of power, a Top Fuel dragster engine must be relatively light. For this reason, the engine block is forged from aluminum. The cylinder heads are also aluminum.

The National Hot Rod Assocation oversees Top Fuel dragster racing in the United States. The organization was formed in 1951.

Although Top Fuel dragsters do have excellent braking systems, trying to slow down from 330 mph requires additional help. For this reason, at the end of the run, parachutes are deployed behind the vehicle to provide instant deceleration.

Dick LaHaie was crowned NHRA Top Fuel champion in 1987 and went on to crew Scott Kalitta championship runs in 1994 and 1995.

"Heart Like a Wheel" starred Bonnie Bedelia in the lead role. Muldowney didn't like the movie at all, but conceded that it was good for the promotion of the sport.

A Top Fuel dragsters engine will run around 9,500 revolutions per minute when running flat-out. Because they are so darn quick, that means it has only spun around 540 times during a run.

Each driver in a Top Fuel dragster sits in a specialized roll cage to provide them with the best possible protection in the event of a crash. This includes a titanium shield that stops any debris from entering the roll cage area and injuring the driver during such an event.

An eight-time Top Fuel dragster champion, Tony Schumacher has had extensive sponsorship from the U.S. Army. At the beginning of the sponsorship, this led to his vehicle receiving the name of "The Sarge," but this quickly transferred to Schumacher himself due to his buzzcut.

Although it is built of specialist parts, a Top Fuel dragster engine's layout follows that of the Chrysler 426 Hemi "Elephant Engine" produced between 1964 and 1971.

Scott Kalitta was an American drag racer that competed in both Top Fuel and Funny Car events. Sadly, a crash at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 2008 while driving a Funny Car took his life after his vehicle went past the run-off area and crashed with a larger piece of heavy machinery. This prompted the NHRA to shorten track lengths; the longer track had caused Kalitta's car to continue gaining speed.

By winning the Top Fuel dragster championship in 1977, 1980 and 1982, Shirley Muldowney was the first person to take three titles in drag racing's most prestigious class. That is certainly some achievement.