Could NHRA Move To Single Nitro Class With Revolutionary-Design Car? (1 Viewer)

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

I did quite a bit of research on this car a few years ago. The team was Jim Hume, ? Hogan & Paul Johnson. It only ran in 1971 and 1972, according to Drag List. I have found two or three different drivers, too.

http://www.draglist.com/draglist/search.php?q=Funny+Digger&search=Search&exact=exact&VIEW=Extended

 

[Cliff]

Thanks Justin. This was an interesting car. Imagine a modern day version of this car, with a canopy, wing, etc. Wonder how quick it would run? (Probably the same as the others.)

 

[DragFan2]

As far as Top Fuel being the top class right now, in case nobody has noticed lately, the Funny Cars are running 5-10 mph faster than the Top Fuel cars. What's up with that? The fastest Top Fuel runs I've seen lately have been around 333 mph vs. the Funny Cars hitting 338 mph at one of the recent races. Does anyone know how that came about? My only observation is the Funny Cars have lowered the rear wing about 6 inches while keeping the side stabilizers as high as before. I'm not sure I would go for a hybrid FC/TF combo car.

 

[ironpony]

laid back headers, lower wing , less downforce, higher rpm allowed on engine, later timing retarding

 

[M Jones]

You got it Ken

 

[fxconde]

Don't forget this car from the 80's!

 

[stitcherbob]

Diamond Dave!

 

[Jeff]

laid back headers, lower wing , less downforce, higher rpm allowed on engine, later timing retarding

and cleaner airflow into the hat .... the funny car body funnels air into the perfect spot, dragster hats are sorta hung in dirty air. FC engines generate more boost as a result .... yes I finally attended nitro school in Atlanta this year. Really enjoyed it.

 

[flapjack]

Don't Gary oRmsby's streamliner top fueler. I am trying to find a URL of it that doesn't result in spam when you follow the link.

 

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

Don't Gary oRmsby's streamliner top fueler. I am trying to find a URL of it that doesn't result in spam when you follow the link.

 

[DrRocket]

I loved the way this car looked, but the results were the same as many other attempts to streamline the T/F diggers: Not that much improvement in performance and too much of a weight penalty. As with almost all the other attempts, after a few runs, the body pieces came off and were relegated to the scrap pile.

 

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

Version two...

 

[Cliff]

When Ormsby first ran the car, they had a problem with "woofing the blower". Turned out the carbon fiber body was (I think) making contact with the mag, & it caused the blower to explode. Not sure if I'm saying that right, but do remember the body was the culprit - carbon fiber is a conductor. That was such a cool car, designed by the person who designed Indy cars. I think even if you could build a duplicate today, with much lighter body, it would be too short for the rules. My fantasy is doing modern day versions of Snake's Wedge, Herm Peterson's Can Am car, & this car, to see how they would run with modern day technology. Fantasy, cuz probably Snake's car & Herm's car wouldn't have enough downforce. Hey, run 'em as T/D cars.....

 

[Sherman, Sherm, & Sherm Gun]

Correct, the carbon body grounded out the magneto, killing spark, and hydraulic-ing.

 

[cantdrive55]

Here's the 3rd version of the Ormsby/Beard streamliner.

I believe it last ran as pictured at the '87 Cajuns. Ormsby and Beard had a more conventional car for the '87 Springnationals, and remainder of the '87 season; citing the switch as a weight issue.

 

[Larry]

Well that would put another nail in it . Well there's still Nostalgia .
After sales and attendance fell off for the Beach Boys they had a meeting about quitting touring before things went completely south when Mike Love said " But the fans Still Love the old music " Let's give the fans what they want to hear .

 

[junglevsbrutus]

http://www.dragzine.com/features/co...le-nitro-class-with-revolutionary-design-car/

To me the end result of having only one NHRA fuel winner to gain additional exposure is not worth the loss of a major professional class.
Why would you eliminate the most popular class? A stretched bare FC chassis is no more attractive or exciting than the current rear engined
dragsters. So you're going to make Force, Capps, Hight, Hagen, etc. abandon their FC bodies for a modern front engine dragster?
That sounds absurd to me!

 

[Cliff]

Wouldn't have to be a dragster. Could be a swoopy streamliner. I brought up Jr Brogdon's "Phoney Pony" in the past, which was a front engine dragster, originally a twin injected car. He put a "Mustang" body on it. The body was really narrow and it was long. He sat where the back window would have been. Wheelbase may have been 170" ??? But the outline of the body was a Mustang, & the grill was a Mustang. It was just real long from the windshield to the front of the car. He later ran the car with one engine w/ blower. The car was illegal for F/C & was really exhibition. So, why couldn't you do something like that today? You could build a "funny dragster" that kinda looks like a car (which is what F/C is anyway) but with a long wheelbase. Just an idea. 32 car format, round 1 Sunday like now & go from there. Might actually save a little time by running one 32 car field VS two 16 car fields. Biggest problem I'd have is that I'm a dragster fan more than a funny car fan, & it would feel strange to see a car that wasn't a dragster or a funny car.

 

[ironpony]

Leave it alone, it is the only reason people are paying to come to the races. Spend the time and money to fix PS.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Being King is good. Somebody's always gotta be the King. If you want to be the King - go oust the King. Then you'll be the King