Robert Hight (7 Viewers)

[twostep]

And yet, here we are. Once again.

I can change the subject real fast, Ted. Let's talk about

And yet, here we are. Once again.

I can turn the switch off real quick, Ted, and retain at least part of the flavor of the thread's topic. Example, and a question for all: Were you watching the coverage of the nationals in Brainerd 2017 when Robert Hight laid down a 3.79 pass? Did you watch the 339.87 at the previous race, Sonoma? Prock finally got his 340 in Pomona, after he likely threw the Mother of All Tunes at that car 7 years ago. Missed it by 0.13, what a bummer.

How would you have liked to been in the other lane (Hagen) after running 3.80/336 and basically getting your ass handed to you by about 3 lengths? My jaw hit the floor after the 339 and hit it really hard after the .79.

Do we get to see a 350 if NHRA allows weedburners next year?

 

[TSK]

When I first started going to drag races, the “experts” were saying 150 mph was the limit. They used the tire circumference as the basis for their calculations.
When Bernstein cracked 300 in the quarter, that was amazing.
Now, we’ve seen 340 twice in the same year in 1000 feet.
Given the rev limiters, I don’t know if we will see 350.
But, there’s no way I would bet against the brilliant tuners we see in the sport.

 

[65 Goatboy]

Thanks Carl and Ted for turning the page on this thread. Watched Robert at the track and on tv his whole career. He is one of the best, would be fun to see him back on the track again.

Kinda regret posting the Auto Week link but it has been fun. Hope this thread rides off into the sunset in the New Year. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New year on Christmas eve 2024.

 

[Ramjet]

When I first started going to drag races, the “experts” were saying 150 mph was the limit. They used the tire circumference as the basis for their calculations.
When Bernstein cracked 300 in the quarter, that was amazing.
Now, we’ve seen 340 twice in the same year in 1000 feet.
Given the rev limiters, I don’t know if we will see 350.
But, there’s no way I would bet against the brilliant tuners we see in the sport.

I remember the 156 MPH SAE Paper published by Don Francisco. He was a big contributor to Hot Rod Magazine and advisor to NHRA. "Cisco" was considered a Guru in Drag Racing - Off Road Racing - Sport Car Racing and Road Racing. The Premiss was that the terminal Speed of a Falling Body free falling (56 MPH per second- per second with 156 terminal speed) is [was] 156 MPH. When he "Calculated" in Air Friction - Drag - Mechanical Interference & tire drag the conclusion was that about 150 to 156 was possible in almost perfect conditions. I think CYR & Hopper went over 161 before the article came out in Hot Rod. Nothing is Impossible - BUT - is it worth it to run 350. As more & more cars go 340 NHRA will regulate what ever they need to,to make that not happen. I would not be surprised to see them "Shorten" up the Black Box time sooner than later. The real problem (For me) is the Have's will outspend each other and the Have Not's will get discouraged and just drop out not wanting to win on a fluke once in a while. The actual competition took a huge hit when the Giant Score Boards blink out the time and speed that most people are looking at instead of the cars everything changed. When that got to be more important than who actually won it changed from competition to specticle. You can't put the Genie back in the bottle but, maybe only showing Speed & E,T,'s during qualifying could get the actual racing back to watching the the race and not the score board for so many and not being an after thaught.

 

[Ramjet]

The Tire Circumference is also what Scotty Finn used to build his first dragsters wheel base. He used the tire circumference as the basis for his calculations. The K77 was first and the K88 was next and that was the approximate circumference of the tires that were available when his cars were the thing. Something that is kind of ironic is that the Funny Car wheel base is about the same as the tire circumference when the car is at Speed now. It is not some magic formula - it just happened that way. I built my own first chassis with a 160" spring base and a 155" wheel base by putting the axle behind the Torsion Bar. Little did I know that by doing that I had to stack that much more weight on the front end to make up for the 10" leverage difference as the tires got better. Sometimes it is better not to try and over engineer something that is basic physics. The KISS system seems to work pretty well most of the time.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

The Tire Circumference is also what Scotty Finn used to build his first dragsters wheel base. He used the tire circumference as the basis for his calculations. The K77 was first and the K88 was next and that was the approximate circumference of the tires that were available when his cars were the thing. Something that is kind of ironic is that the Funny Car wheel base is about the same as the tire circumference when the car is at Speed now. It is not some magic formula - it just happened that way. I built my own first chassis with a 160" spring base and a 155" wheel base by putting the axle behind the Torsion Bar. Little did I know that by doing that I had to stack that much more weight on the front end to make up for the 10" leverage difference as the tires got better. Sometimes it is better not to try and over engineer something that is basic physics. The KISS system seems to work pretty well most of the time.

Speaking of Scotty Finn, Brian Lohnes just posted this video yesterday. Brian does a outstanding job on documenting
drag racing history.