• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

This might not end well (but might have considerable entertainment value?)...

GordonW

GordonW

Speakerfixer
Subscriber
OK, I was just talking with my business partner/friend about a certain purchase, a friend of his just made.

He and another fellow- basically on a whim, because it was there- just bought a freakin' PRO MOD drag car. As in, tube-framed, fiberglass bodied, first-gen Camaro with a Whipple-blown big-block (I think running on methanol) in it, that makes probably 2500 HP or so. Solid block (no water jacket, no radiator), a pure track drag car- impossible to drive on the street.

Here's the thing- the guy has ABSOLUTELY NO track experience whatsoever. I think the fastest thing he's driven as long as anyone can remember, is a Buick LeSabre.

He, of course, wants to drive it. Like now. And he's likely the kind of fellow who will just MAT the throttle off the line, first run out- which, without dialing in the setup and launch characteristics- will probably result in a HUGE wheelstand/skid/crash/excursion into or over the wall on the side of the track, and/or blowing up something in dramatic fashion.

Everyone is trying to talk him into (1) getting it inspected (as it probably needs a better roll cage to be certified to the speeds it can go- probably into the sixes at over 200MPH, whereas it looks like the existing cage is only certified to 8.50 seconds in the quarter), (2) letting someone with experience test it out, and at least do a "safe and relatively tame" initial setup on it, and (3) MOST IMPORTANTLY- get him some training- and beyond the "drag racing school" which just teaches you the procedures (how to launch from the christmas tree and such)- how to actually HANDLE something with TEN TIMES the power of anything he's likely driven before...

Anyone else ever dealt with this kind of situation before?

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Register to hide this ad
He'll need to get a drag license to race it at a track. It involves a physical exam, and he'll have to make a few supervised trial runs to prove he is capable of safely driving the car. He'll also have to pass a written exam.

They don't let just any yayhoo drive a car like that at a dragstrip. Too much liability involved.
 
BTW. this is what one of the online quarter mile time/speed calculators predicts as for optimum performance (everything set up perfectly):

frank_pro_mod_projected_et_and_speed.jpg

This is assuming it actually HAS 2500HP (with the reported displacement of the engine (I think it's a 520-something cubic inch), the size of the Whipple blower, and that it's ostensibly running on methanol, it's not hard to believe), and is about the NHRA spec total minimum weight for a blower-engine Pro Mod.

Everyone is telling him, he just needs to get someone who actually knows what they're doing AND has a license, to drive it for him at first, to sort it out. Of course, AFTER he actually gets it to pass tech (roll cage and such)...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Last edited:
I've been 8.38 @155 MPH on a motorcycle. Took a few years to get there. Everyone thinks it's easy just drive in a straight line. Keeping something like that inline is a challenge even for those who do it for a living. Either talk him out of it or take out a life insurance policy on him.
 
geezin' said:
I've been 8.38 @155 MPH on a motorcycle. Took a few years to get there. Everyone thinks it's easy just drive in a straight line. Keeping something like that inline is a challenge even for those who do it for a living. Either talk him out of it or take out a life insurance policy on him.
Click to expand...

I am just doing the proverbial "shaking my head" thing.

Fortunately, as mentioned above- pretty much every reputable race track won't even let HIM run it AT ALL in its condition, and with his lack of certification. Unless he takes it somewhere like George Ray's Wildcat track or such (and fortunately, I don't think he even knows that exists), he will HAVE to get it sorted out, or it will just be a driveway ornament, essentially...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
old_tv_nut said:
I had to re-read - at least it's your business partner's friend and not your business partner!
Click to expand...

My business partner wants to DRIVE it, once it's actually sorted out.

But, he was a street racer from back in the 1990s, and would actually have the common sense to do things in the proper sequence (as in, first do a few quick, safe off-the line 60-foot hits first, then move up to letting out at the 330, then the 660, then taking it all the way out the back door, once it's proven that it's truly manageable under his control). He actually understands what kind of outright monster this thing is, and what it could do. And, he could probably do all the things necessary to get a license for these speeds, pretty readily...

I just want to watch, once things are sorted out properly. :D

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Last edited:
GordonW said:
OK, I was just talking with my business partner/friend about a certain purchase, a friend of his just made.

He and another fellow- basically on a whim, because it was there- just bought a freakin' PRO MOD drag car. As in, tube-framed, fiberglass bodied, first-gen Camaro with a Whipple-blown big-block (I think running on methanol) in it, that makes probably 2500 HP or so. Solid block (no water jacket, no radiator), a pure track drag car- impossible to drive on the street.

Here's the thing- the guy has ABSOLUTELY NO track experience whatsoever. I think the fastest thing he's driven as long as anyone can remember, is a Buick LeSabre.

He, of course, wants to drive it. Like now. And he's likely the kind of fellow who will just MAT the throttle off the line, first run out- which, without dialing in the setup and launch characteristics- will probably result in a HUGE wheelstand/skid/crash/excursion into or over the wall on the side of the track, and/or blowing up something in dramatic fashion.

Everyone is trying to talk him into (1) getting it inspected (as it probably needs a better roll cage to be certified to the speeds it can go- probably into the sixes at over 200MPH, whereas it looks like the existing cage is only certified to 8.50 seconds in the quarter), (2) letting someone with experience test it out, and at least do a "safe and relatively tame" initial setup on it, and (3) MOST IMPORTANTLY- get him some training- and beyond the "drag racing school" which just teaches you the procedures (how to launch from the christmas tree and such)- how to actually HANDLE something with TEN TIMES the power of anything he's likely driven before...

Anyone else ever dealt with this kind of situation before?

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
Wow, definitely not, but please do keep us posted on his "progress".
 
GordonW said:
OK, I was just talking with my business partner/friend about a certain purchase, a friend of his just made.

He and another fellow- basically on a whim, because it was there- just bought a freakin' PRO MOD drag car. As in, tube-framed, fiberglass bodied, first-gen Camaro with a Whipple-blown big-block (I think running on methanol) in it, that makes probably 2500 HP or so. Solid block (no water jacket, no radiator), a pure track drag car- impossible to drive on the street.

Here's the thing- the guy has ABSOLUTELY NO track experience whatsoever. I think the fastest thing he's driven as long as anyone can remember, is a Buick LeSabre.

He, of course, wants to drive it. Like now. And he's likely the kind of fellow who will just MAT the throttle off the line, first run out- which, without dialing in the setup and launch characteristics- will probably result in a HUGE wheelstand/skid/crash/excursion into or over the wall on the side of the track, and/or blowing up something in dramatic fashion.

Everyone is trying to talk him into (1) getting it inspected (as it probably needs a better roll cage to be certified to the speeds it can go- probably into the sixes at over 200MPH, whereas it looks like the existing cage is only certified to 8.50 seconds in the quarter), (2) letting someone with experience test it out, and at least do a "safe and relatively tame" initial setup on it, and (3) MOST IMPORTANTLY- get him some training- and beyond the "drag racing school" which just teaches you the procedures (how to launch from the christmas tree and such)- how to actually HANDLE something with TEN TIMES the power of anything he's likely driven before...

Anyone else ever dealt with this kind of situation before?

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
pinging @grillebilly ... Rick you gotta see this post.
 
GordonW said:
a friend of his and another fellow just bought a freakin' PRO MOD drag car. As in, tube-framed, fiberglass bodied, first-gen Camaro with a Whipple-blown big-block (I think running on methanol) in it, that makes probably 2500 HP or so. Solid block (no water jacket, no radiator), a pure track drag car- impossible to drive on the street.

Here's the thing- the guy has ABSOLUTELY NO track experience whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Haha, what?
He will end up in hospital or die.
Someone everyone needs to give him a reality check imho.

There are a few examples of lone poeple cracking the dragracing thing well, (that I know of, all UK/Santa Pod racers) but all of them have developed their approach & race cars over time and have an engineering background + racing past.

I would propose running a full marathon without any training to this guy, which is MUCH safer as he'll collapse before anything goes wrong beyond irriversible physical damage or worse.
 
Last edited:
People don't just jump to pro mod class as their first time drag racing. He will need to work his way up. Maybe start out with a bracket car and see if he can even handle that. Then if he is actually serious in attempting to drive the pro mod car he should drop another engine in it and substantially tame it down. Get some time in it and if he thinks he is capable of more, then consider putting the 2500 HP engine in it. Not something that's going to happen overnight.

Also, the 2500 HP engine is something that was never designed to last more than a few races before it needs all-new everything. Big bucks and not something a shade tree mechanic can perform. To race a pro mod you need a boatload of spare engine parts (rods, pistons, cranks, etc.) and very deep pockets $. Everything is expendible in the engine. They have a very short life expectancy. You will be lucky to get a dozen passes on it before it needs a total rebuild.
 
Apreggiator said:
Haha, what?
He will end up in hospital or die.
Someone everyone needs to give him a reality check imho.

There are a few examples of lone poeple cracking the dragracing thing well, (that I know of, all UK/Santa Pod racers) but all of them have developed their approach & race cars over time and have an engineering background + racing past.

I would propose running a full marathon without any training to this guy, which is MUCH safer as he'll collapse before anything goes wrong beyond irriversible physical damage or worse.
Click to expand...

Well, the funny thing, is that he could probably DO the marathon, from a general fitness standpoint. He's a trained cave diver, and professional diving instructor. He has apparently INVENTED some of the technology needed for big-time pro cave diving, in fact. He has been further into submerged caves in the Eastern half of the US than anyone else. Like THOUSANDS of feet into water-filled caves, up to a hundred feet underground, in spaces where a human body can barely fit. To depths were they're having to use special gases to breathe, and such. Endurance is definitely a BIG deal. Running/sprinting is apparently part of his training for that.

He understands risk, he's just also impulsive, sometimes, about new things. I think he assumes that because he can handle cave diving, he can handle anything. It ain't the same thing, though. You have to, at the very least, develop the specific muscle memory and frame of mind, to handle things that happen VERY SUDDENLY and VERY FAST. Reflex control, and such. Overreacting in a car like that, can definitely lead to very bad results...

I seriously doubt he wants to do organized competition with this car, in any case. Unless he wants to severely curtail his cave diving time. It's more of a toy for him. He'll probably keep it a year or two, run it a few times, and send it on its way again. That's my prediction...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Last edited:
GordonW said:
Well, the funny thing, is that he could probably DO the marathon, from a general fitness standpoint. He's a trained cave diver, and professional diving instructor. He has been further into submerged caves in the Eastern half of the US than anyone else. Like THOUSANDS of feet into water-filled caves, up to a hundred feet underground, in spaces where a human body can barely fit. To depths were they're having to use special gases to breathe, and such. Endurance is definitely a BIG part of training for that. Running/sprinting is apparently part of his training for that.

He understands risk, he's just also impulsive, sometimes, about new things. I think he assumes that because he can handle cave diving, he can handle anything. It ain't the same thing, though. You have to, at the very least, develop the specific muscle memory and frame of mind, to handle things that happen VERY SUDDENLY and VERY FAST. Reflex control, and such. Overreacting in a car like that, can definitely lead to very bad results...

I seriously doubt he wants to do organized competition with this car, in any case. Unless he wants to severely curtail his cave diving time. It's more of a toy for him. He'll probably keep it a year or two, run it a few times, and send it on its way again. That's my prediction...

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
Well. This gives (me) a completely different perspective. If a person has the kind of competency and determination to achieve those kind of goals, they're more likely to be able to deconstruct (and train + prepare + learn for {& get the required help} ) what/that it takes to shoot down a dragstrip in a pro mod.
Still insane though! :cool: :biggrin:
 
Competitive Pro Mod cars are hovering around 5000 HP now. So the car won't qualify at a real race anywhere. After reading some of the info on the driver, he probably could have a ball with the car in Top Sportsman or Quick 16 with some seat time. He needs someone that is familiar with setting the car up.
It's surprising how fast some people get comfortable behind the wheel. Every couple tenths faster feels scary to me.
It's still going to be a handful, and some half-power passes are in the cards. They have schools that get your toes wet going fast.
Here's the fastest Pro Mod pass. It didn't have any ballast in it so it was an "Outlaw" pass, being underweight. Looks so easy!

 
Everything about this seems like a terrible idea to me. Inexperienced driver in an unknown bucket of bolts with a lot of power. Sounds like a path to a rapid exit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom