Your own fave piece of drag history ?

[NitroWars]

Further to Jon's posting above, I was on the startline when Sylvia crashed the Pink car. She was due to be running against Richard Eaton, whose throttle cable snapped at the hit, which was very fortunate considering what ensued.

One of my personal memories which I will always remember was when I shut down Ludwig Bjornstad in his Top Fuel car in the first round at the September 1987 meeting (then dubbed "The World Finals". The enormous Viking was not very happy and swung a punch at me after he exited the cockpit. Fortunately my boxing training as a teenager helped here! If you watch NitroZap, which was a resume of the 1987 season, I was clearly vindicated for my actions as there was a large pool of fluid lying in front of the left slick.

Ludwig later apologised to me and also ran his first ever five second run, although he fireballed the car through the traps. Denis Priddle was heard to say over the PA "I could feel that in his wallet" or something similar. On that run he was against Tom Hoover who later claimed "I saw he was going to blow so I hit the chute early 'n' watched -it was a good run". (Per www.trakbytes.co.uk )

Edited by NitroWars on Wednesday 27th September 19:49

[afd]

Benni said:

pinkpont said:

MotorPsycho said:

Kim Reymond running 4.64@317, way ahead of everyone - still

Yup, I was there, and quite possibly the finest run I have ever seen in any class. Such a shame he had to retire because of his injuries from that run, he could have truly been one of the greats

Hi there !
I was there , too, but was taking pix at the start and really didn´t see what was going on,
until I saw this photo by a UK lensman who stood near the finish :
(hope the link functions)
www.usa-autodele.dk/filarkiv/Kim%20Raymond%202.jpg
The run was an absolute stormer, but at halftrack the front wing broke in half,
with only the right half still providing downforce (dragging on the asphalt),
the left half turning upward and pulling the left front wheel up 10in. at the stripe.
Add to that the almost collapsing wing, and wing struts, the bend in the frame,
the distorted tires still blackstriping at the finish,
and you have a hell of a ride !
(The 4,64 is the fastest ANYone has ever done with a two-element rear wing,
and Kim was awfully lucky that the right half of the front wing didn´t turn upward too,
otherwise he would have taken off,
and probably landed in the marketplace of Rushden or so...8-0 )
When Kim was asked afterwards wether he realized that the front wing broke,
and why he did not abort the run and decided to stay "on it",
he gave the answer that only a true racer can give :
"Because I had to!"
Best run (and best pic) of the last ten years, I think.
Benni
P.S.: How do I insert other smilies than those provided on top of the "reply" ??

"

Now that has got me thinking!!!! If you look at the pic, the front wing is deffo on the floor, if it was like that at the finish it would have been the wing that tripped the beams, and not the front wheels that he would have staged on!.

Does that mean that it was not really a 4.64.

Something to ponder!

I hope I am wrong, as I don't want to take anything away from Kim, he is without a doubt the nicest TF driver I have met

[Tony Morris]

The front end or nose as some call it would be normally the first thing to go thougth the beam at the finsh line not the front wheels, as the beam is higher that at the start line.

Edited by Tony Morris on Wednesday 27th September 15:10

[afd]

Tony Morris said:

The front end or nose as some call it would be normally the first thing to go thougth the beam at the finsh line not the front wheels, as the beam is higher that at the start line.

Edited by Tony Morris on Wednesday 27th September 15:10

Nope, Anything in front of the front wheels must be 3" minimum, so it stages and trips on the wheels, I think

[NitroWars]

But the finish line beams are higher than 3", as are all of the incremental beams.

[Furyous]

How high is a crisp packet ?

[jon c]

afd said:

Now that has got me thinking!!!! If you look at the pic, the front wing is deffo on the floor, if it was like that at the finish it would have been the wing that tripped the beams, and not the front wheels that he would have staged on!.

Does that mean that it was not really a 4.64.

Something to ponder!

I hope I am wrong, as I don't want to take anything away from Kim, he is without a doubt the nicest TF driver I have met

I was priviledged to be trackside for that one, and believe me, it was the quickest thing I ever saw that couldn't impersonate Donald Duck. No doubt in my mind it was genuine.

My personal favorite race is still Brian Johnson V Stefan Reisten, Top Fuel Bike, World Fianals 1983. A Whole season of those two avoiding each other at races all over Europe culminating in the final standoff, which BJ won on a holeshot!

Edited by jon c on Wednesday 27th September 22:46

[hornet]

I was at Santa Pod for Kim Reymond's run, and regardless of what the time may or may not have been, it was bloody fast, even by top fuel standards. Good video of it over on www.topnitro.co.uk. Weird how even though it's only a few tenths of a second, a good four second run just looks so much faster than a low five.

[jon c]

OK, can we nip this in the bud right now?

Kim Reymond ran 4.64 seconds at 317mph. End of.

I dont think any other discussion is called for :-)

[MotorPsycho]

Flying Toilet said:

MotorPsycho said:

apart from spectacular moments, my favourite pieces of history are a piston from Kent Persson's first 4 in Peter Lantz's car (first 4 in Europe) and part of Fast Freddy's Pro Mod pickup door

Was it a "Real 4" then Adam?

as far as I'm concerned yes

as for discussion over Kim Reymond's run, as far as I'm aware the nose/wing is generally the bit of the car that breaks the finishing beams anyway due to them being higher than the beams on the startline (look at pro mods, allowed a certain overhang infront of the front wheels and cars which don't have the maximum overhang add an extended peice to the nose of the car (see Fast Freddy's truck)

bottom line; Kim Reymond ran 4.64 @ 317mph

[Flying toilet]

MotorPsycho said:

Flying Toilet said:

MotorPsycho said:

apart from spectacular moments, my favourite pieces of history are a piston from Kent Persson's first 4 in Peter Lantz's car (first 4 in Europe) and part of Fast Freddy's Pro Mod pickup door

Was it a "Real 4" then Adam?

as far as I'm concerned yes

Was the old Hockenheim quarter actually a quarter then?

[Benni]

Hockenheim a true Quarter Mile ?
I don´t know if this question was a joke,
but will answer nevertheless.
Yes, Hockenheim was and is a true 1/4m since 1989.
OK, I have never taken a measuring wheel and trotted into the (then) woods,
but as the times of every competitor show, the track is of the correct length.
And the timing system used is an NHRA approved Compulink,
operation of it is supervised by "Mr. Compulink" Bob Brockmeyer himself.
BTT :
Of course the first european 4 run by "Iceman" Kent Persson
will always be on my "fave" list, as I had the pleasure to comment it....8-))
It was "in the air" along the whole season, and to be honest,
I hoped that it was not run at the scandnavian tour, which I was not attending.
And when Persson made it in Hockenheim there was Rico Anthes running in the other lane,
and since he had tried very hard to "do it" (including his blowover at the Pod),
almost all the media people were on the right lane where he was racing.
I think the best (and mostly used) photo of the 4sec. run was therefore
taken from the grandstand by a member of the "Chromes & Flames" magazine Crew !
And when I saw the 4 appearing on my computer screen and on the scoreboards,
I almost hit some bumps in the "announcers cabin" container ceiling by jumping around...8-))
Benni

[topnitro]

redvictor said:

Millevanille said:

Norm Wheeldon's win in Pro Comp, against all odds, in September 1979.
16 car field, and the small block Chevy beat the best from all over Europe!!!

i always thought that was the most awesome thing.Little small block running those numbers at the time....
But for me the best cars are doorslammers(oddly enough..)Dave Pollen's Manta,Steve Greens Cortina spurred me on to do the same things as they did..
Current car has to be Micke Gullquists 57 Chevy....it's looks,sounds and goes exactly as it says on the tin...

You have excellent taste, Andy! My current fave car, too: Mr. Gulliquist





BTW: At Mantorp, I said "How about a quick portrait shot, Micke?" He looked like a kid on Christmas day morning! His missus was giggling uncontrollably as he put this cheesy grin on.. Top man, though.

[bowler]

My own Favourite piece of Drag Racing History?

Well although I was there at Easter ’76 and witnessed the first 5 (I honestly believed it until a certain Forum Member recently realigned my view), for me this represents “History” as far as I'm concerned

[url]www.ukdrn.co.uk/70/7013.htm[/url]

I first saw this amazingly noisy thing (which seemed incredibly fast) in ’73 when I was a mere 12 year old. I can still remember that it simply blew me away

Seeing this got me fixed on the sport and has remained on of my favourite all time cars. Shame that this is how it ended it’s days (there’s a picture somewhere in cyberspace, but I’m knackered if I can remember where it is)

Edited by bowler on Friday 29th September 21:09

[Time Machine]

I think the body is floating around somewhere, I have a feeling it may resurfacce as part of the Nostalgia Funny Car series planned for 2008