If you haven’t treated yourself to a visit to the local drag strip, do it soon. Unlike most forms of automotive competition, anybody with a valid driver’s license and a car meeting basic safety requirements can hit the strip and have an afternoon full of fun exploring the joy of sheer, unencumbered, straight line acceleration. At the drag strip, there are no sharp corners to brake for, no pit stops for gas and tires, and nobody in your way as you charge toward the finish line.
At the recent 2014 LX Fest in Los Angeles, CA, Dodge set up the Challenger Scat Pack Hot Lane Thrill Ride to give participants a taste of the action — HEMI style. All day long, spectators lined up for shot-gun seat rides aboard a new Challenger R/T with NHRA Top Fuel dragster pilot Leah Pritchett rowing the 6-speed transmission. Here’s a recap.
The 2014 Challenger R/T demonstrator inhaled cool, outside air through the optional Shaker hood and endured 168 full-throttle passes during the event. The front ride height is about an inch lower than showroom stock due to the disconnected front anti-sway bar. This allows vehicle mass to transfer rearward to the driving tires more quickly when the light turns green.
Often called the X-Mas Tree, the starting device consists of seven colored light bulbs that flash downward in series. From the top, the pre-stage and stage bulbs are activated by the front tires of the car as it rolls into position at the starting line. Photo-electric cells “read” where the tires are to make sure both cars start the race at the same time and from the same place. With both bulbs lit, next, the three amber-colored bulbs count down at exact half-second increments before reaching the green bulb. When the green bulbs illuminate, you GO! The red bulbs below the green bulbs light if either car leaves the staging zone (as controlled by the photo cells). That’s a foul start and an instant win for the opponent. If you watch the tree count down a few times at your local drag strip, you’ll quickly get the hang of it.
A key factor in drag race success is traction. There’s no point in having 500 horsepower under the hood if it just turns into tire smoke when the green light flashes on. Tire spin is wasted motion — and lost races. To help harness the HEMI Challenger’s power, a pair of soft-compound radial-type drag slicks was installed. Sticky tires are more important on manual transmission cars than automatics because power delivery tends to be more violent. Also, more often than not, quicker races result with the traction control system turned off. But don’t forget to turn it back on for the drive home!
Here, I’m about to interview Leah about driving technique for the Redline Dodge blog (stay tuned). Though Leah’s “work car” is an 8,000 horsepower nitro-guzzling HEMI-powered dragster, she says every drag race requires the same level of concentration and effort, regardless of vehicle type. It’s true. Your author made his first drag strip pass on August 4, 1988, aboard a 1964 Dodge Polara and has been racing for fun ever since. Whether I’ve been at the wheel of a 16-second family car or 8-second Super Comp dragster (my fastest ride to date), the thrill is always the same.
Most commercial drag strips are either 1/4 (1320 feet) or 1/8 mile (660 feet), but space limitations restricted the temporary Challenger Scat Pack Hot Lane Thrill Ride to 400 feet. It was still plenty of room for Leah to demonstrate the HEMI’s full power in first, second and third to 168 happy passengers. Catch the fever — head to your nearest sanctioned drag strip and have some fun!
Source: http://blog.dodge.com/performance-2/lets-go-drag-racing/
