Not Ranked
I've been covering the NHRA for ESPN since 1994 so I have some familiarity with the performances we're seeing in the nitro classes. The most amazing performance statistic I share with people when it comes to Top Fuel is that a Top Fuel Dragster can accelerate from a standstill to 100 MPH in .8 seconds, in a distance of 60 feet! People can't wrap their minds around that image. Try to picture this: The distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate in MLB is 60' 6". Randy Johnson can throw a 96 MPH fastaball. If he released his pitch at the same time a Top Fuel Dragster were launching right beside him, the dragster would reach home plate before the baseball.
A couple of corrections: Eddie Hill did indeed make the sport's first 4-second pass. He did it at the Texas Motorplex at an IHRA event in April of 1988. The first 300 MPH pass didn't happen until 1992, when Kenny Bernstein went 301 during qualifying for the Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL.
And the great increase in performance in the nitro classes isn't a result of spinning the engines faster. Nitro engines usually redline between 8000 and 8500 RPM's. The incredible elapsed times and top speeds have come about due to clutch technology, and to a lesser extent, tire development. And the remarkable computer software that crew chiefs use to diagnose every run. That's really amazing.
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