Drag Race School A/MD

On the start line at Willowbank Raceway.jpg (46482 bytes)
    This car was originally built as a "blueprint" for our KLRC Modified Dragsters. It is a very close sister to car 49 (David Mullins car) having only one set of tubes in a different place by just an inch and and half. It is a identical copy to car 63 (Rodney Mills), car 64 (Graham Frawley) and car 65 (Ben Brown & Adam Burgess).
    The car was assembled to display a lot of the options that we have available on our cars and orignaly presented at the 97 Winternationals. It was not operational as we orignally had no intention of racing this car only showing it. The 98 Winternationals approached and we decided that it would be a better billboard if it was operational. We put together a mild 506" engine and David Mullins assisted with the paint (did most of it). Warren Sichter put us a Powerglide together and we took it to the 98 Winternationals. The idea of a drag race school is not new and there have been others that have thought about trying it in Australia but not gotten it off the ground. The idea of us doing a drag race school had been hatched by Roly Leahy and myself while we were traveling back from Sydney after the rained out first Australian Nostalga race with his new front engine dragster (car 45) This seemed like a good time to "fly the flag" and see if there was any interest. After we painted the car we had some lettering cut and put the "Drag Racing School" on the side of the car (Later we changed the name to "Drag Race School") with the phone number on my mobile phone. A little promotion and the rest is Australias first and only drag race school.
    The car it self is a 226" wheel base chrom moly chassis, currently fitted with a big block Chevy, Sichterglide, Ford 9" diff. Helmit pegs, seat belt pegs, adjust-a-rail pedal assembly, twin battery start system, and front brakes.
    One of the very unusual featrues of this car is the front brakes. The left foot pedal operates the rear brakes as normal. We have put a hand brake lever in the middle of the car off the crotch dash which operates its own master cylinder that operates the front brakes. The driver can elect to use the rear brakes or the front brakes or both, much like a motorcycle rider does. In testing, using with no parachute and no rear brakes, using only the front brakes I have stopped this car from over 150 miles per hour. This gives this car three seperate independent stopping systems. Parachute, rear brakes and the front brakes. How safe is this? It is better than you think. Any experienced driver knows that occasionaly the car will get a cyclical bounce after the finish line. Occasionaly the bounce gets very bad and the rear wheels come off the ground. Every experienced driver know that while the car is bouncing you cannot apply the rear brakes as it only makes the bounce worse. As this point normally all you have slowing you down is the parachute and it stops being effective about 80 mph and after that it is not doing much. With the front brakes if the car starts to bounce a little a small tug on the front brakes makes the car stop boucing immediatly. The front brakes add 12 pounds to a 1500 pound car so we think they are a very good investment.
    But there is a bonus. Especially with small block powered dragsters! Every one with a small block dragster knows how difficlult it is to get the car to make a "good" burn out When you do you go way past the strarting line and have to spend more time backing up to stage. If your opponent is aggressive he may "quick stage" you causing you to have to hurry to beat the 20 second staging rule. With the front brakes you can apply them in the burn out to help hold the car to allow the tires to heat more and you will not go as far on the burn out. On some tracks like Willowbank that have over 100 feet from the water box to the starting line you can stop before the starting line and roll in to stage.

Car 50 as a display car.jpg (61389 bytes)
This is the way the car was presented at the 97 Winternationals.

Drag Race School promo and sponsor page.jpg (125503 bytes)
Drag Race School promotional flier with the sponsors names and phone numbers.

Car 50 cockpit view.jpg (47112 bytes)
Students view of the cockpit. Water temp is on the left, tach is in the middle and the crossover delay box is on the left. Note the front brake lever just to the right side of the crotch dash. The fuel shut off is on the left. If you look down inside of the car you will see the throttle pedal on the right and the foot (rear) brake pedal on the left. Just to the right of the steering wheel you will see the KLRC Powerglide shifter.

The switch row on the crotch dash is (from left to right) fan, water pump and ignition. The switches on either side of the tach are (right) computer data (left) crossover delay.

On the crotch dash just below the switch row is trans oil temperature and engine oil pressure below that is the master switch and the starter button.

Throttle pedal on car 50.jpg (45476 bytes)
Adjust-a-rail pedal assembly with throttle pedal travel stop. Note the FXL data recorder (blue box) on the floor just in front of the gold annodized adjust-a-rail shaft.

KLRC Powerglide shifger.jpg (33876 bytes)
KLRC Powerglide shifter. All the way to the rear is low gear and one notch forward to the first stop on the gate is high gear. Pull the lever toward the center of the car and push forward for neutral. To select reverse or park pull the lever to the rear position (low) and raise the lock out flap then push the lever forward to park or revers position. Note the gold parachute lever just to the right of the shifter. There is a drilled and tapped position standard on the shifter for this application. Note the park start switch on the bottom.

KLRC Powerglide shifter-top view.jpg (33132 bytes)

Battery box and overflow tank.jpg (37684 bytes)

Front brakes.jpg (41159 bytes)
Those great front brakes.

Rear view without the tires.jpg (35408 bytes)
Twin battery start system.

Radiator cover.jpg (46261 bytes)
Radiator cover and support. Unclip the dzus fastners in the front and it hinges up and away to service the transmission.

Engine locater bar on side of engine.jpg (33236 bytes)
Engine locater - holds everything in place on those hard launches.

Exit assist bars.jpg (44519 bytes)

Crotch dash.jpg (40211 bytes)
Crotch dash showing starter button, master switch, oil pressure, trans oil temperature and switch row (igntion, water pump and fan)

"Live your dream" t-shirt art work.jpg (205521 bytes)
Drag Race School Shirt art work. Every DRS student get a shirt.

Have a look at the next car here. (Ken Lowe & Mark Brew TAD)

Do the nostalgia tour here