Remember about 6 or 7 years ago in Formula 1 when the top teams were running "qualifying fuel" to make the show and then a different fuel for the race? The top F-1 teams had hired chemist to blend fuels that would pass the F-1 fuel check (which I understand is tougher than anything you will see at the drags) and the "qualifying fuels" were good for an extra 50 to 80 horsepower in an already maxed out F-1 car! The fuels were tougher on the engines though, thus they only used the stuff in qualifying. Cost per gallon? Only $800 or so! F-1 driver David Coulthard told David Letterman on his show the other night that his teams two car racing budget is around $300,000,000 (right, not too many zeros!) so I guess they can afford $800 a gallon gas if they need it, huh? The F-1 tech folks have since tightened up the rules on fuel, so "qualifying fuel" is a thing of the past over there. Just think if a good running Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock car, etc. got ahold of some of the $800 a gallon gas the F-1 guys came up with. How much difference in horsepower would there be in a 400 or 500 cubic inch drag racing powerplant if the stuff was worth 50 to 80 horsepower in an F-1 mini-motor? The stuff would be great for setting a record or winning a close heads-up race!
In my travels I have discussed the fuel issue with a couple of well known racing engine builders (who shall remain nameless, since people on here would know them). These engine builders, who are a lot smarter than I will ever be, claim there are big gains to be had in fuel. I have also discussed this issue with a chemist for one of the major racing gasoline companies, he said the same thing. I have also discussed fuel with some real experienced tech people. The reason I was interested in fuel was because at the time I was involved in fuel check on a regular basis for a motorcycle racing organization I was working for. I know motorcycles are not cars, but we are still talking an internal combustion engine here. The big news here is that the engine builders, the chemist, and the tech people were all in agreement that fuel is very hard to police at the track! About the only way to catch a cheater that knows what they are doing with fuel is to take a sealed sample of their fuel and send it off to a lab and have it analized, which is exspensive and takes lots of time. Remember the recent Jeremy Mayfield fuel flap in NASCAR? Bottom line as far as I could see was that only a racer that did not know much about "funny fuels" would get caught by the current fuel checks in place at most drag racing events. Sad but true. Is "funny fuel" out there? You bet it is! - Aaron
Posted on Jun 19, 2000, 8:02 AM from IP address 207.69.100.1