We’re a long, long way from the days of TV Tommy Ivo assembling his top fuel dragster in the garage attached to his house, aren’t we? This video will show what it takes to run at the highest level in the world when it comes to the sport of drag racing and it takes a LOT. Don Schumacher Racing recently expanded its machining operation, nearly doubling the floor space to 22,000 fq/ft and adding a raft of new machines and equipment. According to Frank Cervelli who runs the shop, the total investment in the place is between $7-10 million bucks. That’s incredible stuff.
The company makes all of their own heads, makes all of their own rods, and virtually every other component you can think of as well. According to this NHRA.com report, the machine shop made 4,200 connecting rods for its cars last year and will now be able to product nearly 8,000 for not only their teams but for the teams that are buying their parts.
This is what the bleeding edge of professional drag racing looks like today. We’re wondering what it will look like in 10 years from now. With the biggest teams taking virtually all facets of their operations in house, it really changes the game somewhat. Yes, most everyone is also marketing the parts that they make but it is still an interesting thing to have cars start at one end of the building as pipe and billets of metal only to emerge from the other end as 10,000hp beasts ready for competition.
Amazing.
fadal…okuma………that’s the best he could buy…………
In a few years the only Pro categories will be exhibition classes. They’ll set aside some time for Schumacher to run his 2 Funny Cars against Forces and then they’ll let Schumacher’s 2 Dragsters run Kalitta’s.
Even those guys will only be able to afford a few cars and hardly anybody will care. I don’t know a whole lot of people who care now.
It might just be me but for years now I do the opposite of what most people do at national events. I sit there and watch all the sportsman categories and when the Pro guys come up I head for the pits. I have basically no interest in finding out which rich guy can waste the most money.
Must have used part of them $500k champion checks to build it…at least they are controlling their own quality by doing it themselves.
That Busick needs a spankin’!