Nitrous is awesome in every application but when used on 900ci engines for drag racing it is otherworldly. It is a fascinating way to make power and very, very popular. The cars have some great elements like the sound, the header flames, and one not so great element is the fact that they occasionally grenade in spectacular fashion. Why? Read on.
This is the neatest nitrous pro mod video we have seen in some time. It is great because Les Mayhew made it and his style is to let the cars and the experts do the talking but it is also great for what you’ll learn by watching. Lots of us are “students of the game” when it comes to drag racing and that means when people like Shannon Jenkins and Rickie Smith allow themselves to be interviewed and answer great questions it is must see stuff. In this film we learn about the hows and whys of the modern nitrous car and why they do stuff like throw header flames and occasionally explode at different points on the track.
You will also learn why nitrous cars with zoomie headers don’t make the flames that a bullhorn style machine does. Going into even more depth, Jenkins and Smith actually talk about what the different colors of flame mean about things that are happening inside the engine. Jenkins is one of the most decorated nitrous pro mod racers and Rickie Smith is a hall of fame legend who is still kicking ass with nitrous long after people wrote it off for dead in high level competition. The dude is unstoppable!
Two hall of fame drag racers dropping an amazing amount of knowledge on the subject of the hows and whys of nitrous pro mods. What is better than this?!
If I was king, I would mandate all nitrous pm must have bull horns. The flame coming out is awesome.
I’ve often thought that the big header flames on some nitrous cars was the result of fuel that did not burn in the combustion chamber as a result of cam timing and/or retarded spark timing. Shannon pretty much confirmed this. It was very interesting to hear him talk about the color of the flames and why cars with zombies don’t have the big flames. Great video!