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Lohnes Pic of the Week: Dude, Your ‘Chute is Hanging Out


Lohnes Pic of the Week: Dude, Your ‘Chute is Hanging Out

One of the more embarrassing things that can happen to the pilot of a high-powered drag car is premature parachute ejection. If the condition persists for more than four hours consult a crew chief.

Parachutes can find their way out during the burnout if the driver mistakenly hits the lever, or when the car is equipped with air launchers they hit the button to fire them off. Either way, it looks kind of funny and on occasion can result in big trouble.

A couple years ago, Cruz Pedragon was in the middle of a horrific season where nothing was going right. The pinnacle of badness came when, during an event that was being shown on ESPN, his parachute deployed during the burnout. Before his crewman could get him to stop he backed over the launcher spring, blowing out the slick and leaving the car dead in the water resting on the ground. Whoops.

This photo was taken at the second annual Funny Car Reunion at Englishtown, New Jersey. The crewman, who is probably murmuring four letter words, is headed out to tell the driver to stop his rearward progress before things get ugly.

The third option that can happen is that the parachute deploys shortly into the run and the driver wonders all the way down the track why the motor is working so hard and the car is going nowhere.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Dragster parachute failure


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