"Drag" Racing...
 

Is it called drag racing because the cars are so bad aerodynamically?

Why don't professional drag racing teams do the obvious things like smoothing the body, adding wheel skirts, etc... The things that won't affect downforce, but do induce massive "parachute effect" drag?

I never really understood this, since I learned about aerodynamic effects in 8th grade with our CO2 "dragster" project.

drag applies to many things, including the oem engines holding themself back. i could babble a few other things beyond air. if to overwhelm a power to weight, not many care about airflow...while doing a wheelie..for normal cars put there anyway. the fastest racing class plays with aero.

I believe the term drag racing came about because people used to race down "the main drag" of town.. meaning a street.

depends on how fast your car is...

Cars that don't finish the 1/4 in 14 seconds don't need it, most don't get over 100. 9 second cars do need aero mods, although most drag racers don't realize it/ they want their cars to look good.
Although.....funny cars need rear will skirts...

This isn't true at all... you take any car that finishes the 1/4 mile at a speed over 45 MPH, and major aero-mods would lower their ET's, even marginally. When you're in any class, .01 second counts.

A lot of my friends had 87-93 Mustang GT's running anywhere from mid 11's to mid 14's. One of the things that slowed the cars down was the the deep rear bumper. It acted like a parachute. Thats why if you notice the "Cobra" version (more performance) of the same years has a totally different rear bumper cover and different side skirts.

GT
http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0113_large.jpg

Cobra
http://www.dragtimes.com/images/9094...rd-Mustang.jpg

BTW the rear wing on the Cobra was totally terrible. For High Speed runs people would tape them shut

Please show me a class of cars that run 14 seconds, and you'll see why it doesn't matter.

Yes aerodynamics help, but it's not worth it to the people racing.

With top-fuel dragsters, they overcome aero disadvantages with engine power. Also, there is a form their cars must meet in certain classes to qualify.

The term "drag" comes from "dragging" related to the French "draguer" meaning "to act like a playboy or womanizer."

Come to the local drags at Beaver Springs, PA... you'll see lots of the slowest cars out there that have minor aero-mods to help keep the "parachute effect" down. Some of those mods include cutting huge holes in the back bumper covers, folding in mirrors, stuffing foam strips in the gaps between the hood and fenders, etc.

I think you're assuming that I'm talking about professional drag racing only... I'm not. Even guys with Geo Metros take their cars to the track on weekends and bracket race. That's where it's at.

I would like to race my Yaris against a professional top-fuel just for a laugh. Did you know that top-fuel dragsters accelerate faster than F-16 fighter jets?