4000 Horsepower Corvette Turns The Drag Strip Into An Airstrip

We’ve seen enough of these airborne dragsters to know that aerodynamics is as critical a component as the amount of horses the car can put to the asphalt. Anything moving through a medium, such as air, will a produce pressure differential that causes lift. When the lifting forces exceed the weight of the vehicle, things fly.

This is exactly what happened to the 4000 horsepower Corvette drag car at Tulsa Raceway Park. As it went down the drag strip, the aerodynamic forces, in combination of the weight shift due to acceleration, caused the front end of the Corvette to become light. At this point the airspeed below the car was much slower compared to the top of the car, creating a large pressure differential, effectively sucking the drag car upwards.

Once the front end lifted, the drag coefficient of the drag car increased exponentially, making the Corvette’s maiden flight a disaster. As evidenced by the parachuting hood, there was a lot of air drag pushing back on the car at this point. Let this be a lesson to dragsters out there, aero is very important!

(Source: Urban Hillbilly Videos)