This is what happens when you put 10,000 horsepower in a drag boat
Published on Jun 05, 2023 at 8:02 PM (UTC+4)
by Adam Gray
Last updated on Jun 07, 2023 at 1:59 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The Devel Sixteen prototype sports car boasts 5,007 horsepower.
That’s a phenomenal amount of horses under the hood for the track.
But putting 10,000 horsepower in a small boat is a whole new level of crazy.
READ MORE! This guy modified his drill with a nitro V8 engine
‘Toxic Rocket’ as it’s aptly named, was a Top Fuel drag boat.
We say “was” as it’s no longer – but more on that later.
Now, if you’re not familiar with drag boat racing, it’s very similar to land drag racing in the sense that it’s an acceleration race over a measured quarter mile.
The only difference is, drag boats use a slight moving start rather than a standstill.
As you can imagine, there’s different classes of drag boat racing, but Top Fuel Hydros are the quickest and fastest of the drag boat family.
These drag boats mix nitro methane for fuel and, when compressed in a specially-designed drag racing engine, can make 10,000 horsepower.
Top Fuelers can cover the quarter mile in 3.5 seconds at speeds exceeding 270 mph (430 km/h).
The below video shows these drag boats – the fastest accelerating in the world – in action.
These boats are that fast, even the person holding the camera struggles to keep up with them.
It’s a sight to behold because, as the drag boats launch, their entire hulls look like they just want to go airborne.
Hats off the mechanics gassing these power plants under tents, as wel as the drivers who make four-second passes while keeping them steady on the water’s surface.
Unfortunately for Toxic Rocket, it fell to its demise in 2014 after being involved in a crash at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.
The drag boat got a great launch and ran a 3.88 at 228 mph (377 km/h), but at the end of the run the boat took a hard right turn which pilot Glen Wilson couldn’t recover.
Thankfully, Wilson survived the incident and – after a period of recovery – returned to drag boat racing.
Brave man.
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Adam Gray is an experienced freelance motoring journalist and content creator based in the United Kingdom. Using his media accreditation with manufacturers’ press offices, Adam test drives the latest cars and attends new vehicle press launches, producing written reviews and news pieces for a variety of lifestyle and business publications. Here at Supercar Blondie, Adam applies his journalistic skills penning social-first content around current news and trends. When he’s not behind the wheel of the latest car or writing up another viral story, Adam can be found at his local rink playing ice hockey or at the Riverside Stadium supporting his beloved Middlesbrough FC.
