When did they...

[TarheelRick]

When were drag chutes first used on drag cars? I know the supposed max speed allowed without one is <150 mph. But how many cars went through the catch fence before they discovered the braking power of the drag chute?

[Tim W. SoCal]

14 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

When were drag chutes first used on drag cars?

"The first use of a parachute in a hot rodding application came in 1958 when racer Abe Carson contracted chute engineer Jim Deist to adapt a chute to the flathead powered Hartman and Carson dragster.”

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/drag-racing-firsts.1091352/page-2

[Bainford]

20 hours ago, Tim W. SoCal said:

"The first use of a parachute in a hot rodding application came in 1958 when racer Abe Carson contracted chute engineer Jim Deist to adapt a chute to the flathead powered Hartman and Carson dragster.”

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/drag-racing-firsts.1091352/page-2

When Mr. Carson showed up in the pits that day with the first parachute fastened to a drag car, there must have been some serious head shaking from his contemporaries.

But, it must have been a cool sight from the stands when that first parachute popped at the end of the strip.

Edited August 20 by Bainford