Speaking purely hypothetically, let’s just say that one day Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars were combined into one (say, for instance, to create a single fuel class with a 16-car field one day if the sky were to fall)…what you see here is likely what you’d get.
Australian racer Russell Mills debuted this new machine back in May, that is, for all intents and purposes, a Funny Car chassis that’s been blended with attributes of a dragster. From the motor back, it’s nearly all Funny Car, albeit with bodywork and a windshield like you’d typically see on a modern-day front engine Nostalgia dragster. The only thing rear of the clutch can that’s NOT Funny Car-esque is the large strut rear wing that helps to plant the car to the ground.
Forward of the motor, however, Mills’ one-of-a-kind race car, built by Richard Botica, is much more telling of a dragster, with extended framerails, a nose commonly found on a Top Fuel or Top Alcohol Dragster, and a large one-piece front wing to assist with the drivability at well in excess of 200 mph.
The car is reportedly just a few inches over the maximum allowable wheelbase to still be considered a Funny Car, and thus, the car is entered as a dragster in Top Alcohol Eliminator with its supercharged, Brand Anderson semi powerplant. Mills has been in the low 5.80’s at over 220 mph with the dragster/Funny Car hybrid that, thanks to its extended wheelbase, would seem to drive straight and true.
Videos credit: Fast Performance Videos