A Top Fuel dragster is brutal, violent, and unforgiving, and no one knows that better than Clay Millican. With 11,000 horsepower and speeds over 330 mph, every single part of the car has a job to do. It’s a blend of raw power, precision engineering, and controlled chaos, all working toward one goal—covering 1,000 feet in less than four seconds.

Built for Battle

At the front of the car, the tow hook and weight tube do more than meet the eye. The weight tube holds up to 25 pounds of ballast, letting teams fine-tune the balance for track conditions. Jesse, the crew member explaining the setup, breaks it down, “This tube here has got solid pieces of weight in it… We can do 25 pounds.”

The steering rack, built by Pro Works, has a 12:1 ratio, meaning even the slightest movement of the wheel translates to a quick reaction. But there’s an interesting trick hidden in plain sight, “You can see this front wheel is actually in front of that front wheel… We offset it 200 thousandths… because when he turns to go off, everything has to be offset.”

That offset keeps the car staged in the timing beams even as engine torque lifts the left front tire under acceleration.

Inside the cockpit, everything is within arm’s reach. The steering wheel has a radio button so the driver can talk to the crew. A fire suppression system sits within reach—something no one ever wants to use, but it’s there just in case. The fuel shutoff lever is the real kill switch. Jesse explains, “Once this thing’s running and hot, you can cut the ignition switch off, it will keep running. It don’t run good, but it will keep running. So shutting the fuel off is your off button.”

Fuel System

The fuel system is the heart of it all. A 2.25-inch fuel line feeds a single, massive fuel pump. Many people think there are two pumps—one for the burnout and one for the run—but that’s a myth. Clay clears it up, “A lot of people think that we turn one pump on for the burnout and then the other for the run—not true.”

Instead, a valve inside the system controls the amount of fuel flowing through the engine, allowing it to burn through 15 gallons of nitromethane per run.

Clutch Control

A Top Fuel dragster has no transmission—just a massive clutch pack that engages as the car accelerates. But the driver doesn’t control it after the car is staged. That’s the crew chief’s job. Jesse breaks it down, “The clutch is controlled like water—that’s what we use, it’s basically water suspension fluid.”

A pneumatic cannon gradually pushes the clutch in, just like a driver releasing a pedal in a manual car. Instead of a human making the call, though, timers and solenoids determine when power hits the track. Clay puts it simply, “I want y’all to think about it like this: In your manual shift car, there’s so many people that don’t know how to drive one anymore, but that cannon is moving as if I was taking my foot off the clutch slowly or fastly.”

The Rear End

At the back, the rear end, usually from Chrisman, houses a 13-inch ring gear with a 3.20 gear ratio. Jesse explains why they tear into it so often, “Every Saturday, we’ll take all these bolts out, we’ll drain the rear end, and we’ll take that pinion out. We’ll inspect, you know, if there’s a crack in it, anything… If something happens, we’ll pull it out and get ready for Sunday.”

Stopping a 330-mph rocket isn’t easy, and carbon brakes alone aren’t enough. The parachutes do most of the stopping, but the brakes play a critical role if the chutes fail. And they’re not cheap, “A set of brakes cost $7,500,” Jesse adds.

The Rear Wing

The rear wing is one of the most critical parts of the car. It creates thousands of pounds of downforce, keeping the rear tires glued to the track. But NHRA strictly regulates it, as Jesse points out, “Imagine a wing on it—they’ll plum bob it, and from here to the plum bob, don’t quote me on this, I believe it has to be 65 or 66 inches.” The angle of the main plane can be adjusted, but the entire wing can only move within NHRA’s rules.

In the end, every detail on this car exists to go fast—nothing more, nothing less. It’s pure, mechanical aggression wrapped in a rail of steel and carbon fiber, fighting for every fraction of a second.