Bringing a vehicle to a stop at the end of a pass down the drag strip is not an easy task — it puts immense pressure on the braking system, so quality brakes are important. The level of brakes you have on your ride at the track should be in-line with its weight and speed to help bring the car to a stop before you end up in the sand trap. To simplify the process of choosing brakes, Strange Engineering offers a wide variety of kits an components to cover all levels of racing.

In this first video from Strange, Steve Magnante gives a breakdown of all the different brakes Strange offers for every application imaginable in drag racing.  The first brakes examined in the video are the Pro Steel series, the most popular that Strange offers. These brakes use a forged steel hat with slotted rotors that help to improve cooling, reduce weight, and prevent warping.

The Pro Steel series brakes also come with upgraded direction aluminum calipers that have four pistons sized in 1.625- and 1.750-inch. These larger pistons help keep pad taper to a minimum on the brakes. If your car has a high trap speed, the Pro Steel brakes are available with a dual caliper system to provide more stopping power. Turbo cars can also use the dual-caliper system to assist their staging process as they bump in. Brake pad options for the Pro Steel series include soft, medium, and hard metallic pads to fit whatever application you need.

If you need more braking power, Strange offers their Pro Series II brakes that will fit many different rearends. The Pro Series II brakes are available for heavier cars that need the extra stopping power when high trap speeds are in play. They feature stainless-steel rotors to help with heat and provide extra stopping capabilities. These brakes also have a dual-caliper option and medium or hard metallic brake pads, depending on your application.

If you really need some hardcore stopping power Strange also offers a full line of carbon fiber brakes. These are king of the Strange Engineering brake empire and function best in the most demanding of situations. The brakes feature a two-piece design with a billet aluminum hat and carbon rotor that’s 11-inches in diameter. The carbon fiber brakes use a four-piston caliper that clamps the carbon brake pads down onto the rotor.

In this second video from Strange Engineering, Magnate brings in Joe Okulanis, who has 30 years of experience working with the company. This video gets a little more technical and digs in deep to see how the different Strange Engineering brake offerings benefit racers at all levels.

One of the topics discussed in the video is how drag racing brakes are a challenge because you don’t want a lot of extra weight added to the car, but you still need to have sufficient stopping power. Another thing that is explained is the brake pads that are needed to help grip the front rotor properly when staging the car. Okulanis also goes on to explain why slotted rotors are used to prevent weak points that crack with drilled rotors. He breaks down why the slots are able to control the expansion and contraction of the rotors.

Also discussed in the video is why Strange uses the two-piece rotor design that has different materials for the hat and rotor. Okulanis talks about the lugs on the rotor that match to lugs on the hat to hold the rotor in place. The lug design fits loose to allow for the rotor to become super-heated, but not be pulled on by the hat during braking. An explanation is also given as to why a stainless version of the rotor is available to help with heat issues that can occur.

For applications where there’s a lot of power and mile-per-hour in play, Strange Engineering has their line of carbon fiber brakes. Okulanis explains the big advantage that carbon fiber has when it comes to carbon fiber brakes being able to function at such high temperatures. The caliper system for the carbon fiber brakes is also covered by Okulanis to provide an explanation of how it functions with the rotors.

Make sure you watch both videos to get all the great information that Strange Engineering has to offer about drag racing brakes. You can also learn more about the different brakes featured in the videos right here on the Strange Engineering website.