Drag Illustrated Issue 167, April 2021 | Page 32

Dirt

4-SECOND FUEL ALTERED
the struggles during that test session put the team no closer to setting those historic marks . The car then went on the show circuit for a year before sitting at Wilkerson ’ s shop the past two seasons .
They had made significant improvements to the car , using an old Top Fuel wing from Clay Millican and front wings from a Funny Car from the Laganas , but hadn ’ t had a chance to run it . Still , the dream was always clear in Hartman ’ s head .
“ This is a collaboration of a dream I had and something Tim wanted to put together ,” Hartman says . “ It ’ s kind of a cross between a Funny Car and a Top Fuel car , and we had a lot of help .”
The inspiration was a whole-body front-engine dragster and they used parts Wilkerson still had from his Funny Car from the mid-2000s . They used the same clutch and blower Wilkerson used more than a decade ago , crafting a unique-looking car Hartman believed could make a 4-second run at more than 300 mph .
“ It ’ s probably not the most aerodynamic but it works really well , and it looks really cool , and that ’ s why we like it ,” Hartman says .
Hartman and Wilkerson then found the perfect opportunity when NHRA postponed the national event in Atlanta until the end of April . That left an opening in the schedule for late March and with the Funny Car Chaos event taking place that same weekend in Dallas , everything seemed to align perfectly .
It left Hartman eager to compete and he didn ’ t have to wait long to make history . They shook hard the first pass , but followed with the first 4-second Fuel Altered run later on that Friday , going 4.920 at 296.28 .
A day later , he added the second bit of history , going 304.53 , adding a second major celebration and the fulfillment of a near lifelong journey .
“ It was a heck of a ride and a lot of fun – a dream come true ,” Hartman says .
Adds Wilkerson : “ From the back , it looked pretty cool . I was elated . It was so much fun out there .” DI
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