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Pure Hell was an American Fuel Altered (AA/FA) drag racing car.
With an 89 in (2,300 mm) wheelbase, Pure Hell was initially powered by a Chevrolet small-block engine V8, mounted high in the chassis, at a steep angle, to improve traction. [1]
Driver Don Petrich was replaced in 1965 by Dale Emery. [1]
The car was popular for match racing and became notorious for refusing to run in a straight line (thanks in part to its short wheelbase), wheelstanding, and running off the strip entirely. In a 1994 interview, Emery remarked, “When it locked up at half-track, it was anybody’s guess which way it would go.” [1] On one occasion, at Fremont Raceway, the car landed upside-down in a flooded ditch after an improperly fastened steering wheel came off the steering column. [1]
After Pure Hell was outfitted with a 392 cu in (6,420 cc) hemi and better clutch in 1968, the car was entered in a showdown event between Funny Cars and Altereds at OCIR; Emery won the event. A week later, he recorded a 207.36 mph (333.71 km/h) pass, on his way to winning the Hot Rod Magazine Championship Drag Races at Riverside (and bettering Borsch's 200.44 mph (322.58 km/h) pass of the year before), a speed no Altered would surpass that season. [1]
Pure Hell was wrecked in a highway accident when the transporter crashed near Deming, New Mexico, in 1970. [1]
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver.
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