The burnouts are one of the coolest things to watch at the
NHRA events. The drivers actually do this for several reasons, not just
to look cool peeling out. When they tow the cars up to the track, the tires
get a lot of dirt and dust, so the burnout cleans the tires off. The burnout
also warm the tires up so they're hot and sticky, something that is very
important. The last reason is that when they burnout, they lay down a fresh
layer of sticky rubber on the track which also aids in traction. Some of
these burnouts are amazing! Many of the driver would burn the tires all
the way past the 1/8 mile mark and then they'd coast almost to the end
of the 1/4 mile. So basically, the whole burnout takes almost the entire
length of the track for some of the drivers! Even with the burnout, many
of the cars are on pace to a low seven second 1/4 mile times, it's incredible.
I couldn't get close enough to snap a good picture, but you can kind of see a Federal Mogul dragster doing a smokey burnout before his race. Just look for a white cloud of smoke in the middle of the picture.. that's the burnout.
Here is Tony Schumacher doing a burnout on Friday in qualifying. Tony made a pass on Saturday that hit 330mph!!! That's FAST!
Many people say that John Force is the king of burnouts. I would have to say yes. John consistently does some of the loudest, longest, and smokiest burnouts at all the NHRA events. I think this is part of the reason why John Force is one of the most popular drivers, he's there to put on a show as much as he is to win.
One of the Federal Mogul drivers did this burnout. You couldn't see anything for about five minutes after he did this. Everyone in the crowd rose to their feet while and started cheering while he was doing this. This picture was taken about two minutes after he did the burnout. I wish I could have fit the whole burnout into the camera lense.