Dragster Videoconference
a Blazing Success

How many miles per gallon does it get?
How many spark plugs does it have?
How much education do you need to drive a dragster?

The questions posed to Top Fuel drag racers Sam Parton and Jerry Porter came fast and furiously during their presentation in late May 2004 at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Making the questions unique was that students seated 920 miles away in Port Huron, Michigan, asked them. The distance didn’t matter, though, as a Web videoconference hookup between Pittsburg and three Port Huron middle schools allowed for a seamless relay of information during the one-hour presentation.

Parton and Porter, public school teachers in Oklahoma, regularly take their Team Thunder dragster to schools where they educate youngsters on the finer points of aerodynamics, laws of motion, pneumatics, and other topics routinely explained in the classroom. Their first videoconference enabled them to reach several schools at once.

“The videoconference is a great addition to our activities surrounding the research, design, and production of a CO₂ dragster,” said teacher Dennis Hawtin, who came up with the idea for the videoconference. In addition to Hawtin and his students at Holland Woods Middle School, others who participated include teacher John Quicksall and his students at Central Middle School, and teacher Tim Brandon and his students at Fort Gratiot Middle School.

All three teachers facilitate Synergistic Systems labs, but instead of having only two students complete the Research & Design Module each rotation to learn about CO₂ dragster design and racing, the Port Huron teachers spend four-and-one-half weeks leading all students through the Module and allowing them to use woodworking labs to design and build cars.

As a culminating activity, the Port Huron Area School District sponsors an annual CO₂ Dragster District Challenge in May with approximately 20-25 students from each middle school participating in the competition. The videoconference was a new addition to this year’s festivities.

“We wanted to provide an additional experience for eighth grade students who participated,” Hawtin said. “We believe the videoconference enhanced students’ understanding of what drag racing was all about.”

With two video cameras capturing every movement, Parton and Porter guided students from one end of their 30-foot ride to the other, explaining various features along the way including the engine, airfoil, and large back tires. Students asked questions throughout the presentation and learned about Newton’s laws of motion, Bernoulli’s principle, horsepower, costs, and ratios, among other things.

The highlight of the event came at the end when the drivers pushed their dragster outside of the makeshift studio and started the engine.

“I don’t believe a book can translate the reality of the field of drag racing,” Hawtin said. “Sam and Jerry made drag racing more personal and undoubtedly provided a more genuine look at drag racing.”

Note: Following are answers to the questions posed at the beginning of the article:

• Parton pointed out that instead of figuring “miles per gallon,” a more accurate calculation is “gallons per mile” (approximately 30-40 gallons per mile, which includes starting the engine for several runs).


• The dragster has 16 spark plugs. “It takes a big spark to ignite the nitromethane and methanol fuel,” he said.


• School subjects that prepare a drag racer for his career include math, science, technology, English, and just about anything else, Parton said, adding in summary, “Get as much education as you can get.”