Industrial Belt Design Captures Attention in Drag Racing

A positive drive belt and sprocket system has made a huge accomplishment in drag racing performance. Goodyear’s Eagle Pd positive drive belt and sprocket system was originally designed to reduce industrial noise.

The belt’s use in drag racing was never imagined during its development, said Mike Gregg, chief engineer for Goodyear Engineered Products.

Used as a supercharger blower belt, the Eagle Pd helps three-time champion and International Hot Rod Association Top Fuel driver Clay Millican and others complete successful quarter-mile runs.

“Of course, we’re proud that Eagle Pd can lower production equipment noise to safe standards,” said Gregg. “But seeing the belt’s big yellow logo positioned directly behind the cockpit and handling the power of a 6,000 plus-horsepower dragster engine is very exciting.”

With conventional blower belts, engine shutdown with rubber pieces flying through the air are not uncommon at drag racing events. When a supercharger blower belt breaks, the driver’s race is over. That’s why most crew chiefs replace the blower belt between each heat.

But Millican and the Peter Lehman race team have been known to run a single belt for seven consecutive rounds before changing it out.

The belt’s self-tracking, chevron-like helical-offset-tooth design eliminates the need for sprocket flanges. Gregg said that the belt’s cords resist load shock, stretching and fatigue. No flanges — combined with added strength — allow for a narrower belt drive and more engine space. It also avoids energy-robbing friction and belt wear related to flange and belt edge contact.

Goodyear Engineered Products, a producer of power transmission products, is also a global manufacturer of conveyor belts and industrial hose products. For more information on Eagle Pd Drive Systems, visit www.goodyearindustrialproducts.com, call 1-888-275-4397 or email the company at ptpcanada@goodyear.com