But anyone who wasn't watching testing last Thursday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis hasn't seen it -- yet.
 
Don Schumacher Racing, in partnership with Indiana University-Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI) and its unique School of Engineering and Technology motorsports program, gave the canopy-like windshield its maiden voyage and a couple further test runs last week.
 
The purpose of the project, according to DSR Team Manager Lee Beard, "is to make it a safe environment for the driver [by] trying to prevent fire from moving forward into the driver's compartment in the event of an engine explosion."

The sleek, cone-shaped enclosure on Cory McClenathan's and Tony Schumacher's dragsters looks akin to the cockpit cover on a fighter jet or hydroplane.
 
But anyone who wasn't watching testing last Thursday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis hasn't seen it -- yet.
 
Don Schumacher Racing, in partnership with Indiana University-Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI) and its unique School of Engineering and Technology motorsports program, gave the canopy-like windshield its maiden voyage and a couple further test runs last week.
 
The purpose of the project, according to DSR Team Manager Lee Beard, "is to make it a safe environment for the driver [by] trying to prevent fire from moving forward into the driver's compartment in the event of an engine explosion."
 
McClenathan's FRAM Dragster traded testing honors with Tony Schumacher's U.S. Army Dragster. The cars were equipped with pressure sensors that detected the pressure differentials between the car bearing the conventional windshield and with the new design.
 
Beard cautioned not to expect the revolutionary windshield, or shroud, to be on either dragster in the near future.
 
"It's in the developmental stages," he said, adding that DSR never intended to use them this weekend during the U.S. Nationals.
 
"The university has the data," Beard said of the student engineering group that's guided by Pete Hylton. "They're analyzing it right now and they'll come back to us with a report. We have to see some positive results before we would change, before we put it on there."
 
McClenathan recorded led all testing Top Fuel drivers Thursday with a 3.790-second pass at 324.28 mph that was decidedly quicker and faster than ORP's elapsed time and speed records (3.819 by Schumacher, 319.11 by DSR teammate Antron Brown). However, the new windshield was not affixed to his car for that run.
 
Neither was it attached to Schumacher's car when the eight-time Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner registered a 3.826-second E.T. at 310.20 mph performance.
 
Beard said he was "not 100 percent sure" what time and speeds the cars ran when they used the new-design windshield because he also was helping prepare the Yas Marina entry that Hot Rod Fuller is driving.
 
Earlier this summer, at Englishtown, N.J., McClenathan registered the quickest pass in the 1,000-foot era at 3.752 seconds and the second-fastest at 324.75 mph, using a chassis influenced by the IUPUI students' handiwork. The Brownsburg, Ind.-based DSR and IUPUI's motorsports program forged the working partnership in January.
 
"These kids are unbelievable when it comes to aerodynamics," McClenathan said. "This car is set up the way they'd like to see things go in the future. This is a tribute to what happens when you put good people together. They may be kids, but they're smart individuals. It's a good partnership."
 
Beard said Friday the IUPUI program's ongoing chassis development is especially valuable for its "ability to do stress analysis on what we currently have. Cory's car has some technology, chassis-wise, eventually that'll go on the other cars."

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