this persisted until NHRA mandated in 1980 that all cars be capable of reversing under their own power. The slingshot dragster's tail-heavy design, coupled with no rear suspension and steadily-increasing engine power, often resulted in high-speed control problems that led to crashes. By the late 1950s, dragster power had increased to where tire-smoking wheelspin would occur over a considerable distance, resulting in a tendency for the car to suddenly drift out of control—the tail-heavy design of the slingshot made recovery difficult. As tire technology improved, wheelstands became a problem and often had to be counteracted by attaching ballast to the front axle, sometimes hundreds of pounds' worth. Occasionally, the slingshot's propensity for doing a wheelie would result in a car completely flipping over, in what is now referred to as a "blowover." For example, this happened to Jim Nicoll at the 1970 NHRA Nationals due to a clutch failure. Some racers, such as Ronnie Scrima (on his Scrimaliner) and Tony Nancy, experimented with a small, inverted wing on the front axle, taking advantage of aerodynamic forces generated at speed to keep the front wheels firmly on the pavement. Marginal control wasn't the only danger with the slingshot design. As the exposed engine was directly in front of the driver's compartment, he or she was vulnerable to being showered with hot oil, flying debris and burning fuel due to catastrophic engine or supercharger failure. Adding to the danger was that the driver's legs and feet were alongside the driveline. Driveline components, especially the clutch and flywheel assembly, could burst at high engine rpm, resulting in serious or fatal injuries from the violent expulsion of metal fragments. The slingshot's numerous drawbacks led to several attempts at developing rear-engined dragsters, initially none successful. It was when Don Garlits introduced his rear-engined Swamp Rat XIV dragster in 1971 that the front-engine slingshot was finally supplanted (technically, Garlits' dragster was mid-engine; a true rear-engine layout would have the engine mounted behind the rear axle). Garlits designed the car while in the hospital recovering from a partial amputation of his foot when his slingshot's two-speed transmission burst and cut the car in two. References Drag racing cars