Saturday, November 15, 2008

Last night was not the same drag

It was the drag I used to do. The kind I grew up with.

The roar of the engines. The smell of the gas, alcohol and burning rubber. The display of brute horsepower at it's finest.

I'm talking about drag racing.

My neighbors invited my to go with them along with another neighbor and her daughter. My neighbor runs his truck in the bracket races. For the uninitiated, bracket racing is about consistency, not speed. It is possible to have the slowest car on the track and win. Though I do have to say speed makes it more exciting.

I must say, I have the itch once again. When I was younger I raced my first car, a '69 Olds 442. I rebuilt a 455 for it and did some pretty serious modifications to it. My initial plans for my Beetle were to make a nice full custom show car. But it does have an 1835cc with dual Webers, ported heads and a 3/4 race cam. Harvie is a fast little one. The other thought is to race the next daily driver I purchase. My neighbor runs a Ford Explorer. It's not very fast, he still has a good time with it.

I'm not the only one that got the itch. My neighbor's daughter, she's 11, wants a Jr. dragster. Jr. dragsters are cool. Kid size rail dragster with a very modified lawn mower engine. They go almost as fast as the big boys. Or should I say girls? There were more little girls driving these little racers than boys, at least twice as many.

Was quite a few ladies racing last night too. I must say I was impressed. I'm wondering if the future of drag racing is going to turn to something female dominated. Horsepower is the ultimate accessory.

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