Just watched to recording of the Phoenix race today, 1. Car #1 leaves first by 0.007, but car #2 drives faster by 0.009. Wins by zero point zero zero two! Four feet at over 300 MPH. 2. Car goes down the track and starts to swerve and spin, but the driver saves it and goes straight. Announcer, "He did a good job of driving that race car, or as Don says, he did a bad job of crashing." 3. Vietnam veteran gave Tony Schumacher (US Army car) his Purple Heart medal, and says I want you to have it. Tony puts it in his race suit pocket and says, "I am just going to give it a ride and then I will give it right back". He won the race and gave the medal back to the guy. F1 is neat to watch, but NHRA is a great show, too. Go see it live if you can. I have been to F1, NASCAR, MotoGP, and Indy Car, but I had the most fun at an NHRA race last year.
Hello, its a great show and the quality is as good as anything else. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
At NHRA events the drivers trailers fly flags with the drivers likeness on them so you can find your favorite driver. They come out of their motor homes and mingle with the crowds and they know their fans. And where else can you watch the mechanics tear down and rebuild a motor? Certainly not in F1 or NASCAR.
I love NHRA Drag Racing. I watch EVERY chance I can on Sunday night on ESPN, after my wife has fled the room. I dunno, it's just real straight forward stuff. The drivers seem a lot more real, approachable I guess is the word I'm looking for. Have been watching since I can remember drag races. Interestingly, I've never been to one in person. May have to rectify that. D
If you're in S FL then you must come to Gainesville next month for the Gatornationals. The sensation of two top fuel cars leaving the starting line cannot be described adequately. It vibrates every organ in your body and you lose focus for a moment as your eyeballs vibrate. Hearing protection is mandatory.
3 or 4 runs I can see, but what do you do the rest of the day? There's a little sarcasm there, but having gone a few times decades ago, I'm not likely to go again without a a little more help......so please explain.
I grew up on drag racing and the NHRA. My father and his cousin were racers back when they were kids (late 50's - mid 60's) - I grew up by Englishtown Raceway Park, been going since 1970 (when I was 2 - I have 8mm film of me giggling uncontrollably as the nitro cars went by - probably explains a lot of who I am today). When I obtained my drivers license, I would go to the "run what you brung" nights at E'Town - I had a modded 240Z, drove a friend's '79 Trans Am, and even my parents' 1984 Dodge Aries K wagon - white with red interior. I've watched some pretty amazing races in person - even dated the daughter of the secretary to the Napp family (owners of E'Town). Without question has been one of my favorite forms of motorsport. My biggest beef has been the shortened track length for nitro cars. No reason to go from 1/4 mile to 1,000 feet - it would have been better if the NHRA mandated a lower nitro percentage. Go see the historic dragster / funny cars, and you'll understand - it doesn't need to go 400 mph for the show to be awesome. Otherwise, I love it. 40+ years of watching, I'll be a fan for life.
That's it right there. Another funny from one of the drivers, "We did really good at testing with a great time, but didn't do well in qualifying, so I think the car is allergic to crowds. Then we didn't do real well on race day, so maybe the car is allergic to the National Anthem." Stever - Like most racing, TV is a better big picture than in person. We went in person, watched a few runs, walked around, saw all the team pits, bought some model cars, ate lunch, watched a few more runs of each class, then left. Filled the day well, and we didn't try to see the whole show. You can go for an hour or two or all day, but the show is entertaining the whole time, since they balance the schedule between all the classes. Worth the price of admission to see a pass or two of today's Top Fuel alone. That cannot be replicated on TV.
I attended my first NHRA race in Seattle back in 1989 and spent much of the day with my fingers in my ears! Needless to say, I've brought earplugs every time since and put them in while still walking in from the parking lot. This is one sporting event, more than any other, where watching it on TV is just not good enough. Fuel dragsters assault all the senses in a way that no other race cars can match. And even though I know what to expect when the first fuel cars come up to the line, the sound (even with earplugs!) is still breathtaking, and I love seeing the reactions of the previously-uninitiated! I enjoy the ability to see the cars and crews close-up in the pits (though I wish all the teams were more diligent in re-stocking their photocard holders). But the smell of nitromethane is just something that has to be experienced first-hand. I try to make one National event every other year, typically here in Atlanta, but I've also been to Gainesville, Englishtown, and of course, Seattle. I need to get to Maple Grove and drag (no pun intended) a good friend of mine to the event!
The NHRA pits are definitely the most welcoming. Here are a few pics of the cars being worked on at the Winter Nationals in Pomona Ca. The mechanics let me get up close and watch them work. If you haven't never been to a NHRA event you MUST go. The top fuel and funny cars are THE LOUDEST cars you will ever hear. They literally shake the ground, and vibrate your body as they blow by. The violence those engines produces is astonishing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I prefer Friday if I can get there; otherwise Saturday. I've never gone on Sunday. Each day the crowds and the prices get bigger, and the sensations are the same. Whether the cars are racing against the clock or against each other, the look, sound, smell, and feel are the same each day. And if you can attend a night qualifying session, that's a unique experience.
A cute story: years ago at Englishtown, I went on a Friday and got there mid-afternoon, by which time some of the early arrivers had left. As a result, I parked very close to the track around the finish line, where E'town has a grandstand. That evening they had a night qualifying session, something I had not seen before. As I sat in that grandstand, every time a pair of fuel cars went past me, I heard a car alarm going off in the lot behind me. Soon I realized from the sound that it was my car alarm going off! Fortunately there was a nearby gate thru which I was able to make it to my car and disable the alarm. I'm glad this hadn't run down my battery! (The only other vehicles to set off that alarm were Huey helicopters and low-flying C-130 Hercules.....)
First time I heard a top fuel dragster start up I was standing only 10 feet away.. NOTHING compares. I believe the engines make between 8000- 10,000 hp. Over 1000 hp per liter. The supercharger takes 900 hp to run. Pure insanity!
How can you NOT like John Force and the constant energy he portrays every day, year after year? OTOH some of the old guards of other motorsports simply act like they don't give a **** if they are there or not. As soon as you lose touch with who your fans are, you need to hang it up.
While not NHRA, I used to work the acient weighing station (for a local series) at Cayuga which did host IHRA events. My favs were the Pro Stockers with the mountain motors and back when they had to run factory roof and quarter panels. Was a big Bob Glidden and Warren Johnson fan.
When I went to Gainesville, it was a rainy Saturday morning and the day would prove to be a washout. A group of fans (including myself) happened to see Force arrive in the paddock, and we had a delightful "bull session" that John seemed to enjoy as much as we did!
From last Sunday, " Ritchie Crampton in the left lane. If he doesn't smoke the tires, this should be a good run. Ritchie still wearing that yellow helmet. Kind of reminds me of Ayrton Senna from the 90's. That's for our TWO Formula 1 fans. You're welcome." Hilarious. Just good fun at NHRA.
Pro Stock used to be my favorite until the cars got too goofy. They still sound great but they are little Funny Cars now. Top Fuel seems quieter but I feel the engines more, I might be going deaf. They really need to get Pro Stock back to something fans can relate to. Sadly NHRA is in rough shape and car counts are way down. The days of cigarette money and huge car fields are over. I loved it when they had so many cars at an event that as two were going down the track, there were two doing burnouts. You didn't know what to watch, it was sensory overload.
