Drag Race Dreams

All my life, I've been a car nut. You'd think that, as a stereotypical female, I'd be found playing with Barbies, or dressing up in frilly play clothes. But no, I was usually tinkering with a car, riding the horses, or playing in the mud. As I grew older, my tastes really honed in on cars; well, vehicles in general. If it had wheels, I was probably interested in it.

I'm a particular fan of the muscle car-era vehicles. In my young mind, a 1969 Dodge Charger with the original 426 Hemi was a dream come true. Not an affordable dream per se, but a dream nonetheless. With age comes interest in guys, and I met my loving husband when I was 17. And to my overwhelming joy, he enjoys cars as much as I do. Not only is he a bonafide vehicle enthusiast, he wants to drag race. Speed, power, torque...it's more than I could have ever imagined getting involved in. The only problem? How in the world do you get started in a sport you've never done before?

My husband spent a lot of time around the racetrack here in town while he was in high school, so he has a bit of a leg up on me in that aspect. He knows how the track works, how the runs work, most of the details he has down. But, in order to get to that point, we need a car. I think he's finally decided on an early model Camaro, but that may change again. So, spare time is spent scouring the papers and classifieds for a car which suits our needs.

Then comes the modifications, the most interesting, and most complicated part. We have to decide which engine will get us the best results on the track, and secure one for the car. We have to make sure it meets the track specifications and safety regulations (which most often include a roll cage and other basic changes) to ensure that, in the unlikely event of a mishap, he stays as safe as possible.

Once we have the car up and running comes the fun part - time on the track. We'll have to take the car out to the drag strip and do what they call dialing in. Dialing in, in simple terms, means estimating how fast your car will go based on past performances, and running down the track to see if the car is accurate to that time. If your car has a history of running a 7 second run, running as close to that 7 as possible is what you want to do. That's a major factor in how races are actually run during competition.

If the car is performing well, then we actually pony up the entry fees and enter a series of races. There are a variety of race types to enter in the drag racing world, so we'll have to see which ones we choose to embark upon. If all goes well, and we've got a good car, then we'll be spending a lot more time at the bigger regional tracks, after moving up the ranks in the smaller local circuits. The ideal situation? To get picked up by a major sponsor and drag race in the pro circuit for a living. Spending the majority of your days on the road, travelling from track to track, watching those massive machines day in and day out may not seem any good to some people, but when you have drag race dreams, it's all you could ever hope for.