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bedsitter23For the second year in a row, I made it to Eddyville in Southeast Iowa for the Fuel Altered Nationals. This is drag racing. It's an eight-mile track in which the cars complete in four seconds. There are modified cars- "funny cars" (those1979-1984 Camaros that I loved growing up, and Mustangs, Trucks, Vintage Cars ('69 Novas and the like), and More), but also handbuilt cars, Top Fuel dragsters (that look like Formula One cars) and there's also a junior series (9 to 12 year olds ( a lot of them girls) going about half as fast (still fast) learning to drive like Dad.) I am told they go at about 4G- twice the take off of a jet plane.
These cars routinely go about 140 mph. The smell is Nitro. The sound is loud. Although, this isn't the Pros (Think John Force and Don "The Snake" Prudhomme), there are some NHRA affiliations here and some of these drivers would race in those National races. (I am told those Top Fuel cars race for a quarter-mile and acheive it in about the same time (4 seconds)).
To a large extent, the racing is based on the reaction time of the drivers. As the tree lights count to red to yellow to green, it is those drivers that take out too soon that lose. (One we saw lost because he left one-seven/hundreth of a second too soon.)
These cars also dial in their expected speeds, so their is an element of a handicap which allows all kinds of cars to compete against each other.
The most popular car had to be Nitro Madness driven by Sean Belt. It was the fastest car of the day (192mph), perhaps the coolest looking car, and the driver was a genuinely nice guy (Actually, you'll find most, if not all of these guys are genuinely interested in their fans).
Behold!
These cars routinely go about 140 mph. The smell is Nitro. The sound is loud. Although, this isn't the Pros (Think John Force and Don "The Snake" Prudhomme), there are some NHRA affiliations here and some of these drivers would race in those National races. (I am told those Top Fuel cars race for a quarter-mile and acheive it in about the same time (4 seconds)).
To a large extent, the racing is based on the reaction time of the drivers. As the tree lights count to red to yellow to green, it is those drivers that take out too soon that lose. (One we saw lost because he left one-seven/hundreth of a second too soon.)
These cars also dial in their expected speeds, so their is an element of a handicap which allows all kinds of cars to compete against each other.
The most popular car had to be Nitro Madness driven by Sean Belt. It was the fastest car of the day (192mph), perhaps the coolest looking car, and the driver was a genuinely nice guy (Actually, you'll find most, if not all of these guys are genuinely interested in their fans).
Behold!
