What Can I Say, I Am A Drag Racing Fan!! :)

 

I am actually NOT feeling this way about my DH today!!  But this photo is on my calendar for February, and I forgot to post February's photo until today!

Hey Ya'll,

Today has been very strange.  Today my DH went to a Super Bowl Party at a friends house in Clear Lake, CA.  This is about a 2 hour drive away and since I decided not to go, Walt decided to ride his Honda Gold Wing motorcycle!  He had planned on riding home after the party, and because of this, he planned on drinking only a couple of beers early in the day, so that he would have plenty of time to be totally sober for driving.   

But, I got a text from him a short while ago, and he is staying the night!!!  He decided that since it is a long winding road, where deer and other animals walk across the road, especially at night.  He decided that it would be best to stay the night, and drive back in the morning.

So this means that I have had the house all to myself, all day and will have it all night tonight!  Don't get me wrong.  I love my DH very much, and we do most everything together.  But I do like the occasional time when I have time to myself.  This is why I was playing with my photos today.  I decided that I needed a vacation day today!  Which means that tomorrow I must get cracking again!!

By the way, I just started to Follow a couple of new blogs today and I made a comment in them to let you know that I was Following you.  However, I was not able to leave a comment on Bonnie's blog, "Wishing & Hoping & Praying For A Band".  So just in case you decided to check out my blog, please know that for some reason, I was unable to leave a comment today.  I will try again later to see if it is fixed.

Well, since I don't have much to say, except that I will be going back up to Reno on the 17th for my 3rd Fill (Lord, please let this Fill be the one that gives me Restriction!!!).  We will be driving up in the 4x4 just in case it is snowing over the Sierra's again, and we will drive up the morning of the 17th.  We will be staying for 2 nights this time, as I have a coupon from the Hotel, two nights for the price of one!  This way Walt can go spend a day with his Mom and help her with his Dad's papers, etc. and we will be driving home on the 19th.

Oh!!  And one last thing!  I just found out today that NHRA Drag Racing is starting up again!!  It starts in Pomona, CA next weekend!!  I can't wait for it!  This is the one "sport" that I actually watch & follow.  Maybe this will be Ashley Force's year to win the Championship!!  I'll keep you posted.  Did I ever mention that Walt actually took my photo with Shirley Muldowney (aka Shirley Cha Cha Muldowney), as well as my getting an autograph from her at the end of the last Season she raced competitively?

This is a photo of Shirley being towed back to the pits after a qualifying run.  She is sitting in the car waving to the crowd.  Her cars color was always Hot Pink, gotta love it!

This is Shirley and myself.  I would like to apologize for the bad photo.  There is a sun spot on my hat and part of my face.  I attempted to remove it, but I may have made it worse!!  Now remember, this is Oct 2003 and she is now 63 yrs old!!!  Can you imagine racing a Top Fuel Dragster pulling approximately 8 G's during takeoff acceleration at age 63?  I wouldn't even want to try it!

And this photo was obviously taken at night to show the raw power they give off.  Look at the plumes of fire coming off these cars!  These plumes of fire is shooting at least 5-6 feet out and the white smoke in the upper left hand corner is what's left of the smoke they produced during the burn out prior to the start of the race!!

Now, just to REALLY bore you to death, here is a short accounting of how fast a dragster could go in 2001 compared to a really fast Corvette!  This is copied from an article I found on NitroFuelers.com.  

Putting all of this into perspective: You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06.  Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip, as you pass.

You have the advantage of a flying start.  You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph.  The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches and starts after you.  You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches, and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him.

Think about it;  from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course!   That, folks, is acceleration.

Awesome
JW / Hilliard

Popular Hot Rodding
Oct, 2001

And they have only gotten faster since then.  Well, I better go for now, till next time.

Aloha My Friends  :)