Monday, April 29, 2013

Made my yearly trip to the nearest drag strip that hosts the NHRA Top Fuel races, which is located near Baytown, TX.  It was a beautiful day but heavy rains the day before had soaked into the track's surface and then with the hot sun shining on it, some of that moisture came to the surface and caused the cars to spin the tires down strip.  This caused a increased times and slower runs.  I only saw one 313 mph run in the 1000 feet to the finish line.  That is 20 or more mph less than they are capable of.  But, of course, I still really, really enjoyed it.

I had given two tickets to our dog's groomer who had a close friend that just loved the races.  The groomer got sick, so his friend brought his son along.  I always try to get there fairly early so we have a lot of time to walk around the pit area and see the drivers and the cars.  Here is Rick and his son about to get John Force's autograph.
 

And here they are getting Ron Capps autograph.  I have never collected autographs from the drivers.
 

This is Rick's son getting Greg Anderson's autograph.  Greg is a past pro-stock champion.

They had a top fuel engine on display with a list of statistics.  It is an older display because I believe that they run 10,000 horsepower now.

 This is the structure at the beginning of the race track.  They bring the cars through that tunnel in the middle into the staging area.

 OK, time for some action!!  How about some Funny Cars burning out?

 And of course the top fuel dragsters.  As you can see, my reserved seats are just up from the tree.  Directly across the track is the unreseved seats and the TV cameraman.


I took another picture and zoomed in.  Click on the the pictures to see them full size.  Then you will be able to see much more detail.

I guess that is plenty of pictures.  Hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.  Now you all have a great day, you hear?

9 comments:

  1. Anytime I want to see crazy high speed driving I just take the 495 loop around Boston.

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  2. One of these days I'll bring my earplugs and come down to see it. Did you see that fiberglass body go flying off that funny car? That might have been the week before.

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  3. Sixbears, sounds like Houston traffic up your way, too. BTW, interstate 10 has an 80 or 85 mph speed limit on the western part.

    jimkabob, promises, promises. No, that happened in a race either last week or the one before. That had to have hurt a few people in the stands.

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  4. Oh okay, that kind of drag strip. I miss that kinda' racing. Tried watching Formula One and it bores me to tears.

    Y'all had a good time. And I'm liking them photos. Nice job!

    Gary

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  5. Cool pictures.It must have been a dream day for your friend's son. When I was a kid my dad belonged to a Jeep club. They would drag race in a cleared field. Noise and DUST is what I remember. Dust for days!

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  6. My daughter and her husband went to some racing event in Maryland this weekend also. She got a picture of herself with Ricky Gadson and she's showing her photos and blathering on about it all almost as much as you are. Sounds like you all had a great time!

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  7. klahanie, I agree, I don't like to watch circle racing. I don't have the patients to wait longer than 3 or 4 seconds to see who won (grin).

    Jill E, it was a long day for him. I actually think he got tired out. Of course the ground shaking noise would wake the dead. Unbelievable if you have never experienced it.

    Jill, it is a huge event. They will be in Pennsylvania this coming October with the eliminations on the Sunday the 6th at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading. If you can get tickets it is worth seeing (I mean feeling) at least once in your life. But be careful, it is addicting. I watch the it on TV, in fact the only sports I watch on TV.

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  8. O the days I spent at drags,,,boats too. Way way back I remember seeing my first funny cars,,in San Antonio. Like,,early 60s.

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  9. I LOVE those top fuel drags!!! I guess the nitro methane gets in your blood.

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