CLERMONT, Ind. -- I've been to something like 350 Indy car races in the past 30 years as a fan, reporter or PR man, and have witnessed many other forms of racing, from Figure 8s to Australian V8 Supercars. But I had never attended a professional drag racing event until this year's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
I can't say I experienced the same kind of joy I get from standing trackside at Road America, Toronto or Bathurst. Yet I can certainly see why drag racing has such a fervent fan base and is one of the few forms of motorsports in the world that is growing instead of fading.
Given the nature of the competition, today's blog is presented in the form of a series of short, sharp observations. To wit:
• Drag racing is every bit as loud as everyone says it is. Actually, it's even louder than you could imagine. If the wind is blowing the right way, you can hear the ORP action from my home some 30 miles away. And yes, the ground really does shake.
• The races are only 4 to 10 seconds long, but there are hundreds of them, back to back to back to back to back … you get the idea. The action is literally nonstop.
• The NHRA likes to say "Every ticket is a pit pass," and you certainly can get closer to the cars and stars at a drag race than in any other form of professional motorsport.
• I'm amazed that the engines, the chassis and the Goodyear tires are capable of holding together for 5 seconds, given the forces they are subject to.
• It's impressive when an Indy car or NASCAR team performs an engine change within the space of an hour or two. Top Fuel and Funny Car crews rebuild the top end of an engine in 40 minutes … several times a day.
• Drag racing definitely attracts a blue-collar crowd -- much more NASCAR than IndyCar and a world apart from Formula One. Think beer and cigarettes, not wine and cheese.
• New respect for John Andretti. He might have never scored an outright win at a major drag racing event, but at least he had the guts to try.
• With race fixing a hot topic in F1, it sure looked as though the fix was in when John Force smoked the tires in his semifinal against his hired driver (and son-in-law), Robert Hight, which allowed Hight to sneak into the NHRA's Countdown to 1 playoffs. "Force cheats," snapped longtime rival Cruz Pedregon, who was the driver left out of the playoffs. "He manipulates the outcome of these races, and he should be ashamed of himself."
• The subsequent shouting match that broke out between Force and his ex-driver Tony Pedregon (Cruz Pedregon's brother) was must-see TV. "I was there for eight years and, unfortunately for John, I know what is going on," Tony Pedregon said.
• You know a guy loves racing when he shows up at the track on a day off. Guys like Al Unser Jr. and Tony Stewart. "I don't know what else I would do … this is what I live for, whether it's in a straight line or 500 miles at Atlanta," said Sprint Cup points leader Stewart.
• Speaking of Stew, I used to think NASCAR was the only form of motorsport in which you can win if you're old and/or fat. There are at least a dozen drivers older than 55 on the pro drag racing circuit, though, and in the Super Gas category, there was a 75-year-old in a Ford Anglia that was just about as old as its driver.
• Nice to see Linda Vaughn, as always.
• Best race of the day: The Pro Stock final, in which Jeg Coughlin beat Greg Stanfield by 0.0018 second -- or about 7 inches.
• No sign of that obnoxious bald guy from "Pinks." I naively thought he'd be out there doing his little start-line routine for every race.
• Does John Force need Propofol to sleep at night?
• Lastly, the Force sisters are hotter in person than IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick. Waaaaay hotter …
