DRAG RACING
The drag race track event has some of the super champ drivers that run 120 mph in 11 seconds. Contestants board street cars and accelerate over 100-m parallel tracks to overcome the machines anti-spin electronics with immense skill adrenalin. Hundreds of drivers in drag race come to grace this event once they pass the weight, body style, and engine size test. The experience I had at the drag race made me realize that the motor sport provides a dual and a contradictory tussle for the racers. Drag racing entails motor sport racing using specialized automobiles. The race uses a straight course, popular circles, and dragsters that have speed sensing systems. I have had the opportunity of engaging with drag racing in different places in California. The event technical inspection and check-in starts early in the morning where each participant pays $20 for the car and the driver.
One does not have to race to have a splendid time since one can pay $10 to join as a spectator so as to cheer on the favorite dragster of the day (Janes, 2005). The drag racing facility is a popular weekend entertainment for families that come to compete or enjoy as spectators in the grandstands. I reckon that this is one high-speed action thrill to all race fans to participate. Prior to the entitlement of the race, I had to participate in the burnout race that involves different heats that heat up the tires to ensure an improvement of traction before the start of the race.
The event center in California provides an exciting short track racing and NHRA dragster racing in an attractive establishment. NHRA is the main racing organization that oversees most of the drag racing events in America. Conversely, the IHRA is an international organization that sanctions other bodies in the event. The NHRA and IHRA have the same requirements such as modification of the car, engine size, weight and the body style. The junior dragster is an event that brings together all the aspiring youngsters to participate in the event of their own.
The complete speedway facility offers the society event that brings together all those that love racing. The stadium and the prime stage of the car club have the following dealership events, hot rods, tent sales, go-karts, and rallies. Each event like on Friday Fun Night attracts more than 200,000 race fans to perform in the automotive market (Janes, 2005).
The Christmas tree is an electronically way of starting the races. The tree consists of six different lights for each driver that connects the light beams of the track. I was situated on the blue track that indicated a pre-staged starting line of close to 180mm (Finkel, 2014). Once I trip on the stage beam, the tree has an automatic activation where I managed to start after 1 second once the race began. The light sequences consist of either three amber lights preceded by green light or amber light in sequence preceded by a green light.
Once the front tire leaves the beam the green light has to illuminate if the red light illuminates it is a sign of disqualification. The driver that commits a red-light foul and cause a preceding driver to commit the same foul since a violation can cause an early leaving of the line. A green light automatically illuminates the opposite side of the red lighted driver. A holeshot advantage takes place in the instance any two drivers leaving after the green light illuminate. A winner of the drag race is the first vehicle to cross the finish line, and mostly it is the driver with the lowest total reaction time.
The elapsed time deals with performance and does not attribute a winner. An elapsed time does not include the reaction time since each lane has an individual timing. A racing car with a slow elapse time will win once the driver hole shot advantage will exceed the elapsed time difference. Once a competitor has more speed than the predetermined speed, the competitor will lose. If two drivers are faster than a predetermined time, a competitor near that time will be the winner. It is important for the racers to consider reaction time, speed and the elapsed time in every race.
According to Geiger (2014), the reaction time entails the period between the instance of the green light illumination and the period of the driver leaving a starting line. Geiger (2014) says that elapsed time is the period of the vehicle leaving the starting line and the time to cross the finishing line. A speed trap measures the entire region covering 20m to the finish line. The work of the speed track is to indicate the speed of the vehicle in the entire run.
The cars that participate in the event are built for speed on the track and have endurance on the open road as they do not tow from track to track. I had the opportunity of experiencing this as a participant on a Friday Fun Night by racing in different tracks. I had to drive a race car on the street on predetermined routes from one track to another as I enjoyed on the terrific test of man and machine.
All the racing cars have to go on the same route where we encountered abuse since some of the railroad tracks are worn out. The dragster is not built for comfort as the drivers absorb immense abuse along the way. The entire race is 400 miles during the night is brutal after spending an entire day on the tracks (Finkel, 2014). The intention of the dragster event is to test a driver’s car skills as one enjoys the camaraderie of other racers from different cultures as we all make it to the finish line.
References
Finkel, E. (2014). Drag racing attorneys put the pedal to the metal. ABA Journal, 100(4), 1.
GEIGER, R. (2014). STATE OF THE NHRA: Competitors Voice Concerns About TV, Demographics. Autoweek, 64(3), 0065.
Janes, E. (2005). Drag King. FSB: Fortune Small Business, 15(3), 98.
