A Shot at Glory

It’s 1,320 feet long, straight, with 2 tracks.  Just your car, side-by-side with another one, ripping down the drag strip.  A brief shot at glory before returning to your day job.  That’s what makes the Sportsman (non-professional) drag events so much fun; regular people on the world-class proving grounds of Gainesville Raceway, trying to see what their car can do.  During the Gatornationals, a pair of them is launched down the strip about every 40 seconds, all day long.
   
When discussing Sportsman, a few definitions might come in handy:  Super Gas, Super Comp, Stock and Super Stock.

The Super Comps are low-slung dragsters with giant slick rear tires and those funky little bicycle wheels in front.  The difference between them and the pro classes is basically that they burn gasoline rather than methanol or nitromethane.  I thought that the most appealing car in this class was the romantically-named “Dream Chaser,” driven by Jeff Hewett from St. Augustine, Florida, not that far from Gainesville.  A close second was the stunning “Ground Zero” car which was completely encased in immaculate gleaming silver-toned Diamond Deck metal.  Very cool.

The best part of the afternoon for me, however, was watching Super Gas, Stock and Super Stock qualifying races.  In many ways, these look like the car that you drive to the grocery store except they’re loud, logo’d and very fast. The degree of allowed modification varies; Stock doesn’t permit very many alterations or mods, Super Stock and Super Gas do allow some changes to enhance speed.

The technical specifications are incredibly detailed and read something like this: “Supercharger/Turbocharger: Permitted 14-71 roots-type with SFI Spec. 14.2 restraint mandatory; 19-inch maximum rotor case length.” 

Yowzer. 

Even with all the specs, you still end up with a wonderful automotive hodge-podge in these classes. I actually saw an ’83 Chevy Malibu station wagon in one race and a Dodge Dakota pickup truck thundering down the track in another.  How about a ’66 Plymouth Belvedere… What the heck is a Belvedere? And the guy brought it all the way from Las Vegas.

The different types of vehicles are subject to a handicap system to help equalize their chances, so you get to see some weird match-ups.  It is a gas to watch a ‘69 Camaro and a Caddy take off together (the Caddy lost.)  The most unlikely-looking entrants often prove to have the most go-fast.  One car that looked like a rather rough late ‘70s model had such powerful torque twist that its left side lifted completely off of the ground at the start. 

The cars generate so much horsepower that they have “wheelie bars” attached to the rear to keep the engine from literally standing the car up on its rear fender.  One grandstand race announcer used the colorful phrase “sticking the tow hitch in the dirt.”  

As you’d expect, there are a bazillion traditional American muscle cars out here at Gatornationals  --  Cobras, Mustangs, Camaros, Shelbys, Barracudas, GTOs and Corvettes all doing their heritage proud.  I just think we all need to give it up for the New Jersey guy racing that powerhouse 1974 Chevy Vega. 

Now that is some turbocharged moxie.

Posted by

March 17, 2006, 2:36 PM

Permalink

Categories:

Women in Motorsports