Gatornationals 2006 Wrap-Up
During my four days at the 2006 Gatornationals drag races, I came across things that I thought would be fun to tell you about, but I couldn’t quite crow-bar them into my previous postings. Here’s the stuff that didn’t make eliminations but still deserves a run:
** Ho-Ho, this Cupcake’s no Twinkie! Hostess Cakes is sponsoring a “Race Divas†advertising campaign
with Melanie Troxel from NHRA, Danica Patrick from the Indy Racing League and NASCAR’s Leilani Münter. I ate some of the Donettes (just for article research, of course.)
** Drag racing superstitions: Never eat peanuts in the pit, never wear green. Why? No one could tell me, but they were pretty adamant about the taboos.
** Whats a flopper? Its another word for Funny Car, the car that has a molded fiberglass shell that covers the dragster beneath. The top flops up and down (hopefully never during a race.)
** The colorful and artistic paint schemes on many of these cars have to be seen to be appreciated. One of the Super Stock 1969 Corvettes had an absolutely gorgeous midnight blue metallic finish with gold, red and orange flames licking up the top of the wheel wells. Or, how about Pro Mod’s “Raging Bull,” with a snorting bull (complete with ring through the nose) painted on the hood? I saw lots of luminescent purple, gold, black, red and pearly acid green. Loved “The Pequeño Pancho” car, with its yellow and apple green motif.
** Top Fuel dragster driver Ashley Force, daughter of Funny Car master John Force, has her own Mattel action figure, complete with helmet and racing suit. Weve come a long way, baby. While Im focused on Force, I thought it was neat that John Force always runs his pre-race burnout a long way down the track, as a gesture to his fans. They always respond with cheers and fist-pumps.
** While researching the slang term “Doorslammer
,” I discovered that there’s a San Francisco blues band called Johnny Nitro and the Doorslammers. Check out a Super Stock-worthy lyric off of their album “Car Fixin’ Blues:
”
“My carburetor won't carburate
When these brakes work, it's an act of faith
My engine won't energize
And my generator won't generate”
("Doorslammer" is slang for those Stock class drag racing cars that still have operable, useabledoors to get in and out of the vehicle.)
** I guess the mechanics have to relax sometime; how about this Funny Car tech (see photo at right) with a Game Boy stuck in his back pocket?!
** Worried about skipping church on Sunday for the finals? Attend the non-denominational services right there at the Raceway, sponsored by Rodders for Christ
. A minister also opens the finals runs with a pre-race prayer, asking the Supreme Being to “open your power.”
** Driver Tony Schumacher is part of Don Schumacher Racing
(along with Melanie Troxel and Angelle Sampey) and they are sponsored in part by the U.S. Army. Tony looks like a soldier himself, with an impressive “high and tight” military-style haircut. He goes by the moniker “The Sarge.”
** Some of the NHRA fans have the most enormous RVs I’ve ever seen in my life, with all of the slide-outs and trimmings. I saw one Winnebago™ that I’ll swear was almost bigger than its home state of Rhode Island.
** Nitro Mall surprise: They sell an NHRA do-rag
. There’s some cultural cross-pollination!
** You know all of those advertisements about cars and trucks that say, “It’s got a Hemi?” Well, I knew that this was an automotive Big Deal, but really didn’t know what it meant. Fortunately, at Gatornationals the Mopar
tent on “Manufacturer’s Row” had a display of all sorts of engines and blocks, including a Hemi
. Imagine; an engine part with its own Web site. A Hemi engine has a hemispherical combustion chamber, and is known for delivering lots of power, hence its appeal in racing. For more info, see How Stuff Works
.
** I liked the motto of one of the Sportsman sponsors: “Art’s Used Parts” – “If We Don’t Have It, You Don’t Need It.”
** Some more drag lingo: A driver must be “good at both ends of the track,” meaning that he or she is “good off of the tree” (starts quickly in reaction to the GO green light on the track light, which is called a Christmas tree) and also good at speeding down the track.
Well, sports fans, it’s time to wrap it up and bid you farewell from the Gainesville Raceway and the 2006 Gatornationals. Interested in seeing some more racing? The next big event is the O’Reilly Spring Nationals
in Houston, Texas March 31st through April 2nd.
See you at the drags!
- Posted by
- March 23, 2006, 2:49 PM
- Permalink
- Categories:
Leave a comment