Tips for Enjoying (and Surviving) Drag Races

My husband, six year-old son and I just spent a sunburned but fun day on Sunday at the Gatornationals.  Drag races can indeed be a family event, but do yourself (and your kids) a favor: Prepare.

** For gosh sakes, bring the hearing protection . Make it the double stuff, too: plugs/foamies and then ear muffs with a high Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) on top of that.  Don’t spend $20 at the Nitro Mall for ear muffs;  buy ahead of time at Home Depot, Sports Authority or Wal-Mart.  Not only is damage to hearing irreparable, it is also no fun for anyone to be in pain at the races from the loud noises.

** Once you decide to go, buy tickets early.  The primo reserved seating sells out quickly, and you don’t want to have to stand throughout the races on a hot day in crowds, especially with short kids who can’t see past the grown-ups.  Look at the online diagrams of racetrack seating, and try not to get seats facing into the sun.

** You'’ll hear this over and over, because so many knuckleheads don’t pay attention: Get there early.  Most tracks are on smallish roads outside of town, and getting into the gates/parking area late will mean sitting in line, idle in your car with cranky kids, as thousands of fans all converge on one locale.

Another benefit to early arrival:  the family will see the Sportsman runs and frankly, those are a lot quieter than the Top Fuels, Funny Cars and Top Alcohols that come later.  Start out slowly on the “noise ladderâ€� and work your way up to teeth-chattering Top Fuel.

** Still too loud, as it was at first for my son?  That’s OK; it does take some getting used to, even with proper protection.  Check out the Pro Stock Motorcycle runs; lots of zoom, looks cool and doesn’t bust your eardrums. You may get to see US Army team bike rider Angelle Sampey, who won the event at Gatornationals.

** Most races run roughly Thursday through Sunday. Even though much of the big hoopla is on Saturday and Sunday (commensurate with the highest ticket prices) there is plenty of action on Thursday and Friday if you can take off from work and school.  Plus, it’s much less crowded, the cars and drivers are more accessible and they won’t be sold out of all the T-shirts in your kid’s size.

This is also when the early Sportsman qualifiers take place, as discussed in my post “Shot at Glory�, so you and the kids get to cheer on those Belvederes and Malibu station wagons ripping down the strip. (PS – you would not believe how many folks have told me all about Belvederes once they read that piece. Mea culpa for my ignorance!)

**  To see some mechanical wizardry and flying piston heads, head over to the pit areas once Top Fuel gets going. (There are plenty of qualifying and elimination runs, so pick one you don’t mind missing.) It is great fun to stand next to the pit, hear the sirens heralding the arrival of the dragster after its run and see the tow vehicle pull in quickly with the car behind. 

At that point, what seems like about 142 mechanics all run and grab the car, roll it into the pit area and start ripping the engine apart.  They have a mere 75 minutes to tear the entire thing down to the block and rebuild it before the next round. Dynamite photo opportunities as well, but stay alert for when you need to get out of the way.

During one of the StriVectin rebuilds, my son got to meet KB Racing Top Fuel driver Hillary Will (see photo) while she was re-packing her dragster’s parachute at the next pit down.  The crowds are still mostly in the stands, and you start to feel as though this is your personal show.

** In the stands, watch the race replays in slow motion on the track Jumbotron and see the drivers interviewed the minute they climb out of their cars post-race.  Pay attention to the announcers – they’ve been doing their job since the days of the Model T (well, a few decades at least!) and their patter is simply crammed with cool tidbits of insider info and insight.  That’s how we learned that Melanie Troxel lost one of her “lucky earplugsâ€� last week, apparently causing great team consternation till it was found. 

Finally, bring the hats and sunscreen; you'll need them.  Enjoy your day at the races!

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March 22, 2006, 5:23 PM

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