Here we are in March of 2013. For those of you who aren't so good with math (Genia) that's the third month of the year. I've been lucky enough to attend 3 different motor sports events so far.
That's 3 for 3! Not too shabby.
That's 3 for 3! Not too shabby.
Let's recap, shall we?
In January I attended the Rolex 24 hour race in Daytona Beach.
In my opinion, that's the ultimate racing competition. Imagine what 24 hours non-stop is like on the drivers, the crews, the officials and most importantly, the cars.
Endurance-Maximus!
In February I traveled back to Daytona for the Daytona 500.
Nascar Sprint Cup series is my favorite, by far. I love the speeds, the roar of the engines, the pit stops and of course, the good looking drivers.
I enjoy racing of all kinds, I'm married to a gearhead, I have no choice in the matter. I'm willing to watch any of the series at least once.
NHRA drag racing series is one that both my husband and son have followed in the past, so this year I vowed to attend that race to see what I was missing. The Gatornationals were held on March 14th-17th in Gainesville, Florida. I was informed that Saturday's event was the best day to go as it's the last day of qualifying, meaning you get to see more cars trying to make it into Sunday's finals. Before we could even purchase our tickets, the drag racing gods smiled upon us.
(In reality, it was knowing the right person, but it's my story and "drag racing gods" sounds more dramatic)
See this beautiful little mud monster?
That is Allison, who is Ryan's girlfriend. Ryan is Nathen's very good friend. Not only will Allison get down and dirty in the mud, she also races drag cars! She just got back into it after having a baby and Nathen has been helping the family get things "race ready" Though Allison wasn't participating in the Gators, she and the rest of her family were going as spectators. Let me rephrase that...."high class spectators!" Her parents had bought a skybox suite and generously gave Nathen, Karissa, Trevor and I tickets to join them!
Skybox - Suite 5
We left home around 6:30 am for our 45 minute ride to Gainesville. We arrived just as the sun was topping the trees.
Traffic was already crazy!
Our VIP entrance
Everyone was excited
The first BIG difference between Nascar and NHRA is the ability to be up close and personal with the cars and crews. No matter what level of ticket you buy, you are able to walk around, meet crews and drivers and watch them work. Very cool, if you're into that sort of thing.
Just like any sponsored event, the sponsors and advertisers are all over giving things out and running contests.
As a Nascar fan, Richard Petty's name is HUGE.
In NHRA, the "king" is John Force. Force has won 15 championships, is still going strong (at 63 years of age) and has 2 daughters actively racing and one daughter that bowed out to start a family. The Force name is synonymous with drag racing.
Here is Nitro Alley (or pit road as we would call it in Nascar)
The greatest thing about being here so early was seeing the cars as they were being unloaded.
Those Top Fuel dragsters just keep coming, and coming and coming.
You're right there, like so close that if you don't move, they'll hit you. When someone starts hollering, you'd better be moving out of the way!
Here is the 2012 champion, Antron Brown's, car being unloaded.
These guys are no joke! Everyone has a job to do and no matter how many spectators are crowded around, they keep right on working.
The Force family had 7 semi trailers lined up. Very impressive!
When John's trailer is opened up, a huge crowd forms, the heavens open up and the angels start singing.
(ok, the crowd part is the truth, but if your a fan of the sport you CAN almost hear the angels)
Robert Hight, who is John's teammate AND son-in-law.
None of the Force family were out, so we strolled along to see what else we could see.
Have you ever seen an 8,000 HP motor up close?
To put that into perspective, I drive a Jeep, which is 210 HP.
Notice the "blanket" around the motor? That's so when they blow a motor, less pieces are scattered, keeping the drivers and fans somewhat safer.
They call the Top Fuel cars "ticking time bombs" because they are so volatile. If you doubt me for even one second, go to you tube and search "Top Fuel Dragster crashes"
INSANITY
Here is a crew member packing the parachute for the next set of runs.
This car's chutes are made by Simpson Racing. Notice the red tag hanging off of them?
Here's a close up.
Here is a Funny car chassis, minus the body.
Here's the body for it.
Drag motorcycle.
Drag car from a lower class.
Mickey Thompson tire trailer
Goodyear tire trailer
A line of porta-potties for my dear friend Genia.
Not only was this my first drag racing experience, I also did something else I'd never done before.
Oh yeah, it's real!
Living in Florida for 30 years, I've seen millions of alligators, but I've never held one in my arms like a baby. He was brought in from Gatorland for educational purposes and for photo ops. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! He was fairly tame and his mouth was taped shut. In the wild, this little guy could take your hand off.
I also met Jesse James (Former owner of West Coast Choppers, Former Mr. Sandra Bullock)
He was sitting between two merchandise trailers having some lunch so he declined a picture, but he was friendlier than I expected. He said he would be at the hauler later for pictures, to which I declined.
What hauler you ask?
Alexis Dejoria is the driver of the Patron car. Jesse is now engaged to her. His FIFTH engagement, three of which resulted in marriages, 4 of which involved cheating scandals.
Good luck Alexis!
After strolling through Nitro Alley and enjoying a foot long hot dog for breakfast, we made our way up to our seats.
Karissa & Trevor in the elevator.
Views from the top
Staging area for the cars
On our way
Skybox 5-VIP public suite!
WOW! is pretty much the only way to describe it.
Ryan, Allison, Nate & Karissa
Nate holding Allison's son
From outside
Ryan & Josh
Our view from our seats
Notice how empty the stands below us are? That changes dramatically when the "big dogs" come out!
Not only did we have an amazing view of the track, we also had catered lunch.
Private bathrooms
And beer!
(No alcohol is sold on the premises)
We were fat, happy and enjoying the races.
There is absolutely no way to describe these races. These alcohol dragsters are loud...or so I thought. I really had no idea how much worse it was going to get.
Just the burnout they do, to warm up their tires, shakes you to the core!
Next up are the Pro Mods, equally as loud.
These are all pretty cool, but nothing in comparison to the big boys we were about to experience.
Before the top fuel dragsters or funny cars come out, the track is walked, measured, inspected, temps are taken and all the old rubber is burned off and scraped down.
When the track is satisfactory, the dragsters come out and the stands fill to capacity.
This is what the fans come for!
Not long after the top fuels began, the crowd started to roar. Along that little road where that tractor is sitting a scooter came whizzing by with none other than "Brute Force" atop it.
He was at the starting line to wait for his daughter Brittany to make her run.
He copped a squat on the wall until she made her way to the line.
Once Brittany was up, he paced around while her crew did their prep work. You can see him in the bottom left of this photo.
Even Mama Force came to the starting line. As a mother, I can empathize with how tough this must be to watch.
But the girl is good and won this round against her competitor.
I won't even narrate through these photos, you really need to experience it in person to understand it. Imagine an 8,000 HP motor, going 1,000 feet, in 3.7 seconds at 317 mph!
SO LOUD that your heart pounds, the ground shakes, car alarms go off and it's like the world stands still for a split second.
FREAKY!
Add in the raw fuel (nitromethanol) they're pumping out and your eyes water and your throat burns.
What appears to be smoke in this picture is in fact, raw fuel! These crew members muddle through it like it's not even there.
Just another day at work!
Antron Brown (2012 Champion) doing his burnout and who took home the overall win on Sunday.
This is Doug Kalitta who had a great run on Saturday in his dragster.
I took his picture for two reasons.
1. He had a cousin, Scott Kalitta who was killed in a funny car in 2008 during a qualifying run. His motor blew up at 300 mph, engulfing the car in flames, his parachutes failed to stop him and he went through the sand trap into a concrete post.
2. He is owner and CEO of Kalitta Charters, the sole company that has a contract with the government to fly the remains of soldiers to their final resting places.
The final class we watched were the Funny cars. Same motors, just as fast as the dragsters, just a tad easier on the ears due to the longer exhaust they run.
As luck would have it, in one of the qualifying runs, John Force was up against Robert Hight.
(teammate and son-in-law)
John beat him pretty good.
I would love to be a fly on their wall at family gatherings.
Fascinating!
While John celebrated his victory against Robert, Courtney Force took her spot at the line and won her race also.
And John congratulated her on the jumbo tron.
The Force is strong in that family!
They are a Force to be reckoned with!
Ok, ok, I'll quit.
We left the track around 7:00 pm and arrived safely at home by 8:00.
I could feel the grime and smell the scent of rubber in my clothes, my eyes were dry and burning and my internal organs were trying to settle back into their correct positions.
All in all I'd consider that an awesome day at the races.
~Thanks so much to the McClean Family for inviting us along!~
