Horsepower, Speed and Adrenaline are the first things that come to mind when I think of the sport of drag racing.
Drag Racing started back in the early 1950's when guys with fast cars challenged others with fast cars to a race to see whose car was faster. This caught on and people started to manufacture parts and alter stock components on their vehicles to make them go faster than the stock car you could buy off the dealer floor.
As people got more involved in making their cars go faster, the sport evolved. People began to experiment with different air inductions, carburetors and camshaft. Eventually someone took the body off the chassis to make it lighter and a new breed of car was born. C.J. "Pappy" Hart saw a car at the first legal drag strip in Santa Ana, Ca and called the car a "Rail". After that people started showing up with "Rails" every weekend. This was ultimately the start of what we call a dragster today.
Throughout the 1960's "Rails" turned into "Dragsters". A dragster is a long tubular narrow frame where the driver compartment sits at the back of the car behind the rear end. The driver sits in a hard seat with a roll bar going over your head for protection. Your legs lay over the rear end and your feet rest on the gas and brake pedal. The motor is located in front of the driver and bolted in between the frame rails.
Two opponents would line up side by side and race down a track that was 1320 feet, a quarter of a mile. Both cars take off together and which ever car gets to the finish line first wins.
Drag racing has evolved over the years and has become as big as NASCAR and Indy. Dragsters today are exceeding speeds of 330mph at 4.440 seconds.
Nostalgia drag racing is a recreation of the way it was done in the past. Nostalgia drag racing is based on the way it was "back in the day". The engine has to be located in front of the driver like the old days. You're limited to a 410 cubic inch motor. You're limited to one magneto on your motor. You're limited to a 6-71 GMC root style supercharger and you are limited to a 12 inch wide M&H drag slick for traction. I'm sure there are a lot of rules that I left out but I think you get the idea. These rules are there to try and make these cars look and perform like they did back in the old days but they are faster, way faster.
The best way to see old nostalgia dragsters, funny cars and fuel altereds is to check out races held by the Goodguys (
www.good-guys.com) or the American Nostalgia Racing Association (
www.ANRA.com). These two associations put on some of the best nostalgia drag racing events ever seen.
Jason Spence
Spence Family Racing
www.SpenceFamilyRacing.com
