Quote:
Originally Posted by MKSixer
Yeah. The only time I've ever been afraid at a race track was at a drag race. They were shooting 4 up, I was standing 30 feet behind and the vibrations going through my body were insane. I still get the willies thinking about it. And watching near the finish line is no better. An object going by at aircraft cruise speeds on the ground is so unsettling that I don't have the words to express it.
Keep in mind that in college I helped test catapults before they went to the fleet so seeing a 60,000 dead load go by at 150 mph was no big deal. Drag racing is another thing, entirely.
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In 2018, I was invited to be with a Top Fuel dragster team as a guest when the NHRA crazy boys and girls came to the Seattle area. As MK said, I stood behind the beasts at the start line and after my 50+ yrs of spectating from the other side of the fence, I knew it would be insane. It is literally the first time in my life when both cars launched and a massive air blast and sound shock wave hit me and in that nano-second my survival instinct told me to run the other direction because I thought I was going to die in that split second. And....when the beasts do a burn out to heat their tires before they launch, you are pelted with micro-bits of rubber.