Columns
STRAIGHT TOCH #55
An Unsatisfying End
By Ian Tocher
Imagine attending an NBA game with a tight score just as the fourth quarter is about to start, but instead the buzzer sounds and everybody is told the game’s over, time to go home, and thanks for coming. How about being an NFL star on the verge of establishing a new passing or running record, but halfway through the third quarter the league calls the game off with no intention or mechanism to ever restore your opportunity for greatness? Or maybe you’re a fan who drove hundreds of miles to finally see your favorite Major League Baseball team in live action, but midway through a tied sixth inning everyone is sent home with no winner determined and again given no plans to ever return and settle the score.
Sound farfetched? Never gonna’ happen? Well, maybe not in professional sports, but that’s essentially the situation in which 18 ADRL teams and thousands of fans found themselves early in May at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, Pennsylvania. Continue Reading »
MAKE OR BREAK #55
Make or Break
w/ Rick Jones
Rick Jones
Now that we have a few races under our belt in the ADRL Pro Nitrous category, we seem to have a pretty good idea on how to tune our car. Honestly, it really isn’t that much different than a Pro Stock car in terms of chassis, clutch and gearing. Ever since we made the decision to run Pro Nitrous, I have been wondering to myself, is this going to be that much different than what I’m used to? Now, I’m not talking about the nitrous tuning – just making the calls on running the car.
It seems like everything we have learned in Mountain Motor and NHRA Pro Stock has applied to our nitrous car. The car is awesome and responds the same way as what we are used to in Pro Stock. When we change the 4-link, we see a change; when we adjust the shocks, we see a change.
The technology in Pro Stock is so far advanced it is unbelievable, truly, and I see it coming to the Pro Modified ranks in a big hurry. Some of the gains we have made are truly amazing. Between our new style chassis and technology from some of our vendors, it’s been a very exciting process. We have been to four different tracks and we’ve run .940-second 60-foot times on over 30 different runs with a best of .937-seconds. I can only see it getting better, too, as time goes on and we get better. Continue Reading »
Tuning Up #55
Tuning Up
w/ Trent Salter
Trent Salter
It has been said that when it comes to the full burn of the summer race season that “mayhem has been achieved, boredom relieved” and this certainly represents the mindset of drag racers around the world. As this issue of Drag Illustrated takes a look at the various racing options across the country this summer outside of the standard major league venues, it is also our hope that we’re able to recognize the effort put forth by racers and teams competing within these series and circuits, and the struggle – mentally, physically, mechanically and financially – that is drag racing.
As the racing series gets into full-stride and racers have officially shook whatever offseason ailment may have been plaguing them thus far, and are doing there best to achieve their eighth- or quarter-mile goals – be it gaining points towards a coveted track or world champion, winning the big money, or simply setting new bests in speed and elapsed time. It goes without question that only those who have dedicated themselves to a passion-based sport or hobby like drag racing can truly appreciate or even understand what it takes to do this. Continue Reading »
Letter from the editor #55
Wes Buck
In just my short five years in the publishing business, along with a lifetime spent at the drag strip, there have been almost innumerable mistakes made and lessons learned, and a few of them have essentially become credos that form the foundation of my life. One of which, regardless of how cliché it may sound at times, is that a team is only as strong as its weakest link.
Whatever your business or sport, creating a culture of teamwork is crucial to achieving any measurable success. It’s no easy task, though. In terms of drag racing, it’s easy to see where teamwork exists and where it doesn’t – primarily because there are no clearer parameters for success than in sports: wins, losses. Just like in any other sport, or industry for that matter, there is generally a wealth of people responsible for a team or company’s success, but a sole individual – a football team’s quarterback, a booming business’ CEO, a championship race team’s driver – gets all the credit. Though that proverbial front man of the band may not always be gracious and divvy out the accolades to his supporting cast, very rarely is their any doubt in that person’s mind that whatever success attained could not have been without the effort of a good unit working in succinct towards a common goal. Continue Reading »
Comfortably Numb #55
SO CYNICAL
By Wyatt Haldin
Wyatt Haldin
I hate being so cynical about anything having to do with the government of this nation, but I will always remember my reaction to the recent hit job on Osama Bin Laden. We had spent the weekend in Northern Illinois, attending the season opening race at Byron Dragway, and when I flicked on the TV in the motel room Monday morning, it was wall-to-wall coverage. I sat on the edge of the bed with my mouth hanging open because, if we’re all honest, most of us had given up on this criminal ever being brought to justice. Not five minutes into my crash course on the demise of the most wanted person in the world, I started asking myself quiet little questions. Body immediately dumped into the ocean from one of our warships? Crashing poll numbers for Obama made the timing of this operation extremely convenient for him. What a distraction from high fuel costs, inflation, and high unemployment, right? I asked myself, why couldn’t I just celebrate the victory that the death of Bin Laden represented for the USA, instead of picking the operation to pieces with criticism.
Don’t get me wrong here. The images of thousands of our fellow countrymen dying on Sept 11th, 2001 has been seared into my soul and anyone who had anything to do with this heinous act deserves much worse than a quick bullet to the brain. I really do not consider myself to be a 9-11 “truther” but in conversations with some pretty smart people, there are always questions raised that I cannot begin to answer with a satisfactory explanation. A couple of suspicions about September 11 that really dog me are, why was there no plane wreckage found at the site of the Pentagon attack and why did the twin towers fall at faster than the speed of gravity when they started coming down? I’m not here to reopen that whole can of worms but I learned a long time ago not to trust the “official” explanation given by some government type. Everything that happens in Washington, and I do mean everything, is not done because it’s the right thing to do. It’s done for political reasons and that always leaves the stench of corruption lingering behind. Continue Reading »
The real deal #54
The Real Deal
w/ Tommy D’Aprile
Tommy D'Aprile
Ever read a billboard that said, “Why fix it? Trade it in for the vehicle of your dreams!” Unfortunately, they’re leaving out the part about paying for it for the rest of your life, and that fixing what you have will certainly be cheaper in the long run.
What am I getting at? Well, more than anything, simply that patience, thinking things through, and making the right decisions is always the better option over what could be seen – especially in the new car situation – as a quick fix.
As a drag racer, patience is not one of my strong points. I want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. In the drag racing community, the aforementioned billboard could be used at every race. “Sure, the car you have is great, but if you just had a little lighter one” or a “little bitter blower” or a “little bigger engine”. The list goes on and on, and to be quite honest, it’s a little nerve-racking to think that most of are buying things we can’t afford to impress people that we don’t even know or like. Most of us know that trying to “keep up with the Jones’” is a one-way street to nowhere, but we’re all stuck living in the eternal prison of never-enough. Continue Reading »
STRAIGHT TOCH #54
Thinking back to the beginning
By Ian Tocher
Helping to put together this nostalgia-based issue of Drag Illustrated got me to thinking about my own early experiences with drag racing. Certainly I have nowhere near the pedigree of any of the racers featured within these pages or even of my colleagues at the magazine, but my interest in the sport does date back to my pre-teens, which I hesitate to admit gives me almost four decades of observation to varying degrees.
To be perfectly honest, I can’t remember with detail the first time I watched a real drag race in person. I do know it was at Dragway Park in Cayuga, Ontario, sometime in the mid-’80s, but I’ve lost too many brain cells to too many vices since then to produce a clear description. I do recall it was an NHRA divisional race on the May 2-4 weekend (Canadians know what I mean) and I bought an event sweatshirt that still takes up space in my closet (though it’s gotten a lot smaller over the years), but other than that, I’m at a loss for words. Continue Reading »
HEAD GAMES #54
Dr. Ron Berges
What’s in a name? The possibilities are endless. For many of us, it’s an identity. For others, it’s a product, a label, a trademark. “Big Daddy” Don Garlits is probably one of our most recognizable “name” players in the drag racing world. “Big” has been an icon longer than most of us have been alive. Although he’s physically not a large fellow, his reputation and impact on this sport we love is immense. I’ve been a fan since his 1967 Top Fuel win at Indy after which he shaved, as promised, the beard he grew that season.
I’ve not yet been fortunate enough to visit his museum in Ocala, Florida, but it’s on my motorsports bucket list. I do have a cool piece of “Bigorabilia” though – a camper’s pass from the 17th annual World Series of Drag Racing held at the venerable Cordova Dragway back in 1970. Believe it or not, about 10 years ago, one of my patients – a 50 year old guy with schizophrenia – came in and told me he had an autograph of the famed drag racer Don Garlits, which he pronounced Gartlits. Of course, I quickly corrected him. “I’m pretty sure it’s Gartlits,” he argued. Continue Reading »
COMFORTABLY NUMB #54
EXTREMELY EXTREME EXTREMIST’S
By Wyatt Haldin
Wyatt Haldin
Imagine. That quiet guy who lives a couple of houses down the street from you, who keeps his yard mowed, house painted, and car washed is dangerous. That same family who pays their bills on time and manages to sock away a little bit for retirement is somehow a menace. Supposedly this behavior, if it were transferred to the government, is “extreme”. I’ve grown to loathe this word. It’s nothing more than code talk to describe being off the liberal plantation. My favorite smarmy lib, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), was caught on tape earlier this month, saying that one of the main talking points of his caucus was to always use the word “extreme” when referring to or describing both the Tea Party and republican party. It was shocking to hear this.
The modern day democratic party is not your grandparent’s democratic party, it is not Harry Truman’s democratic party and it’s not JFK’s democratic party. This current political sideshow is made up of some of the most anti-American and anti-free market radicals that have ever swerved into power. I must interject that I’m not a big fan of the republican party either. At this point in time, the GOP is nothing more than the lesser of two evils. The republicans are starting to be remade in the image of the Tea Party but there are still way too many RINO’s wandering the halls of the capital, clogging up the political process, and clinging desperately to power. Continue Reading »
TUNING UP #54
Drag Racing Throw Back…
Trent Salter
Welcome to the premiere of Drag Illustrated’s Nostalgia Special Issue. By request, this issue is a result of you, the readers, who passionately suggested an issue that celebrates the incredible rich history of drag racing. DI 54 also serves as a reflection on the consistent advancement of the sport that continues to embrace modern technology while respecting and retaining the most traditional values.
“Nostalgia” by definition is a sentimental longing for the past, typically a period or place with happy personal associations. Well, that’s about as definitive as can be. As many of you who have literally grew up around the sport will soon testify, this issue will provide you a reminiscent walk down memory lane that can take you back, as well as take you forward. Continue Reading »
