Bone-rattling sound and fury...and fantasy
This weekend I had the incredibly exciting experience of attending my first drag races--the NHRA Nationals, to be precise. Despite my apparent handicap from a pair of ovaries, even I was nearly overwhelmed with a desire to grunt Tim Allen-style and cry for "More power!"
Top fuelers are definitely my favorite--they're fastest and loudest. Despite ear plugs, I could still feel the extreme decibels rattle every bone in my body, both during the burn-out and the actual race. Tony Schumacher set a track record at 333 miles and hour. Once I got over my natural reaction to flinch and squint at the green light, I was able to observe how much the tires deform and the difference in the throttle opening between the burn-outs and the races.
Dad walked me through the pits explaining various things about racing engines, such as the difference between cross-flow and reverse flow cylinder heads. I also had dumber questions such as "Why do they call them funny cars?" answered. Perhaps none of this info will ever be useful, but that doesn't mean it isn't fascinating.
This weekend seemed as good a time as any to tell my dad a secret fantasy of mine--getting an old car and fixing it up together. In my fantasy, we'd hunt down the parts and do most of the work ourselves, farming out anything we couldn't handle, like body work, for example. Ideally, I'd like to attempt this with a muscle car of some sort, but really, almost anything would do. I want the learning experience and the joy of undertaking a project with my father, who is sitting on some 35 years of comprehensive automotive knowledge.
What kind of dreams are you sitting on, and have you told anyone about them in the hopes of bringing them to fruition?
Top fuelers are definitely my favorite--they're fastest and loudest. Despite ear plugs, I could still feel the extreme decibels rattle every bone in my body, both during the burn-out and the actual race. Tony Schumacher set a track record at 333 miles and hour. Once I got over my natural reaction to flinch and squint at the green light, I was able to observe how much the tires deform and the difference in the throttle opening between the burn-outs and the races.
Dad walked me through the pits explaining various things about racing engines, such as the difference between cross-flow and reverse flow cylinder heads. I also had dumber questions such as "Why do they call them funny cars?" answered. Perhaps none of this info will ever be useful, but that doesn't mean it isn't fascinating.
This weekend seemed as good a time as any to tell my dad a secret fantasy of mine--getting an old car and fixing it up together. In my fantasy, we'd hunt down the parts and do most of the work ourselves, farming out anything we couldn't handle, like body work, for example. Ideally, I'd like to attempt this with a muscle car of some sort, but really, almost anything would do. I want the learning experience and the joy of undertaking a project with my father, who is sitting on some 35 years of comprehensive automotive knowledge.
What kind of dreams are you sitting on, and have you told anyone about them in the hopes of bringing them to fruition?
Labels: personal
posted by Gospazha at
9:14 PM
