Drag Racing

I went to a drag race for the first time last Friday. It was surprisingly fun, in large part because of who I was with: Dave, Andrew, and Janelle.

It was in many ways precisely how I expected it to be: loud, smokey, smelly, and monotonous. Even with all of that, though, it was really quite fun. I definitely like the drifting best, especially when they went two at a time. I think it'd be really fun to try it, though I'd want to use someone else's car. And I probably wouldn't want spectators for my first time. I was kind of disappointed that none of the cars ran into the concrete wall, rolled, or smashed into each other. Maybe next time.

I'm not sure how well we blended into the crowd. We probably pored over the program a little bit much trying to figure out the lingo and if anyone heard snatches of our conversation they probably would have found it pretty humorous:

"That's a Camaro, right?"
[Agreement from everyone else.]
Announcer: " ... driving a Corvette."

"I think 'red lighting' means they start before the light turns green. When they do that the red light turns on."

After being there an hour:
"Hey, I figured out why they call it the Maverick Lane and the Jacket Lane. It's because it says 'Maverick' and 'Jack-It' above the lanes."

After being there over an hour and a half:
"Oh, that's their speed showing up on the display."

"I wish someone would run into the concrete wall."
"Ya, that's the only reason I've been watching."

Announcer: "How many Ford fans do we have?"
One of us: "YAAAAA!!"
Announcer: "And how many Chevy fans do we have?"
The same one of us: "YAAAAA!!"

"I had no idea this thing took video!"

Some of these were pretty profound observations for the rest of us at the time. Maybe it was a good thing it was so loud, so we could keep these profound insights to ourselves. I did grow a beard for the occasion so I could blend in better. I think that helped a lot.

I have to admit I did kind of feel like a woose because I had earplugs in during a lot of it. I don't think I saw anyone else with earplugs the whole time, other than me and my friends. It was a whole lot more comfortable wearing them, though. And being able to hear people talking at a normal volume afterward was also a definite perk.

I didn't think to take a camera; fortunately my friends did. Dave's got pictures and videos posted on his blog. I think Andrew and Janelle's will be forthcoming.

Update: Janelle has posted some pictures and videos, too. They turned out really good.