"We need to go see the drag races again. Sometime" My wife Donna reminds me every now and then. The first time at the strip for her was a trip down to Jackson, SC for a test and tune session. I just wanted to see how fast my 3.9 litre V6 Mustang could go in a quarter. My first time down a strip. I didn't set the world or fire nor did I expect to. But that first time against the tree. I raced go karts with moderate success picking up a few wins on a shoe string budget. The wins were hard fought. I won Rookie of the Year at the track I competed at. A boating accident cost me a track title as three race weekends went by while I healed up. But those three runs, a best being an ET of 17.303 @ 84.15 you can laugh now. I understand. It wasn't a stellar performance, Bust just to be able to run doen the strip as fast as I could get that little pony too with no skill at all, well,  It would rank behind about three of my kart wins and the rookie of the year award. Plus seeing the pride on Donna's face. And afterwords hearing her brag to her sisters gave me a little boost too. After that night I got to thinking. There a very few form of motorsports left that you can drive what you run at the track. Sure, you can drive a car legal for some SCCA classes to the track or slalom course, but after that drag racing is the only type of racing I can think of. Taking your daily driver down the strip gives you a rare opportunity to participate even if you're just a guy like me with a car that doesn't exactly scream racecar. At most places it's $10 and the desire to have a little fun.

Working as a media director for a local dirt track cuts into that time. Good weater permitting I've penciled in Sunday to go to a new track about a 15 minute drive up the road. It's a one eighth but still it will feel good to stomp the gasand squeal some tires.

When Jeff started this site, he asked me if I could moderate the photos like I do on the stock car site. That's when a second reawakening occurred.

Viewing the posted photos started taking me down memory lane. To the days when I had my Snake and Mongoose Hot Wheels cars, the orange track, the whole 9 yard. To the days when I always had my Stock Car Racing and Hot Rod magazine issued tucked into my school note book. Looking at cars that had names every bit a famous as their drivers. who drove them.

Names like Chi-Town Huster, Beachcomber, Grumpy's Toy, Motown Missle, Swamp Rat. Drivers who when by Snake, Mongoose, Jungle, Animal,  Dyno.  To the days when I'd send that 25 cents with a SASE to get a Savage Clutches decal for my bicycle or any other decal I though would fit a bike frame.

And I built the models between Revell, Mattel/Monogram, AMT, and MPC it seemed you could build the whole NHRA. Built with all the skill a nine year old with bottle paint, glue and a brush had at that Young stage in life. One who now scours ebay looking for that special car he once had and would like to build anew with the skills he perfected over the years. And now as an adult gets that same childlike excitement every time a kit is re-released from those great old moldings. And having the skill to build a model for your sister-in-law, who is a manger for a funny car sponsors. While her co-workers have  a small diecast. She has a 1/24 scale hand built and finding out her co-workers want to know how they get one. Jeff's creation of this site and reviewing every photo that's posted  has been a reawakening for me. And a good one. I get to be a kid again. To all of you who post those great cars from the '60's and 70's I thank you. I know what my mid-life crisis is. And it's one I can share with my wife Donna. After the smell of the Nitromethane, being able to see the cars up close and the watching the crews rebuild an engine after a run, I now know that what ever motorsport she'll be there. I was hoping that after feeling the shock wave and seeing what 300 MPH looks like , the shock wave coming off the car would get her hooked. It worked. But it came in a form I never imagined a night of fire finale with a jet truck. And like most women what she liked best were the "pretty" cars. It seem something awakened in her. A real first time awakening.  Having been a former nun she even after 15 years she is still finding a world she never knew exisited. Being able to go on that rare ocassion with the on you love who goes because she wants to and not feeling obligated to makes this a great experience. Sometimes I feel sorry for the guys I see whose wife or girlfriend gives off the aura of wanting to be someplace else.  Then I realize how blessed I really am.