1 Bad Mirada

for those who have never had the pleasure of seeing a nitro powered funny car, or "top fuel" car run..its like nothing ive ever seen or heard...6800 horsepower...i got to see a few of them run this past weekend...and running in the 320mph range...standing just over a quarter mile away, the car is halfway to you, before you can hear it...and when the sound does get to you, it hits you like a wall...the ground shakes, even 1500 feet away...even with the best isolating headphones in the world, the car is still deafening...

the fumes are so toxic, that even with a car blowing past you, COASTING past the 1/4 mile mark, at idle...the wake of fumes left behind is enough to make your throat burn a little...if youre up close, nitro fumes have a mace-like effect...making your eyes and throat burn like youve taken a tablespoon full of habenerio paste...we were standing around the 60 foot mark for the first set of runs this past weekend, and when the cars did their burnouts, at quarter throttle, amanda said "it doesnt seem that loud"...then they back them up, and remove the throttle stop...and when they stage, and launch, unleashing all 6800 horsepower...you can tell the newbies who jump and cover their ears...ive seen alot of drag racing in my days...but few things (other than winning) make me smile like a nitro car blast down the quarter...seeing a needle shaped car tear down the quarter in just under 5 seconds...0-60 in something like .4 seconds...0-330 in 4.6 seconds...