I made my annual trek to the Texas Motorplex yesterday, gearhead grandson in tow who had never so much as attended a drag race of any kind. Broke his butt in good. Anyway, we were initially dismayed by reports of 90 degrees ambient and 130 degree track temps for round 1 but the cars actually handled it well - all but the Top Fuelers who struggled quite a bit. One of the first passes right after the Pros kicked off at 3pm was Angelle Sampey's 6.72/202 pass which broke both ends of the track record so despite the heat the air must have been pretty good.
Well-run show; by 6 it was a lot more pleasant. They spent about an hour running the Top Alcohol stuff, then brought out Top Fuel Harley. Those things are cool as hell. Then Pro Mod, and they all put on a 5.70-5.80 show. I thought most of those cars had switched over to ProChargers but many of them were running Roots and screws (didn't know those were legal but I guess so?). Then the Pros again at 8...we walked down to the finish line and the boy got to watch Matt Hagen blow by at 335mph, setting a new track ET record in the process.
Had it not been for the jet car exhibition that he dearly wanted to see we would have left after the first 3 Top Fuel oildowns, one right after the other and there were plenty more to come, highlighted by Leah Pruitt's engine-destroying kaboomer towards the end. A round that should have taken 20 minutes took nearly 2 hours. Conditions were stellar for the fuel cars, tailwind and all, and everybody apparently pushed the envelope to the limit. There was talk of a potential 3.60/340 pass from Brittney but it wasn't to be. She did set the track speed record and came within a whisker of winning that 300mph 660' money but the car was soft at the hit and she wound up with a third-place 3.689.
So we watched the wheelstanding PT Cruiser (fun), the Vegas showgirl with the fire stick act (dumb) and finally the jets which is what my grandson remembers about the race as much as anything else. Long ol' day; the event lasted until 11pm and then a 3 hour drive home. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
Well-run show; by 6 it was a lot more pleasant. They spent about an hour running the Top Alcohol stuff, then brought out Top Fuel Harley. Those things are cool as hell. Then Pro Mod, and they all put on a 5.70-5.80 show. I thought most of those cars had switched over to ProChargers but many of them were running Roots and screws (didn't know those were legal but I guess so?). Then the Pros again at 8...we walked down to the finish line and the boy got to watch Matt Hagen blow by at 335mph, setting a new track ET record in the process.
Had it not been for the jet car exhibition that he dearly wanted to see we would have left after the first 3 Top Fuel oildowns, one right after the other and there were plenty more to come, highlighted by Leah Pruitt's engine-destroying kaboomer towards the end. A round that should have taken 20 minutes took nearly 2 hours. Conditions were stellar for the fuel cars, tailwind and all, and everybody apparently pushed the envelope to the limit. There was talk of a potential 3.60/340 pass from Brittney but it wasn't to be. She did set the track speed record and came within a whisker of winning that 300mph 660' money but the car was soft at the hit and she wound up with a third-place 3.689.
So we watched the wheelstanding PT Cruiser (fun), the Vegas showgirl with the fire stick act (dumb) and finally the jets which is what my grandson remembers about the race as much as anything else. Long ol' day; the event lasted until 11pm and then a 3 hour drive home. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
