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Back in 2005 I went to a Drag racing event at West Sydney International
Dragway and was blown away at the racing action but mostly, the Top Fuel
experience I had.
We got in there at 8.30 in the morning, seeing these
street like cars running times that were unimagineable for street cars
compared to the times we used to run .
The cars were fast and running mad times but running them all day
long, reliably and consistently like it was no problem.
The ears starting rattling when supercharged outlaws came out and I
started wondering if I had brought any type of earmuff.
The sounds were bearable so I soldiered on because it was so
good, you can feel the cars at that volume and I didnt want to
muffle it out if I could handle it.
Then at 5 oclock they had the national anthem sung live
and the first top fuel car got pushed out into view behind the start
line. I had never seen one of these before.
When the Anthem stopped I noticed the crowd start putting earplugs in and
earmuffs on as they sat down .
Their kids were gathered in a hurry and plugs/muffs went on them too if
they didnt already have them on but a few still went on un plugged around
me I noticed so I was not concerned.
A few more people around me started to put some type of muffle on their
ears aswell so I rummaged through and found mine anyway, just in case.
They started the 2 Top Fuel cars up, one after the other and I could
hear that they were different straight away. The idle was just as loud as
the fastest cars I'd seen all day so far and that was just the idle.
The first car came up and done a burnout, the vibrations on the chest were
not that bad but you could notice them which was wierd for me. The second
car came up and done the same thing to a slightly different
note/vibration.
As they reversed I got the camera zoomed in and ready for the launch I
could see the team cleaning tyres and the crew chiefs at the engines still
adjusting things.
People without ear plugs started to put their fingers in their ears
and I was starting to think about putting mine in so I did.
When they both inched to the line and stopped you could hear the note
change lower and more serious and then boom.
You could feel like the wind change around you and you
were smothered in a blanket of sound, nice deep sound that totally changed
the air pressure around you so it felt sort of like you were in a day
dream and a bit surreal.
I was hooked then and took my earplugs out for ever except for in the pits
when I'm standing next to one.
I have made sure that I have never missed a Top Fuel event at WSID since
that day and decided to make DVD's that others can watch and enjoy just like I
have.
Thanks for your support, Its good to know I'm not the only one.
Garry Boyes
hipervids.com