Life, 14 seconds at a time

When I road raced I was always surprised how calm the atmosphere inside the car was. With long straights stretching the engine to peak rpm's before every shift followed by the start of the braking zone before downshifting and then entering into a graceful turn and back on the accelerator. I'd expected it to be chaotic. But it was peaceful. No oncoming traffic, no real hurry. It was about planning, thinking, maneuvering. Basically it felt like being on a deserted open road, free to manipulate the car anyway you want, as fast as you could. Ultimately trying to reach the finish line first, but, with the exception of a crash at the start line, the race certainly wasn't won in the first sixty feet. To me, road racing is about what happens along the way. Road racing is ballet on wheels with the miles in between being the crescendo into the final scene, the curtain falling as you cross the finish line. Road racing is refined.

So when I tried drag racing for the first time, I thought the atmosphere inside the car would be the same. But I found out drag racing is raw. Drag racing is chaotic. A controlled frenzy. You have a quarter mile to go and you want to get there as soon as possible - but not necessarily as fast as possible. Fast doesn't always mean first. It's possible to drive faster than your competitor and still lose. A drag race can be, and most often is, won in the first sixty feet. Reaction time. Simplified, drag racing is reaction time. Stage. Wait for the lights. Yellow. Get the rpm's up. Yellow. Hold it there. Yellow. React. Green. Are you already launched? Did you hook up? Don't spin the tires. Feather the throttle. Shift. Floor it. Shift. Faster. Shift. So much going on, and in so little time. There's no room for error. React late, dump the clutch, spin the tires, those mistakes can all mean defeat. Drag racing's not like road racing where you have lap after lap, mile after mile to make up for a mistake. There's no planning. No maneuvering. It's react as fast as possible, hook up and go and it's over. Did your win light come on?