Ford Racing Invitational '08: The aftermath

I
went into the Ford Racing Racing Invitational drag race this weekend
with only a cursory knowledge of drag racing. Sure I was aware of all
the usual suspects like Garlits, Prudhomme, Force and other famous
names over the years. I knew about the kind of speeds they reached and
I had a vague awareness of bracket racing and the need for consistency.
But I figured "How hard can it be to go from a starting line and
traverse 1320 feet in the shortest possible time?" Well, it turns out
that it's a lot harder than you might think. If nothing else, I came
away from this experience with with a vastly increased respect for
successful drag racers.

Let's start with a brief run down of
the procedure. First up, before getting to the starting line you do a
couple of burnouts to warm the tires in hope of getting some extra
grip. On racing slicks this undoubtedly helps. Whether it actually
helps with street tires is something about which we need to consult
with some tire engineers. Once your tires are warm, you pull up to the
line. This is where things start to get very complicated. Read on to
learn more and check out the gallery below for shots from the day
showing Autoblog and its peers doing their best on the quarter-mile.