Drag Racers, Why do we race ?

[sst1226]

At least once a year, usually in the middle of summer on a very hot day I find myself sitting inside a car with no roll-down windows, in an all black interior, in a full fire suit and I ask myself why am I doing this? For the time and money invested, I could be sitting on a boat right now out on the water somewhere with a cold drink in my hand. Why am I sitting in a trailer with no AC for sometimes hours on end and sometimes away from my family to make my next pass?

For me, I found the answer is the competition. I like to compete, period. I like the challenge of improving my car, and myself as a driver. Whether I'm foot braking or throttle stop racing, they appeal equally to me because they each present their own challenges to overcome. The speed has almost become secondary and a fringe benefit, because it seems that no matter how fast I go, I eventually become used to it. The money is nice, and can be a contributing factor to distance traveled to race or duration of a race I'll attend(1 day vs. 3 days). Trophies are nice but they don't factor into where or when I'll race.

I never understand why other racers will go out of their way to bash or look down at other racers who race in a different class or type of drag racing. Its all competition, just in a different flavor. Whether its finding more HP/maximizing your combo, finding consistencies in your program/yourself, or a little bit of all, we all compete with ourselves, and with our fellow racers to become better. From there on its a matter of preference and budget.

Winning a race, regardless of the scale is the highest of the highs and it validates the long hours spent in the garage maintaining/fixing/improving the car/tow rig, the time spent analyzing my program and sometimes the hours in between rounds. That is what keeps me coming back. In addition, losing a race that 9 other times based on my performance alone would have normally resulted in a win, but didn't because my opponent was better than me, motivates me to keep improving. That, coupled with some lucky rounds here and there. If/when I lose that motivation for competition, you'll be most likely to find me on a boat somewhere.