HORSEPOWER & HEELS

I recently had the pleasure of learning about a very special program called eMail Our Military through their update tweets on the insta-news social network, Twitter.

eMail Our Military (eMOM) was created as a response to the DoD's cancellation of the "Any Service Member" and "Operation Dear Abby" mail programs in 2001, with the mission to provide encouragement, motivation and morale support to the men and women serving in our military by sending eMail, correspondence and care packages. Website visitors can join, participation is free, and take part in a number of support projects ranging from sending eMail on a one-on-one basis with a service member to year round support projects.

In memory of my Papi, who was retired from the Air Force, I decided to try and help out by sending some goodies to be included in the packages. Just simple Horsepower & Heels "stuff" I was told, would go a long way to someone on duty overseas. I then spoke to eMOM crusader @Dayngr on twitter, and we've decided to partner up and really get some love sent to our heros.

Right now, they are in full swing of their "Holiday Love" campaign, giving service members special Holiday packages and cards while they are serving abroad and away from their families. They are also collecting from "Postage Patriots" to cover the cost of mailing the packages to our military members. To donate, use the below form:

Share a little Holiday Love today!

Listen to:
eMOMpromo2007.mp3

Labels: Special Causes

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Remember way back in September when I blogged about that TV segment I flew to Orlando to film for Hispanics Today? It's only been a few months, but it seems like an eternity ago. I had almost forgotten about it, but luckily Debbie reminded me today.

The show airs this week finally. It features interviews with Dennis Lugo, Debbie Denny, and myself. You can see a quick video preview on the Hispanics Today website, and find out if the show can be viewed in your town by checking the Hispanics Today TV Air Guide. I unfortunately missed the show here in Huntsville, so if anyone can find an online version or can DVR it and rip it to a DVD for me, I'd be greatly appreciative.

Thanks again to Hispanics Today for the feature & Shellee for a great shoot. Hopefully, I'll actually get to see it soon.

Labels: press

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

It seems that absolutely nothing goes my way in trying to get this car done.

I spent 2 weeks down in Orlando, often staying until late at night trying to get the car done and painted so that my very patient sponsor, BRISK USA, would finally have on display in their booth at the PRI show. They have been very understanding and patient of me dealing with all the unexpected delays as I have fought to get this car out and running.

I chronicled all of my time and work down in Florida. By the time I left, it was as far as I could get it, and all that remained was the exterior to be painted and the final touches applied (Vinyl graphics, lexan bolted in, etc.). With 2 weeks remaining, I figured it would be close, but we'd get it done, and finally have a great looking car that would make BRISK, Harland Sharp, PNN, and the rest of my sponsors proud.

But today, I got a crushing phone call. It was Josue, who is doing all the body work and paint. He had picked up the car on Sunday after I left and took it back to his paint booth in Ocala, where he could work on it in a better, closer environment. He inlisted the help of an expert in fiberglass/ racecar body and paint to help him. What they determined, was that the body would not line up anywhere on the car. The doors had a 1/4" gap between the edge and the body. The front end had a shocking 1" gap where it meets the doors. Nothing lined up straight. They would have to go back and reconstruct and add material to the body to make it presentable again.

I am devastated.

What originally was supposed to be an off-season, relatively simple job has taken over a year and cost me TRIPLE what I originally anticipated. I am not far off in expense on this body change than what a newer (than my t-bird) rolling chassis would have cost me off of Racing Junk. It has been so discouraging the amount of hardships and set-backs I've encountered, and while I've always considered myself one of the most perserverant and determined racers I know, this has at times seemed as though I was fighting a losing battle.

Now, I'm 100% at the mercy of the Paint/Body gurus to help and get me out there at long last. I feel that I've significantly let down all the people who have supported me through this, and hope that I will somehow be able to right this and turn such a sour situation around for them all. It is the most frustrating time in my 10 year career for me, just as I felt that momentum had finally begun to pick up.

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Made it back from Orlando last night around 11:30pm, and after that ordeal, I vow never to travel through Atlanta on a holiday weekend ever again. We covered 20 miles in 3 hours on I-75 between Macon and Atlanta. I thought I'd never make it home.

Today was my first day at my new job. I accepted a position with a company called QuStream as their Marketing Coordinator. I was actually doing really well with my own business, Full Throttle Marketing, when I got the offer and really had to think about whether I wanted to go back to working for someone else again. But after meeting the Director of Marketing, Jas Foo, I realized that this was exactly the marketing position I had always hoped for, and with the level of experience that Jas will pass along, it is also a tremendous learning opportunity that is simply too good to pass up.

After a 2 hour orientation, I was escorted to my private office. No, not a cube, a real office. I know for most that would not be a big deal, but this is my first real office, and I am elated over the whole concept. Its silly, but somehow this feels more like a "career" finally, than just a "job". I am hoping that my great first day experience means that this truly might be the position I have always dreamed would come my way. And the best part??? NO COLD CALL SALES!

I started off about 4 years ago with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer as an Administrative Assistant for the Major/National Advertising manager. Rodney Mahone was one of the best managers I will ever encounter. My role quickly grew into a Marketing Coordinator position, where I was making sales collateral and advertising proposals for key accounts with the newspaper. I helped with product launches and staff kick-off events. I loved the job, but felt as though I was outgrowing the work, ran out of work too quickly, and was bored quite often. I wanted a new challenge.

I decided the next step was to become an advertising sales executive, allowing me to work with small businesses on developing campaigns and thinking strategically about their advertising and media budgets. I had nearly 2 years of newspaper experience, had serviced many of the major/national customers since my start, and felt that I had a good understanding of how to help advertisers. But as I soon found out, in a downward trending industry, the focus was less on what the customer needed for marketing and more about hard sales and budgets. The Huntsville Times role was even further away from what I liked, as it was just a contract hunting position, and didn't allow me to foster the customer relationships that I enjoyed.

This position is different. No sales. No cold calls. No commission. No quotas. In fact, in my first day, I already was doing some of the work I missed... using Illustrator to edit/tweak some sales collateral. I'm excited to learn all the exciting things that this job will teach!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Its been a roller coaster lately, with the 2 week thrash-fest on the car, the terrible loss, and the far too brief family & friend visits, but I will be headed home to Alabama tomorrow.

We said goodbye to Aiden this morning in a beautiful service at Chapel Hill Cemetery in Orlando. I made some food for the family gathering at Dennis & Tina's house (arroz con gandules and pernil) and after staying for a little while with family & friends, we headed back to the shop to finish up all we could before heading back to Alabama: the mock up block back in place, the transmission installed, the trans-tunnel sheetmetal secured. Basically, everything we could secure before Josue takes it to paint the exterior. Since the PRI is less than 2 weeks away, we had to assemble as much as possible to leave the guys in FL with as little to do in my absence.

After a quick dinner at Friday's Front Row, where we watched Auburn beat Alabama yet AGAIN (Still can't figure out why all my obnoixiously BAMA friends didn't respond to any of my text messages after the game--War Eagle!), we went down to the "corner" to see what was happening on the street hotrod scene. The "corner" is the name given to the street performance car "hang-out" located at the corner of Colonial Drive & Orange Avenue, the main drags in downtown Orlando. There were a couple of quick mustangs, some vettes, a few camaros, and a bunch of bikes. It was a "small gathering" compared to usual "corner" attendance, perhaps due to the holiday weekend.... oh the things I miss about Orlando!

I'm sad that I'm leaving tomorrow, but excited to be going home to start my new job. More on that to come!

Labels: In the Shop, On the Road

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Taking a cue from social media superstar, Chris Brogan's latest blog post, I am celebrating what I am thankful for by answering the same question:

“Who had a big influence on you and how did that affect the direction of your life or career?“

There are so many people to whom I am deeply grateful for the part they played in my life. Some are more obvious, and some don't have a clue the influence they had over me.

• Mami & Papi: Of course, everyone thanks their parents, but to me, it means even more because they were my grandparents who took me in as their own. Papi taught me so much about pride in all you do, and hard work. His desire for perfection has rooted itself inside me, and made me strive for the same. Mami taught me independence, perseverance, and inner strenth. They both showed me that family is all important and that love is the strongest power of all.
  
• Dennis Lugo: I know that I probably say this a lot, but not in 1,000 years could I ever repay what Dennis has given me. He taught me so much about the sport that I love, he believed in me and he was patient with me while I learned. There were countless nights spent in the engine room explaining things that I did not understand. Most people do not share that info, and many wouldn't be bothered by someone who came in knowing so little. He always has believed in me, and what he has given to me is priceless.
• Debbie Denny: Debbie is my voice of reason. She shows me what impact my hard work has, even when it seems the end result is so far away. She has lived a very similar parallel in her life, so I always feel like she can relate well with what I am going through.
  
• Anonymous: There is a man up north, that though I have not spoken to in years, has had one of the most profound effects on my life and career. His ability to know what is inside of my head and how to motivate and encourage me is surreal. I have never encountered someone who believed in me so completely as he did, and who was able to make me believe in myself when I needed it the most. I can still hear his words in the back of my mind when I get nervous before a big race. Its as though there is a connection that exists without words or contact. He knows who he is.
  
• Mike Ashley: Besides being one of the best promod drivers I have ever seen behind the wheel, and a great Funny Car pilot, what most inspires me about Mike Ashley is his ability dream big and to achieve. From the way that he treats his crew, to the way he trains for success...both physically and mentally... Mike is one that has made himself into a great with hard work, positive energy, and perseverance.
  
• Chris Brogan: Recently, while on a self-education spree about internet marketing trends, I stumbled upon Chris' blog and starting learning about social media and Web 2.0. Coming from the traditional media background of working for a newspaper for 4 years, and knowing all of the shortcomings and the slow-dying pace, I completely embraced the user-generated content concept that is social media. Reading the practical uses that Chris teaches has allowed me in just a few months to meet so many inspiring and talented people I would never had access to before. Social media has broadened my horizons and allowed me to expand in record time, and I am excited to where it continues to lead me.
  

There are so many more to add to the list, but I want to make sure that my gratitude extends beyond the reach of one day in November.

Happy Thanksgiving! GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

With the interior of the car painted, today we decided to go ahead and start putting the interior back together. Normally, I'd wait until the exterior was painted, but since we have only 2 weeks until the PRI show, and since I'll be going home Sunday, we need to have as much done as possible.

I dropped off my sheetmetal at Central Florida Powder Coating in Orlando. We removed all the plastic and Robert blasted some fiberglass resin that dripped onto a few pieces before taking them up there so we could get them back quickly. Silver Vein powder coating was the selected color (to match the existing front trans tunnel. The owner Jeremy got parts and had them coated, baked, clearcoated, and baked again in about an hour and a half. Great guy, I really enjoyed talking to him and will be sending any future powder coating his way. Which will be soon, because dummy me missed two pieces of sheetmetal that were hidden under the parachute pile and didn't get coated to match.





Happy Turkey Day eve! Be safe!

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Josue finished off all the cage/engine carriage painting. We'll be letting it dry overnight and tomorrow while we wait on the powdercoater and the front end to be done at the body shop. Then, we'll start assembling the interior of the car again while Josue starts prepping the body for paint.

Its getting stressful now. With the tragedy bringing down the entire shop, and the upcoming funeral, I'm just running out of time on the car. Josue will continue on next week without me, but I have to head back to Alabama this Sunday. I feel so helpless, and I don't like it.

Tomorrow will be a long day, so we're calling it an early night at the shop (10:30pm) and getting some rest.

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Amidst everything going on here in Orlando, we decided to try and get some more accomplished on the racecar while things were in "waiting mode".

This morning, we arrived and pulled the rear end and 4 link out from the car to get ready to spray the rear clip. Josue (painter), was not able to come until the evening, so we used the time to sand, clean, and prepare the surfaces. Once that was done, we starting cleaning the grime off the parts so everything will be like-new upon reassembly and getting the sheet metal ready for the powder coater tomorrow morning. That plastic they use on sheetmetal is a PAIN to get off!

Its 11pm, and I'm in the office while Josue finishes spraying the interior. I think I'm high on paint fumes, but I'm super excited because its actually starting to look like a decent car again! After the interior dries overnight, they'll be prepping the exterior for paint. I feel helpless right now, because there's not much I can do, but it'll be back at it once the paint dries trying to assemble it for the PRI!

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 8:57 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Well, car updates came to a hault yesterday.

I have been down in Orlando working on the car at Excessive Engineering, which is my ex-husband's, (and still best friend) shop. Dennis is the one I always give all the credit for what I have learned in motorsports and how far I have gone. We have a relationship many do not understand: even though he and I are divorced, we have remained the best of friends.

Dennis and his wife Tina, recently welcomed their first son, Aiden Lope Lugo on October 8th. He was a month early, but everything was going great. Proud Papa and Momma were doing great, and knowing how long he had wanted to be a father, I was so very happy for him and his new family.

However, yesterday Dennis and Tina took little Aiden to the hospital while in North Carolina with a fever. No one was braced for what would follow a mere hour later... Aiden suddenly became critical and stopped breathing. At his small size, the hospital tried to save him, but were unsuccessful.

Words cannot explain how devastated I am for Dennis and Tina. Its times like this that make you really aware how precious life is and how inconsequential other small stuff really is in comparison. I cannot imagine the pain that they are enduring now, and feel so helpless to ease their sorrow in any way.

What was to be a two week, all important, labor-intensive thrash on my racecar has now turned into a time of sorrow and condolences. What is important right now, is my best friend and his family and doing whatever I can to try and help them bear this weight on their hearts.

For friends and family of the Lugos, please email me for arrangement information. We are collecting small donations to help offset the funeral arrangement costs of bringing Aiden home to Florida. If you would like to help, please email me at ericao [at] horsepowerandheels [dot] com.

Remember how precious life is, and how trivial all the day-to-day problems truly are in the grand scheme of things.

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Well today, the painter had to work elsewhere, so there wasn't much I could do at the shop until he returns tomorrow to spray the interior paint. That's good, because it gave me a chance to take Mami out for lunch and shopping. We ran some errands for her, and ate at Anthony's Pizza in Avalon Park.

Tonight, I'm headed to my old high school stomping grounds for dinner with my Lake Howell friends at Pretzel's. Frankie works at Pretzel's on the weekends, so we'll all get together down there, and if I can make it, we'll after party when the bar closes. (I usually turn into a pumpkin and go to bed.)

Tomorrow, it will be back to work.... but for now, I'm enjoying my day of rest and relaxation.

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Back at the shop by 11am to continue sanding and prepping for paint. I finished cutting off all unused tabs and grinding away old bar stubs left over from the many years of modifications. My good buddy Frankie came over to lend a hand with the sanding on his day off. Talk about a good friend! Sanding is about the least favorite chore of getting the car ready for paint, and having to climb through all the "monkey bars" isn't too fun either. By about 3pm, Frankie and I had the entire cage sanded, and decided to go grab a bite to eat.

Meanwhile, Eddie continued fabrication on fixing the seat belt mounting points and positioning the seat. The car never really fit me too well, so we lowered the seat, moved it as far right as possible so that my head no longer hit the roll cage and was centered in the driver's encapsulation. We shortened the steering shaft to get the steering wheel in a lower, more comfortable position. He also finished welding up the supports to the rear motor plate and tied it back into the chassis, and cut and modified the body for the tow hook to the top of the cage.

Josue arrived later to start getting ready to spray the primer. But first, I had to go back across all those bars and wipe them clean with lacquer thinner to make sure there was no grease or dirt left on any of the surfaces. Given that this chassis was built in 1988 originally by Gateway Racecars, there is a lot of gunk accumulated on the bars and the floor pan. I finally get it all ready, and Josue starts spraying the yellow primer all over the cage. Unfortunately, the gun we had here at the shop didn't have an air regulator, and the pressure was too high and wasting a lot of primer. So after the front clip was primed, Josue opted to wait until he brought his personal spray gun from home.

Tomorrow, I'll get to scruff up the primer and get ready for the paint to go on. Its progress! I'm so excited!

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Well, the Lights, Motors, Action audition was a blast. The cars are little 1200lbs. fiberglass bodied cars with hiyabusa engines. They drive 100% different than anything I've ever driven before. As far as the audition goes, I'm pretty sure I bombed it, but personally speaking I think I did great. Considering that I have never done many of those manuvers before EVER, I was actually proud of myself for some of the attempts I made at left and right 90s, 180s, rollbacks and drifting. I absolutely blew the doughnuts, and the rest of the audition wasn't great either, but for me personally, it was a big achievement. I just hope my uncle doesn't get too embarassed that I didn't live up to any of the hype that they might have thought a "professional class" driver should.

Afterwards, I headed over to the shop, but since I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and had sat in a fire suit and full nomex undergarments for several hours, I wasn't feeling that great. I rushed to Subway for a meatball sub and some soup, but it wasn't in time to stop the migraine that came with that hunger nausea, and I spent a few hours in the office with the lights off and my eyes closed.

After it finally went away it was back to finalizing fabrication to the chassis before paint. Eddie, Dennis and I fixed the throttle cable/pedal, added bars to the rear motorplate mount, remounted the seat, shortened and lowered the steering wheel, and ground off the rest of the old and no longer in use tabs, etc. Tomorrow, we'll make an aluminum cover for the firewall to help cover all the holes in the exsisting wall.

Exhausted, and still not feeling all that great, I arrived home around 2:33 am.

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 1:15 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Day One ending at 4:30am meant that Day two was already blurring together, and I was none too eager to see the good old Florida sunshine pouring through my window at 8:30am. So after some good conversation with Mami, I got up and dressed and headed over to Panera Bread to grab something to eat and work on some web business before I headed over to the shop.

Today wasn't as productive as the marathon that was day one, but I still feel good about the progress made. I was sanding the front engine carriage to smooth the surfaces, Eddie was busy fabricating a few changes to my seat mount and throttle pedal stop, and Josue had the unenviable task of working with the fiberglass again and finishing the strengthening and mating of the chassis to the body. Being that I had little sleep, and the prep work needed to dry, I called it an early night as I need to be up early tomorrow.



One of the other reasons I came down to Florida was to attend the qualifer audition session for Disney MGM's Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt show. My uncle, who was a stunt man for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at MGM for many years, was one of the people who brought this Euro-Disney based auto stunt show to Walt Disney World in Orlando. I've heard many great stories about the fun he has on the job driving these cars, and always wanted a chance to try and take part. Though drag racing is about the polar opposite from the induced chaos of drifting and stunt driving, drivers of any motorsport employ the same principals of vehicle control, so I thought I'd try something different and give it a go.



The qualifier starts tomorrow at 8am and lasts all morning and into the afternoon. I'll be suited up in a firesuit and driving their practice cars in a series of test moves. I'm really excited to see how it will feel to do a different style of driving. We'll see how it goes...

Wish me luck, please!

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

After watching the season closing race for the TARE team this weekend in Holt, FL's Heads-Up Nationals, I headed down to Orlando with a pick-up truck full of racecar parts on a mission.

Labels: In the Shop

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Well, it looks like the legal ramifications are starting to coming around. Nick Hogan was arrested for the street racing accident he caused earlier this year on the streets of Clearwater, FL. His passenger, John Graziano is still comatose after the accident and is not expected to ever make a complete recovery and will require lifelong care.

Its stupid to street race. I addressed that in my blog about this incident when it happened. But learning now that he was DRINKING too?? That is absolutely unforgivable. I don't care if he was under the 0.08 legal limit for LEGAL ADULTS (which he is not at 17 years of age). Anyone who respects the horsepower capabilities of high performance cars like he was driving would NEVER drink ANY alcohol and operate those cars.

Clearly, his past driving record and his obvious recklessness prove that he does not belong behind the wheel of a high horsepower vehicle, PERIOD. He has no respect for it, and no respect for others around him. This is the type of incident that gives auto enthusiasts a black eye.

While I am sure that he has the best legal counsel around and will be tried as a juvenile and not faced with the full consequences his actions should warrant, I do hope that something is done to bring this kid off his prestigious little perch. From an outside perspective, this kid reeks of spoiled arrogance, and thinks that his 2nd generational fame places him above the law. Had he done what most enthusiast do and worked hard to perfect their vehicles instead of just snapping his fingers and grabbing the keys to a 800+hp Supra, he would have learned and appreciated its capabilities.

The only positive thing is that the media is starting to label this accident what it truly is.... an illegal street racing accident, instead of the common false classification of drag racing that makes people shun the legal sport we all love.

God bless the family of John Graziano, who will never have back the proud Marine they loved. I hope a miracle from above will bring him recovery.

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

A continuation of yesterday's blog post:

Mr. Jon Asher, one of the most well-respected drag racing journalists for the sport's media authority, Competition Plus, posted this rebuttal on Nitromater to our dear friend at the LA paper:

Mr. Oberjuerge’s rant of November 5th rant was rife with inaccuracies –
but that’s to be expected from an individual with no personal experience in drag
racing, either as a spectator, participant or fan (he’s obviously anything but
that).

For starters, hi-rise aluminum grandstands 40 or 50 rows high running
almost the length of the quarter mile are anything but “a couple of banks of
glorified high-school bleachers.”

Further, had your writer ever witnessed an event in, say, Las Vegas, or
Chicago, or Bristol he would have seen the kind of seating he apparently
prefers. Remember, the track at Pomona is part of the Fairgrounds property, and
is only used as a race plant on a limited basis. While NHRA would certainly like
the track to be on the same basis with those mentioned, it’s not in the cards
under the current Fairgrounds situation.

The purchase of NHRA’s pro racing assets by HD Partners is a long way
from being consummated – something a good reporter would have known, or at least
looked into before writing yet another inaccuracy.

More sponsorship is coming into the sport. Companies like UPS, Gieco
Insurance and Caterpillar are indicative of that.

Mr. Oberjuerge has no clue about media coverage of the sport. If he did
he would know that such coverage has been steadily increasing as well as
expanding into areas not usually affiliated with motorsports
coverage.

If Mr. Oberjuerge knew anything about televised motorsports he’d be
aware of the fact that NASCAR’s ratings are declining, which might be an
indication that their $4.8B investment wasn’t such a good one.

The NHRA national events absolutely draw more than 50,000 fans at every
race. Every demographic study done on the series demonstrates this – but I guess
doing the research to uncover that the audience is twice – or more – than he’s
suggested would have been too difficult for a writer with a built in prejudice
against drag racing.

Might it have been instructive for your readers had Mr. Oberjuerge
“confessed” to having been far more interested in attending a Lakers game than
an exhilarating drag race? We can’t fault him for wanting to watch the Laker
Girls, but clearly, his prejudices against the sport aren’t based on much more
than his own personal proclivities.

--Jon Asher Glorieta, NM

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Once upon a time, people could read the daily newspaper and know that the tenants that govern journalists would prevail from their authors.

But after reading this piece from a California Newspaper, I have lost all faith in traditional news media. Besides having absolutely no point other than to declare his obvious rah-rah status for NASCAR, and his complete ignorance to drag racing, the author Paul Oberjuerge only goes against every tenant of journalism there is in one article.

Here's some of the highlights from this piece:

NHRA is dull, no matter how many times somebody runs 300 mph.

Dull? 8,000hp propelling a car from 0-330 mph over 1320 feet in under 4.5 seconds is dull? There is more horsepower in ONE CYLINDER than an entire NASCAR engine. Races can be decided by thousandths of a second, and the adrenaline is constantly pounding with each match. I could argue that watching a car that has as much horsepower as some of my past street-legal daily drivers have had going in circles for hours is DULL. But I'm not that closed-minded.

The dragster folks. Those guys. Who staged their season-concluding Finals on Sunday at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. In front of a couple of banks of glorified high-school bleachers. With TV exposure on ESPN2. On a tape-delay basis. Daytona, it wasn't. Let alone Talledega or even California Speedway.

Oh, and I suppose that those same metal sticks of bleachers that make up Daytona are just so much more "grown up?" I've attended those races before. Lets see, you watch them roar past you, and then disappear in the backstretch for 60 seconds at a time before you see them fly by you again. And again. AND AGAIN. For 3+ hours straight. At least between rounds at NHRA race you can actually go into the pits and interact with the drivers and the crew members and see everything close up. You can go to the midway and buy parts for your own hotrod (because drag racing is accessible to ANYONE). There is always excitement and diversity at a race, no matter who/what your interests. There is Ford, Chevy, Mopar, Imports, Sedans, EFI, Nitro, Blowers, Alcohol, Gasoline, Turbos, Nitrous.... its endless. From rental car racers to full out dragsters. And while NASCAR may have live coverage, how many people are guilty (ME!) of just watching the final laps, because that's all that really matters anyways, right?

Considering that NHRA is about people standing on the gas pedal and seeing
what happens ... it's not that bad a gig.

Yep, drivers just stand on the gas pedal. Because piloting a 8000hp rocket is so easy that ANYONE could do it, right??

Come on! I agree that NASCAR drivers have talent... but don't downplay the skills needed by drivers and crew of NHRA events.... In a race that lasts mere seconds, things can happen in the split second... drivers must react, and that kind of horsepower is hard to harness. Teams can completely rebuild an entire car in the 60 minute time frame between rounds. Not just fuel up and make tire changes. Rebuild an entire 8000 hp engine. In front of your very eyes.

There is a comment feedback section for this article, albeit censored. I was surprised that they did include my response, and of the 16 to date, ALL of them are supporting drag racing and blasting his skewed, biased, and ignorant opinion of the sport.

Have something to add? Comment back!

Posted by Erica Ortiz at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post