Canadian Drag Racing Photos - cdrp/2009/100109

Two drivers. One finish line. For generations, drag racing has thrilled millions of spectators and pushed the limits of automotive technology.

Its appeal is as primal as a foot race—only with supercharged powerplants generating 500 horsepower and more.

In Drag Racing: An Inside Look at the World’s Fastest Sport (Firefly Books, $34.95 hardcover, October 15 2009) automotive journalist Timothy Miller steers readers on a wild, colorful ride from the sport’s genesis in the California desert to present day.

Miller covers all the legendary cars, builders, drivers, and races that make drag racing a potent fuel-and-adrenaline rush of smoke, noise, and speed.

Today drag racing is enjoyed across North America at some 400 professional tracks. Around the globe, drag strips can be found in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and even the United Arab Emirates.

Drag racing is arguably the only professional sport that allows the general public to participate at most of its events. All you need is a car and some basic safety equipment.

Miller explains the egalitarian joys of bracket, or ET (elapsed time) racing. “Every weekend, thousands of amateur and hobby racers drive their cars to the strip, put on a helmet and drag race. It is from this entry-level class that a racer’s career also starts.”

From these second-hand cars that might take almost 20 seconds to complete the ¼ mile trip to jet-powered novelty acts that do it in less than 5, drag racing encompasses a world of speed.

Drag Racing covers the qualifications and specifications of the major car classes with non-technical text and helpful icons:

· Fuel Cars: 7500+ hp nitro-fueled dragsters and funny cars compete at speeds up to 330 mph with ETs of less than 5 seconds

· Alcohol Cars: Drivers of these 2000-2500+ hp alcohol-fueled dragsters and funny cars must manually shift as they hurtle down the strip in under 6 seconds.

· Pro Modified: Wildly customized body styles combined with fast 2700+ hp engines that can be supercharged, turbocharged, or nitrous-oxide fed.

· Pro Stock: The pro class that most resembles factory-built cars. Big-block V8s are gas powered, manually shifted, and cover the ¼ mile in under 7 seconds.

· Sportsman Classes: The heart and soul of drag racing. Includes vehicles licensed for the street, trucks, motorcycles, modified cars, and homemade dragsters.

In motorsports, the driver is king. And drag racing is no different.Drag Racing includes concise profiles of the sports’ greatest drivers.

Today’s championship drivers: Tony Schumacher, John Force, Jeg Coughlin, Greg Anderson, Larry Dixon, The Pedregons, and more.

Legendary drivers: Don “Big Daddy” Gartlits, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, Sox & Martin, and Tommy Ivo.

And because drag racing offers an even playing field, women have been well represented in the winner’s circle since the 1960s:

- Shirley Shahan: started racing in the 1950s and was the first woman to win an NHRA National event in her hemi-powered Plymouth “Drag-On-Lady” in 1965.

- Shirley Muldowney: won the Top Fuel NHRA Championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982.

-Plus past and current competitors Bunny Burkett, Kathy Fisher, Aggi Hendriks, and Paula Murphy.

Miller also covers a wealth of remarkable facts from modern drag racing, including:

· A top fuel dragster at full throttle, consumes fuel at the same rate as a fully loaded Boeing 747.

· During the launch of a fuel car, the driver experiences close to five Gs of gravitational pull—more than a space-shuttle astronaut.

· The growing popularity of the new shorter drag strip: 1000 feet instead of the 1,320 foot ¼ mile.

Drag Racing is a richly detailed and profusely illustrated celebration of the world’s fastest—and loudest—sport. It is certain to excite the senses of race fans and motorsport enthusiasts.

Timothy Miller is an automotive journalist and the author of NASCAR Now! Miller lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

Speed Thrills