| Drag racing became a sanctioned sport back in | | | | tuned to near perfection and operate well |
| the 1950's, and has remained popular ever | | | | under extreme circumstances. |
| since. The World Wide Web gives an excellent, | | | | |
| authoritative definition that reads as | | | | While many people are content to simply haul |
| follows: "Drag racing is a form of auto | | | | their dragster down to the local track every |
| racing in which cars or motorcycles attempt | | | | Saturday night and compete for bragging |
| to complete a fairly short, straight and | | | | rights and trophies, there are many drag |
| level course in the shortest amount of time. | | | | racers that take drag racing seriously and |
| Drag racing originated in the United States | | | | attend sanctioned events to compete for big |
| and is still the most popular there. The most | | | | titles and big money. |
| common distance is one quarter of a mile, | | | | |
| although one eighth of a mile tracks are also | | | | In professional drag racing, there are only |
| popular, especially in the southeastern | | | | five main categories, and these include Top |
| United States." | | | | Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Modified, Pro Stock, and |
| | | | Pro Stock Bike. In the upper racing |
| While many people believe that drag racing is | | | | divisions, dragsters can reach speeds of up |
| a popular sport only in the United States, | | | | to 330 miles per hour! This means that a car |
| there are numerous other countries where drag | | | | performing at this rate of speed could travel |
| racing has quite a fan base. These countries | | | | the distance of a quarter mile track in a |
| include Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Malta, | | | | mere 4.45 seconds. If you have never |
| Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, | | | | witnessed this in person, it is an awesome |
| Greece, England, the Caribbean, as well as | | | | sight to behold. |
| many Scandinavian and European countries. At | | | | |
| any given time, there are approximately 325 | | | | Drag racing has turned into a |
| drag racing strips fully operational | | | | multimillion-dollar business; with companies |
| worldwide | | | | paying for ad space on the racecars, as well |
| | | | as race promoters vying for television and |
| Drag racing is essentially two cars racing | | | | radio time, drag racing is enjoying wide |
| against one another down a straight track to | | | | exposure. If you have yet to be exposed to |
| see who can cross the finish line first. | | | | drag racing, grab the family or a few friends |
| Since there are no hair pin turns involved, | | | | and head on down to your closest racetrack! A |
| this may sound like an easy feat, however, | | | | night of drag racing will afford the entire |
| the driver must be able to have quick | | | | family a wonderful time, as well as a unique |
| reactions times and be able to handle the car | | | | experience. |
| effectively. In addition, the car must be | | | | |