June 23rd 2014: Driving a Dragster in Epping NH

I had to wake up early this morning for my first experience driving a dragster at the New England Dragway in Epping NH, with Pure Speed Drag Racing Experience.

my mom and I arrived a little early, and the dragsters we were to ride were already out on display.

We could look into the cockpit itself as well.

I went out to the track as well to take some pictures.

After registering, the drivers had to go into a shed for instructions on how to operate the dragster, with the left leg for the brake and the right for the accelerator, and the procedure for each run, which included a burnout phase involving spinning the tires on a wet surface to get dirt off it before heading to the start line.

To start, one positions the car such that the top set of small lights lights up, and then move slowly forward until the tires trip the lower set of lights.

With the lighting of the traffic lights, one can slam the accelerator on the 3 third set of yellow lights, and off the dragster goes.

On the first run, we were to let go of the accelerator at the first beacon, while we were to do so on the second beacon on the second run.

Once done, we were to head to the end of the track, turn around the wall and head back to the start line on a pretty bumpy road, as the dragster itself has little suspension to handle the bumps. We were then to wait in line for the next run, if we had more to go.

After the briefing was done, we were assigned to our cars, and as I had only 2 runs, I ended up being the last driver in the last car. This meant that I had to wait till around noon before my turn. A tour of the track in a van was done first, and then a demonstration run by a driver.

Finally it was time to get jackets and helmets and to head to our cars.

The cockpit itself was pretty narrow and hard to get into, and like for IndyCar racing, I had to get additional cushions in order to reach the brake and accelerator pedals. The pedals themselves felt a little weird, as they were more like knobs than pads.

The turning was a little weird as well with the small axles, but I somehow got the hang of it.

I could not get the burnout part right though, stepping on the accelerator too slowly when prompted and letting go and braking too fast for fear of speeding past the start line.

As I was going straight, I did not need to maneuver the steering too much. Unlike the other riders who did 3 runs, I was unable to accelerate all the way, hence my maximum speed was only over 70 mph.

On top of that, there were no turns involved, hence I felt it was even less exciting than IndyCar racing, especially with the bumpy ride back after each run.

After finally leaving, I decided to get the video, and my time slip.

With that, we headed to Kume, a Japanese restaurant in town.

Pretty decent decor, but I could not say the same about the food, even though they were presented pretty well.

The Beef Sukiyaki (Thinly sliced beef, bean curd, Japanese noodles and vegetables w. sukiyaki sauce) was a little too sweet for me,

while the Sushi and Sashimi Combination was definitely not fresh.

Only the Ice Beauty pieces were not too bad, but nothing extraordinary either.

At least my mom enjoyed the food I guess.

We headed home for the day after that, passing by Haverhill MA,

New Life Christian Assembly of God

tired after a long day in New Hampshire. Definitely not into dragster racing.