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Aggression is safely focused, tensions are released, and that old devil “need for speed” is satisfied in a safe (yet spectacular) fashion.
Otherwise know as NHRA Street Legal Drag Racing Test and Tune sessions … The opportunity to let one’s car all out (against the clock or lined up with another machine) is the real draw, and, for many, highly therapeutic.
The eighth-mile (660 foot) drag strip at Irwindale is the place where hundreds of street-smart drivers head every Thursday night to try to extract the maximum performance from their cars as well as themselves.
These are very intelligent men and women of all ages and stations, each of them intent on having some serious fun with their cars under conditions that are not patently dangerous either for themselves or for others.
They also really want the ability to fairly judge their own performance and the performance of their vehicles, and that’s p;art of the deal at a NHRA-sanctioned track like Irwindale with its electronically calibrated starting and timing system.
Drivers each get an honest print out (covering five different points of performance) of their effort on every run and they can make as many runs as they can get back in line for during the 5 to 10PM event.
Racing costs $20 and includes a professional safety check prior to making runs. Contrasting that with illegal street racing of any kind, casual or organized, the $20 has got to be the best deal in automotive performance/fun in LA County and beyond.
One step further at Irwindale … Fans, by the hundreds come out each and every Thursday night to cheer the above drivers on. These are the real grassroots fans who love to see street-type cars running hard against each other for the love of racing (and, just maybe, for neighborhood bragging rights).
Whether it’s backing up boasts or just having a great time making some tire smoke in safety with friends, there’s always a cool vibe at Irwindale, even when some engines get a little hot to the touch.
A number of organizations talk about diversity, at the Irwindale Dragstrip all we have to do is open the front gates at 4PM, and there’s your diversity for you in all its splendor … And that includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, people, races, colors, creeds, men, women, young, old, and in between.
And, it only costs $10 to watch. In the best traditions of NHRA Street Legal Racing, the “pits” and the public parking lot are one and the same. You might be pull in next to an older Buick and not even notice the competition number on the back window until that GNX fires up, drives over to the line-up lanes and makes an 8-second run 10 minutes later.
There’s a lot to see on the track, and, when hunger and thirst are calling Irwindale’s concessions feature some of the tastiest track food around. Ah … supper right here at the dragstrip. Dining “alfresco” with the sounds of burning rubber and cheering fans … very, very cool!
Adding to the fun is the fact that these Thursday night sessions, seemingly as casual as they appear, are presided over by a professional track announcer, “Hot Rod Bob” Beck, who calls every run like its for the championship, and who’ll quite often give a returning driver a little “love” on the PA during their way back in front of the grandstands if they’ve cut a very good light or notched a personal high mark. The fans love it and so do the drivers.
All of the above is simply saying that NHRA Street Legal Drag Racing is not only fun, it’s exciting, friendly, family, and safe (which is really not a bad word). Even the return road takes each driver right in front of both grandstands on the way back to where they are parked.
So, the term “therapy” seems pretty darn well-applied here … People love cars, right … some more than others, and the ones who like to give their cars “a little exercise” (along with doing it in front of a set of stands full of fans who like to watch and cheer them on) can usually be found at Irwindale on Thursday nights … If that sounds good, the address is 500 Speedway Drive in Irwindale almost at the top of the 605 freeway.
*(except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and … if it ever rains again in southern California)
SUNDAY, SUNDAY SUNDAY! And … once one gets good at “cutting a light” on Thursday nights and the thirst for competition gets really going, there’s the NHRA Summit Series, a set of very hotly-contested races in four sharply-divided and intensely-competitive division that run on six Sundays at the Speedway.
These are the “pros”, OK, they’re still having fun, but the level of seriousness about what that fun entails is much higher, every run is taken very seriously and everyone pay close attention to ALL of the times in their division. Great fun to watch … pro-quality drag at low prices and from really close-up seats. An exciting and fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon for fans and racers alike!
FOOTNOTE: All of the above (with the exception of the cars) is absolutely non-existent at an illegal street race. There’s NO safety check of the cars, NO crowd control, NO starting system, NO timing system, NO trained safety personnel on site … In fact, there’s virtually no control over any of the circumstances whatsoever.