Thread: Hight wins it!!!

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I agree some what, but have you seen her drive, she manhandels that car, when i saw her run at gainsville on her qualifying run she lost traction at about halve track began swerving back and forth badly, but got control hit the gas and continued her run, that told everybody how in control she is. The thing i never understood is why she did not run dragster, that is what she was used to, if your gonna go pro why not stay in the same kind of car?

IMO Jumping in a fuel dragster would help the TEAM FORCE! That would probably be going against the grain. Ya in a situation like that you hit the throttle to straighten you back up and GO!

Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

IMO Jumping in a fuel dragster would help the TEAM FORCE! That would probably be going against the grain. Ya in a situation like that you hit the throttle to straighten you back up and GO!

Ok, this IS NOT a personal attack on anyone, just an observation from an over the hill ex racer with experience in a few go fast machines.......

Maybe that's the cure when sideways with a few hundred horse, but not with mega thousands of horses!!!! I can't claim to be an expert on going fast, never been faster then a low 6 in a top alcohol car many, many moons ago. I have gone fast enough to let ya know that things happen a whole lot faster then they do in your basic 11 second bracket car.... It all looks so easy watching from the stands, and even easier watching it on a single dimension boob tube. One of my lasting recollections from my go fast days is how idiotic it sounds when somebody who's never gone faster then a mid 12 in the quarter comes up and tells you all about your driving mistakes!!!!!!

One of my past car owners from the sprint car days still has a very appropriate sign in his race shop; "When you're up to your butt in alligators, it's hard to remember you came here to drain the swamp."

I can't even imagine what it must be like to go a quarter in the high 4's low 5's!!!!!!! I do know that is one heck of a lot more difficult then I could ever imagine!!!! You actually have to anticipate what is going to happen and react before it happens. Watching it in slow motion after about the 3rd replay it sure is easy to kick back in the arm chair and do the "would of, could of, should of routine....

I have all the respect in the world for ANYONE who can go in the 5's and faster. They have skills and abilities that are light years ahead of the rest of us......

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Ok, this IS NOT a personal attack on anyone, just an observation from an over the hill ex racer with experience in a few go fast machines.......

Maybe that's the cure when sideways with a few hundred horse, but not with mega thousands of horses!!!! I can't claim to be an expert on going fast, never been faster then a low 6 in a top alcohol car many, many moons ago. I have gone fast enough to let ya know that things happen a whole lot faster then they do in your basic 11 second bracket car.... It all looks so easy watching from the stands, and even easier watching it on a single dimension boob tube. One of my lasting recollections from my go fast days is how idiotic it sounds when somebody who's never gone faster then a mid 12 in the quarter comes up and tells you all about your driving mistakes!!!!!!

One of my past car owners from the sprint car days still has a very appropriate sign in his race shop; "When you're up to your butt in alligators, it's hard to remember you came here to drain the swamp."

I can't even imagine what it must be like to go a quarter in the high 4's low 5's!!!!!!! I do know that is one heck of a lot more difficult then I could ever imagine!!!! You actually have to anticipate what is going to happen and react before it happens. Watching it in slow motion after about the 3rd replay it sure is easy to kick back in the arm chair and do the "would of, could of, should of routine....

I have all the respect in the world for ANYONE who can go in the 5's and faster. They have skills and abilities that are light years ahead of the rest of us......

we all got a bit off topid over ashley, but thats cool, @dave what u say makes alot of sense, since i never drag raced or ran the 1/4 mile in 4.82sec, the point here is Ashley is FAST, In a perfect world No man wants to hear a Girl/women is faster than them but face it shes got it and time will be on her side if she sticks with it, as John said himself on Driving Force she'll one day take over where John left off. back on topic, Congrads to Hight and the whole Force team for getting the win at Vegas, we all know this is what they needed after what the teams been through.

I think the 'losing to a girl' thing is overrated. I dont think most care who they lose to be it male or female. Maybe some of the 'old guys' (cough) feel that way but most think a pro is a pro. With experience and success the respect of fellow drivers will come no matter the gender. This will be even less of an issue with the upcoming gen of racers as there are plenty of winning girl drivers in the junior dragsters and have been for some time.
Im with Dave on the fuel car is a fuel car. Landlocked missle short or long. Bad things happen too quickly. Being a lot closer to the 12 second guy Dave spoke of than a sub five second guy makes this all speculation on my part but one day Eddie Hill told me that the first second and a half of a fuel car run leaves the driver frozen with very little vision and even less ability to react. He said that he was of the opinion that it was becoming even more a a young drivers sport as they recover vision quicker and could make quicker corrections. He also said that through the years he and other drivers (he wouldnd name names) would develope bad habits of anticipating problems before they happen and reacting incorrectly or before a problem that wouldnt even happen. Anotherwords they as a driver felt behind and over anticipation would create problems that may not be there.

And Dave, dont downplay your trips into the 6's. Thats way faster than most of us will EVER go and with some of the more wild n wooly runs ive seen coming from cars in the 6-7 second range you've got my respect. Driver wise anyway, now if I could just work on your politics

Hiya All,

I have been reading your posts and there is a mixed reaction the Ashley....... and even though I race a 9.5 sec car, I still get the same reaction even though I have a consistent car and yes..... I too have put a hole in my block on the burnout pad in front of everybody, and you could just imagine some of the comments I got.... one was - 'that's what you get for letting your missus drive your car', was one I heard from an 18 yo that probably has'nt even raced before, and by the way, the engine spun a bearing, dropped a valve and put a hole in the block!

i know what 5 and 6 sec cars are all about, alot more aggressive, harder to keep the power down, harder to stop spinning the tyres off the rims, totally different in every way from a 12 second streeter!

I think any driver, male or female can race cars, 5 secs or not, Drag Racing is an equalizer between Men and women, its not about physical strength, its about mental and emotional strength and reacting when it counts, beleive me it took me 3 years to understand that!

Don't judge people too quickly cos their male of female, wait and see what they can do as we don't know what they can do until they are put to the test!

Oh and Congrats to the Force Team, it was good to hear they had a victory after a sad loss,

Cheers,

Mrs Mopar
Leanne

Originally Posted by Mike in Motown

And Dave, dont downplay your trips into the 6's. Thats way faster than most of us will EVER go and with some of the more wild n wooly runs ive seen coming from cars in the 6-7 second range you've got my respect. Driver wise anyway, now if I could just work on your politics

I wasn't trying to downplay it, or didn't mean to anyway. Believe me, I loved every one of those passes, the good ones and the bad ones... But the difference between a 6.0 and a 4.80 is 10 times more dramatic then the difference between a 13.50 car and a 7.90 car. I'm sure there is some rules that cover it, but once you get to the 10's, every time you get a car that is a second quicker it is probably 3 or 4 times more demanding of your talents.... If I wasn't so dang old and crippled, I'd plunk down the money in a heartbeat to go to Frank Hawley's fuel school!!!! I went to his top alcohol school after a couple seasons in a 7.90 car (that went 7.30's without the throttle stop), thought it would be a cake walk, and even a bit boring. Man, first thing I learned was how much I had to learn!!! It was like learning how to drive all over again...... !!!!!!! The first few launches in an alcohol car were real eye openers!!!! I was past the 60 foot timer before I could blink!!!!! Don't really know how to explain it, but it works you so flippin' hard, mentally and physically, 4 or 5 passes in an afternoon would leave me totally exhausted. Like I said, can't even imagine the amount of conditioning and expericence it takes to be a pro Top Fuel driver......

This shows a little, how much of a chore it is to get a T/F car down the track.
Can you say WOW......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O0b90G8Yhg