I was at the spring nats. In Columbus Ohio in 92. My first NHRA big event with pit passes. I was standing as close as I could get to John's car as they did the rebuild while filming with an old video camera. I was maybe 5 ft.from the action. I was so excited and couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Then the test fire came...... The raw nitro hit me.... hit me square in the face.... Couldn't breathe....choked ...gagged and it felt like I was on fire. I backed away bent over coughing and gagging tryin to catch my breath not realizing they had finished up and felt a hand patting me on the back and looked up to see John Force him self Lookin at me laughing. He said...you alright son????..... Yes sir never better was my answer. I carried that moment and my burning face around the rest of the day like a trophy.
That nitro will clear your sinuses and burn your eyes 😁 At last years summer nats as a track official I got to kneel on the side of the track along side of Courtney Forces funny car as it left the line. I was about 7-8’ away. The light popped green and she was gone! Talk about baptism by nitro. The closest I can get to putting it into words is to say it was like sitting on a bomb when it goes off. Awesome and everyone should get to do it once! And yes the nitro at that proximity burns. I even caught John Force rubbing his eyes a couple times. Great guy to meet by the way. A gentleman with a great sense of humor.
NHRA true "all access" open pits. You can do anything, but drive the cars. 10,000 hp Nitro spitting Top Fuel in your face.Tons of autographed blown engine parts, for souvenirs. FYI.Take Ear Plugs !
I stayed for the throttle whack! Had full ear muffs, but I couldn't see, or breathe for several minutes afterwards. My buddy with me had a full gas mask. I quickly learned why!!!
John Force is a very fan friendly racer. If he hears you calling his fans "rope rats" you could find yourself on the receiving end of a royal ass chewing.
Yep, and only some of them had hearing protection.Gonna suck when your 50 and staring at your bedroom ceiling all night! The sound of silence you will never hear.
Phillp Escola. The winters have never moved venues, even in its infancy. Now what used to be called the world finals and now just referred to as the finals has had several venues before finding its home in Pomona also. You should read the whole article not just the heading on the random NHRA report you pull up to justify your statement. And as for you ever wrenching on a top fuel car, I call BS on that one.
I had VIP at gator-nationals one year and was seated right next to pit of a top fuel dragster. That shit is ridiculous loud. it hurts from the guts out!!!!!
Better than most on the audio....but not even close to what it could/should be...i have 2 2000 watt amps in my living room and some serious speakers....decent top fuel audio i could be makin some big time noise
I was a rope rat, you can't over take the exhaust fumes, it's burns the eyes and you can't breath, so the "can't take it comment below, so boostin, open your eye wide and take DEEEEEP snort of the nitro with out a mask and came back and tell me if you can take it..."geezhh""!!!
NHRA Drag Racing is the only motorsport that lets you get close. just try it with nascar, indy, or f1. it,s not gonna happen. imo. thats why NHRA is cool and all of the other stuff sucks. i really don,t see the point of driving in a circle for 4 hrs.
lilorbie lilorbie IndyCar allows fans in the paddock and I think IMSA does as well. They also race in the rain. IndyCar and sportscar racing is great compared to Nascar.
wrong i have been going to sprint car races my whole life you can buy a pit pass and stay in the pits during the entire show i have even been asked to help when a team comes to the races short handed
I think the term "rope rats" is derogatory to us fans . we support the sport of Drag Racing , We buy the products of the Sponsors . Just because you ar a Millionaire dosent give you the right to call us Names !
They're called fans not "rope rats" smart guy! If it wasn't for us cheering him on and supporting him then he wouldn't be where he is today and he knows that. We stand at the line watching his talented crew do what they do best and also hope to shake his hand and tell him what a good family he has made as well as tell him what a kick ass driver he is.
Nick Frohm Not a fan of John's at ALL!! But very well said sir. At least we don't put our drivers on such a high pedestal that they think they are untouchable like other motorsports. We make it possible for them to do what they love for a living and we should be recognized as such.
Nick's panties are in a bunch. It's obvious we all love the same 'past time' and I don't think you would find any of those crew members that would disagree. It's fun. That's all
Well I guess when you refer to your fans a “rope rats”it’s a no wonder that drag racing on this level is dying. Straight line anyone can do it. Not very hard. And yes iv done it before so it’s not that big of a deal.
Don't worship these guys,most of the time they consider themselves supperior to you so what they can drive fast did anyone of them ever build a house go to work at a really hard job?,I worked as a heavy equipment mechanic for over 30 years I didn't have a nice clean work bench or even a roof over my head unless we'd rig up a tarp to keep rain off us maybe while changing out cylinder heads that wieghed around 450 lbs or maybe a whole rebuild of entire machine some in the neighborhood of 250 tons ,! My point is nobody ever cheered us on ! You are just as important as these guys we can live without dragsters but our hiways and airports ECT,ECT depend on big machines ! Working on this stuff require knowlage far greater than a race car!!!
What an idiot, I don't worship these guys, but I do appreciate all that they've done for their sports, whether it be Nascar, Open wheeled racing or what ever format of racing you watch. Nobody wants to see anyone die doing the things they like or have a passion for, but sometimes through tragedy come new ideas to make our lives safer. I was a Truck driver for the past 30yrs, dangerous, I worked in Ship Building in San Diego for 3yrs dangerous I've worked in several other trades that were dangerous but I love each and every one of them, I never asked for any kudos because I was never ungrateful for not being patted on the back and told nice job Dave, so please let it go if some people such as myself and many other thousands love Drag Racing. Let me be the first to say thank you for your hard work through your life and it was a job well done!!!
I am HDR for local 12 also. Grease and dirt is on our work bench and when the operators want to go home early or have a 4 day weekend they just break their equipment. Guess who gets to stay all Friday night or into weekend wrenching so they can work the next Monday. We make it happen.
john force is the winning-est funny car driver in HISTORY,that man deserves respect and so does his entire crew and family,his daugthers also drive the funny cars and kick major ass doing it. back when you were under a tarp,if you ever put a car together that won you would start to get fans but it seems like you have bitterness and resentment because you CONTINUALLY LOST.
Sounds like a whole bunch of jealousy. Over half the drivers in the NHRA come from a blue collar background and have busted their ass to get where they are today. Stop trying to make yourself feel needed in this world, everyone is easily replaced.
