Three Virgins Go to a Drag Race
Story and Photos By Paul Kennedy
When I arrived in Kingston in 2006, I discovered that the cruising and NASCAR scenes were very active, but for some reason, drag racing didn’t seem to be. The nearest track is Shannonville, which is about 45 minutes west of us, but it doesn’t put on IHRA- or NHRA-sanctioned professional events. In B.C., I had always gone to the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Washington to get my fix of Top Fuel racing. I had even been fortunate enough to crew for two years on Paul Julien’s Top Alcohol Dragster based in Mission B.C., and had also co-sponsored the high school drag race team with Brett Malo at Terry Fox Secondary in Port Coquitlam. I liked the racing!
You can perhaps appreciate my surprise when the group of car guys I had met through the Friday night cruises all admitted that not only had they never been to a professional drag race, none had ever even been to Shannonville! I therefore assumed the responsibility to rectify this by taking some of them to the IHRA Mopar Nationals in GrandBend, Ontario on July 18, 2009. I figured the best bang for their buck was Saturday, since you get to see virtually all the cars in each class as they attempt to qualify. Our group consisted of Steve, Scott and his son Zach, and myself. Scott let us take his Grand Caravan, and his son Zach did almost all the driving on the way to the races. They also had a Garmin GPS unit to help find the way; we are, after all, men, and wouldn’t ever ask for directions. We left Steve’s at 2:30 am, and were on the grounds in Grand Bend at 9:30 am with no navigation problems. I have since purchased a similar GPS unit – it makes traveling much less stressful.
Most of the Stock and Super Stock-type cars were warming up by driving slowly around the pits and return road, and all three of the newbies were impressed with the sound of open headers. I told Steve not to even think about ear plugs yet. We wandered the pits until the track opened at 10:00 am, and then we went up to the grandstands at the 1,000-foot mark to watch some passes. Of course, in about the third pair of cars, a 1979 Malibu in our lane started to skate a bit at the 660 ft cones, crossed the track and went backward into the opposite wall, bounced off and rolled once back on to its wheels. They asked if this was typical racing, and I said a big NO, that I had never witnessed an accident this close before. The driver was fine, the car wasn't.
We finally got to our reserved seats, and started seriously watching the racing. From stock through GT class to Top Sportsman etc., we began to see louder and faster cars. I told Steve to forget the ear plugs for a while. We continued watching, finally getting up to blown alcohol dragsters and Pro Mod cars, which were much louder than the earlier cars. Once again I told Steve to hold off on the earplugs. Finally, around 1:30 pm or so, the first round of Top Fuel qualifying came to the line. When the first pair fired up, I finally gave Steve the “earplugs in” sign. They did their burnouts, then backed up for the actual run. I was grinning to myself about what was to happen next. The rails left the line, and the world basically exploded with the concussion from the headers - 8000 hp will do that. I knew what to expect, yet the violence still surprised me. When the run was over, Steve just looked at me and mouthed ”oh my god”! We enjoyed the rest of the qualifying rounds up until about 9:30 pm, when the drizzle started. My other favourite memory was having a very pleasant conversation with Melanie Troxel, who was driving a Pro Mod car. She has driven both Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars in the NHRA, and she handled the wild-and-woolly Pro Mod car like the professional she is.
The drive home involved a great deal of discussion about how impossible it is to explain the sensory overload you experience when a Top Fuel car leaves the starting line. It HAS to be experienced in person; even TV coverage loses at least 75 percent of the sound. If you’ve never been there, go, you will not be disappointed. Be forewarned, earplugs are an absolute necessity, unless you want to be constantly asked, “can you hear me NOW?!”
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