I went to the NHRA Northwest Nats today and I got the shot I wanted....I actually "cut" a better light than Bernstein and Grubnic..heheheh If you check out the pic, you'll see that the lights are green and they haven't left yet. I was pretty sure I got the shot when I was there, because about the time my finger "bottomed out" on the button my ears exploded with that lovely nitro noise....now, I won't tell you how many attempts I made to get the shot...but lets just say that I got lotsa pix with TF Dragsters and Funny Cars that have just left the line or only the staging lights are on....



On a different note, I actually got there early this morning and my wife and kids showed up just in time for the Top Fuel Dragsters to start the Round 3 quals (around 12). Before I tell you the rest of this story it would probably help to back up and give you some background so that you can appreciate this as much as I did...

See, I have a drag racing game (NHRA Drag Racing 2) on my computer that my 2 yr old boy absolutely loves. Anyway, during the opening portions of the game there are some video clips that play. One of them shows a Dragster stage and then the announcer booms "RACE FAAANNNS...HOT RODDDDERS!!!" and then the dragster burns out. So anyway, every day (and I do mean every day) when I get home from work my 2 yr old comes running to the front door and shouts "RACE FAAANNNS...HOT RODDDDERS!!!" and wants to go play the game with me. Now it is important to note that my two year old (Travis, who I affectionately call "T") has never been to a Top Fuel drag race before today... so now back to the story.

So "T" shows up with mommy at about noon and is ready to see the "RACE FAAANNNS...HOT RODDDDERS!!!"...and I do mean that he is excited. I remember thinking at this point that I found it amazing that at 2 and some change, he understands that he is going to see for real now what he has seen only on TV and in the game. So anyway we head up to our seats and get settled in. Then they roll John Smith up to the line, and I adjust his ear defenders to make sure that he doesn't lose his hearing. Smith does his burnout and goes back to stage. Then I told him "Ok, buddy here he goes...and then T, starts screaming at the top of his lungs "RACE FAAANNNS...HOT RODDDDERS!!!" Well, about the time he got to FAAANNNS, Smith takes off and goes screaming by us and of course now T for the first time actually feels the vibration....I remember looking over at him and he was completely stunned. He was quiet for a minute and two races later he started crying and he wanted to sit with mom. I felt absolutely horrible, like the worst dad in the world. I began to question myself about what kind of a dad brings his kid two year old to something that scares the hell out of him....but by the time the dragsters were done and the TF funny cars were up (and you better believe that he knows exactly what a funny car is) he was over it and having a ball. So maybe I aint that bad....

Cheers,
Firechicken