Here's a new one a friend just emailed me about from the St Louis race last weekend. Seemed like a great race to take a newbie to.

My friend was pretty impressed. He was awed by the power and the ground shaking. The sound just pierced his body, he said. We did go to the pits and I made him stand behind a top fueler....Alan Bradshaw....for entire warm up. He tried to get away but I held him in his place. I told him he had to be initiated. After warm up I asked him if he tasted the nitro in his throat he said yes thru teared up eyes. I told him he was officially initiated....Welcome to the Club!!

How about anyone else? Take anyone new to the digs lately? We always need newbies! And newbie stories! (If ya ain't got any newbie stories, tell some old nitro stories!)

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A.K.A. BobK49

Not new, but from when I was a noob as far as going to events, last year's Gators: What were your Gators highlights?

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Godspeed Eric Medlen, you will be missed

Great link and post Dave. Somehow I missed that post last year. Thanks for the post.
Bob

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A.K.A. BobK49

I had two with me this year that were new. We were sitting at the 1/8th mile, and when they started the burnouts, she was telling me that they weren't THAT loud. Pretty funny to watch her hit the deck when they both thundered past her though. LOL.

Sometimes we forget what its like to be there for the first time again...
This was something I wrote a few years back when my best friend came to her first race with me. Cracks me up the things they say!

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My website: www.horsepowerandheels.com
READ MY BLOG
Currently FFW Pro 5.0/ ADRL Pro Mod, but still Chasing my NHRA dreams!

Great site Erica, thanks, Bob.

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A.K.A. BobK49

I will be taking my wife to her first at Bristol. Can't wait to see her reaction. It will be more fun than watching the cars.
I remember taking a friend for his first race in the 90's. We got out of the car and he said man those cars are loud. We were still a mile from the track. That's why it's called Thunder Valley. I do miss the 100% nitro.

I'll never forget being at Englishtown, must have been in '83 or '84 and standing outside a funny car pit, probably Oswald, waiting for them to warm it up. I'd slept in my car and had an extremely nasty cup of track coffee in hand and wasn't feeling particularly cheerful. I had my little brother with me for the first time and was warning him to quit whining because he'd finally get to see what all the fuss I'd been making about the nitro cars was all about.

A group of nasty-looking bikers wandered up and muscled their way through to the front of the crowd, adding to my cranky mood. All 5'9" and 170lbs of me (those were the days!) was seriously debating a smart-ass remark when the crew hit the starter and lit it off.

The expression on the head biker's face after he realized that his legs had carried him nearly 50 feet without so much as a single conscious thought is a memory I'll carry to my grave. My punk little brother stood there with a goofy look on his face and said "I get it now". He's been a fan ever since.

I was in Denver in '04 with a friend and his wife who had never heard Fuel cars! We we're standing behind John Force during a warmup, I being the veteran know when these guys/gals seat the Clutches. This gal didn't know what to expect obviously, when Force did his single POP she jumped like a scalded Dog! Afterwards she went "I just Peed my Pants!"

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Shift for Brains!!!!

i took my wife once so she would know that she REALLY doesn't
care for drag racing - worked perfectly, one long weekend a year
without her.

BIR gives a double whammy for newbies.....nitro + zoo.
brought bro-in-law for sat./sun. last year - he was amazed by both.

I was told that 40% of the Zoo hounds don't even go to the Drags. Just there for a Get Trashed Pow wow!

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Shift for Brains!!!!

There's quite a bit of truth to that. Even more so when the "mud pit" was still in operation.

That was an event in itself.

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AKA DrRocket

I've been married to the same woman since 1969.. I've been racing since 1959.. anyway my wife never liked racing, & had never been to one. I finally talked her into coming with me to E Town for the Summernationals, (back when they were in Aug) We had a nice room at a Holiday Inn (yea I know I'm as smart as Bill Jenkins, I slept at Holiday Inn)

She liked it as it had a pool and shopping was close by. I DID talk here into coming to the track for 1 day (Fri ) to see the Fuel cars ..

Well when one started up she S*** her pants, and ran.... I was ORDERED to take her back to the motel...

Now I tell her "Oh Honey, those cars are at E Town every week when I race" shoot I could have a nice young "Hottie" at the track (if she would have me) and the wife would never know because she said that FU***** car popped the wax out of her ears, & she would NEVER go to a dragstrip again!

Damn... now I have to go with the boys, without my wife, and check out the "Eye Candy" & you guys just KNOW how guilty I feel... I decided to think about giving up racing right after that happened in 1975... I'm "STILL CONSIDERING QUITTING"... You guys will be the first to know as I'll post it here when I quit racing

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"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather, who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming in panic like the passengers in his car."

True, true, true David! We stopped camping in the zoo many years ago when some of our stuff was trashed by a buncha non-race going drunks.

Most recent newbie story was this year at Houston. Kelly and I were walking the pits with her co-worker's wife (is that who she was Kelly?) and her kids and as we stood near Del Worsham's pit, they warmed up the car. With a glance and a nod to each other, we both looked at Kelly's friend, knowing what was inevitably about to happen when the clutch was seated. The friend and the kids nearly jumped outta their skin. When the car was shut off, words to the effect of "Holy s--t, what was that?" were heard. We basically explained it as a nitro bomb going off. Oh what fun it is to see a newbie experience their first dose of a nitro warm-up.

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"I never said most of the things I said."

I am taking 14 newbies to Bristol on Saturday. They are Boy Scouts age 14 - 16. We will be in Doug Herbert pits for there first warm up on Saturday, If anyone wants to drop by to watch them react to 7000 horsepower. I cant wait. I want these young men to become NHRA fans. Any suggestions to help make them NHRA fans?

Being in Doug Herberts pit and being that close will make them fans. They will love it, and good for you for doing this for them. They will never forget it. You are never going to forget their reaction either. Wish I could go. I went 4 yrs ago, and had a blast. I took my son and his friend. We went arena cart racing at an indoor place not far from the track. I think I had more fun than they did. A good time all around, enjoy it!!