Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway
Jul 15th, 2007 by Tony and Louisa
This weekend, Louisa and I had a chance to check out some NHRA Drag Racing at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, CO. The weather was pretty good - it was very sunny but didn’t rain - and the crowds were definite race fans. One worker was trying to get a car to the starting lineup, and asked “Do you mind waiting?” To which a guy replied “Wait? For a car? Of course!” Yep, we were definitely in gear-head territory. Which turned out to be a pleasant experience, as the crowd grew in size from super street to top alcohol to top fuel and funny car. The crowd was great, close-packed, boisterous, and willing to stand as the dragsters zipped by in a cloud of dust.
The day started out with the sportsmen’s classes, stock and superstock, top alcohol (where one of the dragsters broke down) and then to the much-anticipated top fuel, where we saw the top fuel dragsters and the funny cars. The dragsters produced the appropriate amount of bass rumbling and exhaust, and the speeds left the crowd feeling pretty good about coming out to see the events. The funny cars were also entertaining, even though they were not as physically commanding as the dragsters.
Things Louisa learned about drag-racing fans:
1. Not all the rules will make sense to you outsiders. That’s fine with us. We like the rules the way they are. (In reference to the rules where some classes need to go as close to but not faster than a certain posted time.)
2. There is no dress code. Clothes of any style are acceptable for any age.
3. Forget any ideas you had about personal space. We make Italians seem up-tight.
4. We love cars. We like beer, and we like men / women, but we love cars.
5. Tatoos are optional, but preferred.
6. Suntans / sunburns are mandatory.
7. We drive fearlessly, just like our idols. The parking lot is car-land. Forget everything you knew about pedestrian crossing and assigned parking spaces.
Despite the heat, and the resulting sunburns (even though we used good sunscreen), we had a great 6.5 hours at the racetrack. Check out our photos from the race.
Loading ...