Frank Hawley's NHRA Drag Racing School Experience - Licensed For Thrill!

As small as the class is, you'll still have plenty of downtime in between runs to check out how everyone else is doing. During everyone else's pass, it's not a bad idea to visualize what you would do in the car. Not required, but it's good practice in general.

You have the choice between two types of cars in the Super Classes: the Firebird door car or a McKinny Corporation-built dragster. The cost is the same, but it's an entirely different experience. Each is powered by the 720hp GMPP ZZ572. The door car runs mid-9s at 140-plus mph, while the dragster will click off mid-8s at over 160 mph.

Word of advice: Know where you are in the lineup, and get suited up when the person before you is up. Each driver is listed, and if for some reason you get confused and forget how far you're supposed to go, check the board.

The View
Admittedly, it's been a while since I've been behind the wheel, and I have to tell you, the first time I released the transbrake, the 1.35 short time was flat-out awesome. My eyeballs were rattling all over the place and the first 200 feet seemed like a blur, but that quickly went away by the second run.

The hardest part of the course for me was getting acclimated to the massive hoodscoop. If you're in the right lane, you can easily see the Christmas tree; however, we were instructed in the left lane. Once you're staged, you better keep an eye on the top bulb, because if you blink for a millisecond you could miss that light.

As for the chassis itself, that thing is solid and very well put together, with all of the latest required safety equipment. The nice thing about this particular setup is that if you do everything in a consistent fashion and drive it all out, your e.t.'s will reflect that by being within a couple tenths on every run. When was the last time you saw nearly identical results like that? I can honestly say this was a first.

At the end of the two-day course everyone receives a certificate of completion and all six timeslips. If you successfully passed each of your runs, you're eligible for your competition license. Simply turn in your paperwork to your local NHRA office and pay the fees. I applied, paid my fees, and am now certified to legally drive in Super Comp, Super Gas, ET, and Top Sportsman.