A Big Grudge Race – San Diego Antique Drag Racing

Among other things, Southern California is well known for its car culture. In the past few months, I have attended many events related to vintage cars, and now I had a chance to see some of these beautiful cars perform at the track. Last weekend I was at the Antique Drags held at the Barona Indian Reservation. Never heard about it before but it was definitely a lot of fun and excitement.

Drag racing is a kind of motor racing with automobiles (or motorcycles). The cars are prepared to race a short distance at a very high speed. The distance is very short, the track at Barona is 1/8 mile/200 m. (Traditional drag racing is on a 1/4 mile track.) The start is extremely ‘prompt’ and has nothing to do with a smooth start at the traffic lights that we have learned for our driving license.

To achieve this sudden and super fast start (launch) the cars first perform a so called ‘burnout’. The driver accelerates while holding the front brakes to spin (heat up) the very large back tires. This way it lays rubber down on the beginning of the track. This is done to improve the traction. The surface becomes sticky and the tires don’t slip when they start to rotate. Then they drive to the starting line. When the two cars (commonly two, sometimes one) are in a perfect line a signal tells them to go. With a super loud noise the cars jump forward and race down the track. Some faster, some slower. After 200 m they just run out to return to their parking places.

The winner is the vehicle with the lowest elapsed time. Drag racing exists on all continents. Even in Europe and I never heard about it.

We were there on a hot, sunny Saturday. The noises are impressive, the burnout is very stinky if you happen to be downwind. There were a few viewing areas from were spectators could sit and watch, a stand for fast food and drinks and a lot of parking places. Many within the racing area were occupied by the racers and their often beautiful cars. To make a car that fast one has to spent a lot of money – just for lasting one race. Saturday one car broke down when we were there, just after the start. But nothing happened to the driver.

I spent an afternoon seeing antique cars, all prepared to be the fastest possible for a short distance. The week before I have seen antique cars they were prepared to be the slowest possible at the Chicano Park Day Festival. Both types of cars are no good for the normal, daily, crazy traffic we are living with in the cities. But a lot of fun for spectators.














Lakeside, California/USA:

For further information:
Barona Drags
A short video on YouTube
Racing cars and their owners


Be sociable, tell others!
This entry was posted in California, ON TRAVEL, San Diego, USA and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

(Spamcheck Enabled)