For those that don't know about Top Fuel Dragsters and just how fast they go in less than 1000'

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. I'll always prefer 'run what ya brung'

Though they take your breath away, Top Fuel, Funny Car and even a lot of the slower classes long ago became a sport of the well-heeled. I love the door-slammers, probably because I can well imagine spending every extra cent to squeeze another five horsepower from your basically stock 454 (though I was always a small-block guy because they're easier to work on and parts are less expensive).

You drive it to Baylands, Irwindale or wherever on Saturdays, pay the entry fee, tune it for a quarter-mile, go through tech and hope like hell you break 11 seconds without throwing a rod.

(Mind you, I never actually did that. I would've been happy to get into the 13s with what I had. But I sure thought about it a lot as I read the how-tos in Hot Rod every month.)