The Lumberjack

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Community

Media Credit: Roger Tuan Racer Brad Seher's Triumph Spitfire jumps to a start at the Samoa Drag Strip.

Unhappy with going 50 down the 101? The "cure for adrenaline-itis" is at hand. Take it from Super Pro drag racer Brad Seher, one of the contestants at the Samoa Drag Strip's season kickoff race last Sunday.

Held in memory of 4-year-old fan and cancer victim Drake Crone, the first race of 2008 took place just after the previous night's Street Legal Drags event and consisted of Elapsed Time bracket racing in five classes: Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman, Motorcycle and Junior.

Unlike conventional drag racing, Elapsed Time racing does not seek to determine which driver is the fastest, but rather which has the most control over their car. Drivers compete by attempting to finish a track with a time as close to their chosen Elapsed Time as possible: If one driver dials in, or chooses, an Elapsed Time of 15 seconds before the race and finishes with 16, and another dials in 10 seconds and finishes with 14, the first driver would win because he missed his Elapsed Time by only one second while the other driver missed his by four seconds. Whether the second driver has a better time overall is irrelevant in determining the winner.

Additionally, a system of handicaps and opponent matching is in place to further equalize the playing field. The system works, and drivers are often so equally matched that a single tenth of a second can end up being the difference between a win and a loss. Association President Danny Wright joked, "One-tenth of a second? Show it to me! I don't think you can blink that fast!" The goal is to have drivers compete on skill instead of equipment. "It's not about the money," Wright emphasized, "It's just fun!"

Braving the fog, racers had their cars lined up and ready for time trials by noon. The trials' results would later help determine the brackets used in ET racing. As racers made their preparations, a few spectators sat in the stands, hot dogs in hand, while others leaned over fences to get better looks. Members of the track's all-volunteer crew, working for the nonprofit Humboldt Del Norte Timing Association, Inc., scurried about performing their duties. And Tim O'Brien, an announcer in the control tower, took his place alongside the rest of the control staff. They were all waiting for the OK of one man, race starter Tom Sanders.

Continued...

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