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Do you find yourself on Friday evenings in stead of going out watching drag racing videos. Do you turn around and watch drag racing meets on Saturday and on Sunday go to the local drag racing track to see the latest competitors. Then maybe drag racing is in your blood and now is your time to act on this impulse.

Lorne Walters, a true drag racing enthusiast, and a drag car racer worked on his 1984 drag car for over two years before getting a chance to race it professionally. The result was one of the fastest cars on the strip. He competed against cars that had higher rated horsepower than his 1984 drag racing street car that he picked up for next-to-nothing. He made this happen by collecting inexpensive, used parts for over a year, until he finally bolted it all together and cranked the ignition.

Since then, he has put a couple of seasons of driving and fine-tuning under his belt. He explained that it is not major changes that produce big leaps in performance but many little changes over time that makes the difference between winning and losing a race.

Little changes like removing the muffler increased his engine’s horsepower. Making the car lighter by removing over three hundred pounds of non-essentials. Reducing the load on the engine by removing the belt-driven fan and replacing it with a battery-powered fan. Changing from street tires to tires that get sticky when you lay rubber and heat them up increased his car’s traction. All of these changes increased his car’s speed.

When you’re counting your racing time in tenths of a second, every little change brings you closer to winning. Does this kind of work get you excited?

One of Lorne’s motto’s to live by is, “You can’t learn it if you don’t do it.” If you want to become a better and more successful Drag Race driver, you can’t just read about it or watch it, you must do it! The more you do it, and apply what you learn from the experience, the better you become.

But before you go all out, you need to get some experience. Before Lorne ever thought of driving his own car he joined a pit crew for a stock car driver, which allowed him to network with other enthusiasts and also get into the thick of it. Once he got bitten by the race car fever, getting behind the wheel became a driving obsession.

Consistency is also one of the major keys to winning. In Drag Racing, it isn’t always the fastest car that wins, but more important the one who stays consistent in doing the little things right. Good race timing scores must be repeated often. It’s like gaining a motor relex in your body. The more you do the same thing over and over again the easier it become to accomplish it over and over again.

Lorne also learned quickly that when you’re on the strip, ready to go, you don’t hang around waiting to be “told” to go. Waiting for the tree of lights to reach green-for-go cost him 1.2 seconds. Which meant that his competitor, who exploded his engine’s horsepower into forward motion just prior to green, left the gate just as the tree hit green and was way out ahead of him. There is always a lag time before the car will actually burst forward.

When Lorne started out with his own car, tagging along with a successful racer who knew the circuit and all the ropes placed him car lengths beyond his competition. He also gained much of his knowledge by asking lots of questions, searching the Internet for free information, and by hands-on experience.

Drag Racing is no longer a hobby to Lorne, it’s a passion – a passion that pushes him from race to race throughout the season.

Maybe this could be your passion, and like Lorne, you may get some or even your entire car sponsored by local businesses.

Not sure if you would like it? Some drivers are allowed to take passengers during certain parts of the day. Why not get to know one and go for a trial spin?

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