Getting back to my roots...
Well, that is not actually the story. I mean, cars have always been my passion since I was very young and I grew up with them. I started repairing cars at age 12, simple things like oil changes and rotating tires. Then,after working at restaurants and fast food places to get my first bucks, I actually made a career out of it.
During those early years I actually went to a lot of stock car races with friends and I enjoyed watching powerful cars race each other. Later, when I was working on cars in shops, my coworkers and I would go to Wisconsin and see the drag races on weekends. That was the norm for me for most of my life but when I moved to Argentina there weren't any cars that I wanted to see raced. The occasional Corvette or Camaro or few and far between. I have only seen a half dozen of those in a quarter century here.
When I got here, I noticed that car prices were nothing like the United States. You would pay a couple thousand for the worst, beat up, rusted, piece of garbage and I decided I would probably never drive here. For the stated reason, and also other reasons. Post cars were brand names that nobody really bought in the United States except those who wanted a cheap car that would get them from A to B. I concentrated on learning the language, culture, foods, and finding a way to make money. Kids like cars and I guess they wondered why their father didn't drive. It was mostly the economy which is in a state of constant collapse and reinvention.
Lately, all that has changed! The economy is still completely collapsing in the paper money is not worth anything. But, I was able to rent a car and get a license recently. That opens up a whole other set of venues we are able to get into.
The Races
A while back, I think I made a post about it, we went to the place where you go to get a driver's license and I discovered that they have a race track there...
Photo taken this last weekend...then I heard that they take a portion of that race track and turn it into a drag strip on weekends.
... also taken this last weekend
I was primarily looking at the go-kart track that they have there, which I still haven't figured out. I think it is private, meaning that if you own a go-kart you can store it there and race it on weekends. I'm still looking into that as a possibility for fun.
Back to Friday's Action
Last Friday, I looked up the place and found that they have a website, and an app, and I found the hours in which you can pay to go in and see the drag races.
On a whim, we hopped in the car and tried to get there by 7:00 to get some good tickets. When I used to go to Wisconsin, I would buy a pass that would get me into the pits. It just so happens that I got the same kind of passes when I went there on the weekend.
We got in and snaked our way through all the roads and under a tunnel, which presumably went under the curvy race track, to the main parking area it stopped in the first row. We were the first there and probably the first to leave since I do go to sleep early. The race track and parking area (at sunset) are the ones you see above, When I got done taking photos, they were starting to fill the second row of arriving spectators.
We walked in and found ourselves walking through a garage, well, a line of garages where people were prepping their cars to race. It was an eighth mile championship that was going on.
If these cars had been V8 muscle cars and nitro burning funny cars, this would be exactly like what I did on the weekends when I lived in the United States. They were not.
But my son, who is 19, knows all about these kinds of cars, they're specifications, the way they've been modified, and what they can do on the track.
Up until now, he had never seen a burnout. He overdosed on them that night... (photo right)
He's kind of a soft-spoken kid and though he did tell me everything he knew about each of these cars, he didn't show a lot of thrill in seeing them perform until after about an hour of watching them race side by side.
He mostly talked about what they had and how it would help them win if they are up against something inferior...
So, we are standing on a plank platform with a railing behind us and a fence in front of us and we were looking at the track waiting for 8:00 p.m. - race time. Then this guy pulls up with his car on a trailer. You can see the railing, lower left, in the photo. The man starts her up and checks his gauges.
This is one of those times when you realize your kids have surpassed you...
We walk around to see what she has under the hood and my boy says, "this car is special!" So I start looking and see the top pulley meaning it has an overhead cam, the turbo inlet larger than normal turbo, and I start trying to fathom what all that braided steel might be carrying...
He asks, "Dad, do you know what makes this thing special?"
I mentioned some of what I see and he says, "No!" He pulls something I was not even thinking right out of his head... He tells me that this car came with a trans-verse engine from the factory and this guy has spun it 90 degrees. That means that it is probably rear wheel drive!
I used to look at every car I saw and wonder what made it tick (when I was 12 years old and upwards) but I have not thought in those terms since moving to a new country. He grew up here and has always had my passion for cars for as long as I can remember. He has always expressed his passion with games like BeamNG and Assetto Corsa.
I should have seen it but I didn't, even though the engine was a bit more off center than it should have been. It has been years since I popped the hood on anything and I am very rusty on what goes or doesn't go.
When you are rusty on the latest models of cars, you cannot notice the modifications they have undergone.
I am still combing through the footage that I took at the races and I hope to make a video or two of highlights. We stayed only a few hours and then went home. On the way out, I saw a "rail" coming in on a trailer and a few other gems. I heard this thing goes well into the wee hours of the morning on Friday nights. My son has to get up for work on Saturdays and I have always had trouble sleeping if I do not get to bed before midnight. I am not sure what else will hit my blog, but I hope you like it when it does.
