To Make Dreams Come True
It is uncanny, the memories that a sound will evoke.
Saturday at Great Lakes Dragaway, often the sound of an idling supercharged race engine could be heard. Sometimes in the staging lanes waiting to move forward to the starting line, or at a distance being tuned somewhere in the pits, — the undulating, rising, falling, ragged rumble of a engine gave voice to it’s constructed purpose: to make maximum horsepower.
The sound reminded me of my first visit to a drag strip, my first exposure to this quintessential American motorsport as a high school sophomore in 1965. The almost other-worldly, beast-like roar of race engines were heard echoing through the tall pines on the far side of the track at Person County Drag Strip in North Carolina. That was long ago now. I was a kid, 16 years old. At the time I felt I was witness to an activity of beauty, of danger, something demanding engineering excellence and great courage. Crew members having the knowledge to tune and care for a Professional class acceleration machine, the driver, knowing that in order to make a successful pass to the finish line, the team effort has to precisely adapt the car to the condition of the asphalt track, risking a mad amount of money invested in the race car, never mind the hazard to one’s life in excess of 200 miles per hour… The “stars align” so to speak when it all comes together.
Drag racing is not for the faint-hearted.
Such thoughts are evoked for me by the wave-sound of an idling race engine, the machine gasping for fuel at slow rpm, anticipating the green flash of light at the starting line, and the throttle full-on dash to the finish line, a quarter mile distant. From a vantage point many years removed from that first event I now recognize the magic of those moments of experience. Those are occasions when life & death fuse, when there is no before and after, no good or evil, — only the wordless sensation that one “is” and that one is not alone. It is a momentary experience of being one with the possibilities within each of your team members, of what might be accomplished together, of what we may “know” together.
These photos were captured on June 18 at Great Lakes Dragaway, Union Grove, Wisconsin.
Of course I anthropomorphize in my description of these machines. We should never forget that our tools, every man-made-machine is an extension of ourselves, the expression of our purposes, our attempt to make dreams come true.
The youtube video speaks for itself CLICK HERE.
7 thoughts on “To Make Dreams Come True”
Very nice post. I have a slightly different perspective on this sport, though I am no where near as knowledgable about the Drag Strip as you are. The words that are most relevant to my way of thinking are within your final paragraph.
“…..every man-made-machine is an extension of ourselves, the expression of our purposes, our attempt to make dreams come true.”
My personal observation is that we are born into this world, helpless, completely dependent on others in order to survive. We are told we must find strength and purpose in life, and for the most part, the male of our species is told that he must provide for and protect the family. To that end, those of us who are males, are usually steered towards human’s concocted version of manliness, whether we are aware of it or not.
Please note that it is not my intention to denigrate this sport, but more to explain what I believe draws people to both participate and/or witness the roar of the engine, the competitive nature, along with the life threatening speed.
Anyway, just a different POV. As always, I am often off the mark in these assessments.
I actually share your view point. That is a dimension that I imagine could be different, but sadly it is not. I know from experience thought that a successful team features a car owner with a generous attitude, who fosters camaraderie among all participants (male and female) in the common goal, to shave another tenth second off of the best elapsed time. Without self sacrifice there is no satisfaction. Financial resources are important, but there is a limit to what money can buy.
When circumstances dictate, everyone ought to be ready to step up, to be that warrior for the well being of the team.
All human behavior is extremely complex and in my first reply to this blog posting, I oversimplified my perspective. As you noted, there is a large dose of tribalism in this sport, as there is in any sport. The teamwork involved in producing results, whether they are winners or losers, encompasses a process that includes a huge amount of mutual effort and respect. When teams fail, many times is has to do with the breakdown of that glue that holds the teams together. Egos manifest themselves in destructive ways and failure is the usual outcome. How is it that we don’t learn from this?
Homo Sapiens are intractably tribal. The challenge is how to make our tribe more inclusive, more welcoming, less hard-edged as to who is in and who is out.
I think there is a feminine aesthetic to the presentation of an effective/competitive race car. The crew dedicates considerable time to making the machine visually attractive, seductive. Before the car proceeds to the staging lanes, to make a pass — typically there is a furious session of polishing away dust off of painted surfaces, making sure the plexiglass is absolutely clean… This is not always the case, but usually is the practice. Seems that males perform best when our feminine side is manifest…
It is possible to learn from our failures. Is there any other way? Most of our learning comes from experience.
Hmmm….. Not sure if what you mention is the feminine side or perhaps just the opposite, the masculine preening side. Many males within a wide variety of species plump up their tail feathers to attract a mate. I see this more as the application of beads and a feathered headdress to attract the most desirable female rather than an embracing of the more feminine side of the testosterone driven male. Just a thought!
A thought worth considering. I wonder if we will ever know which category is the apt description. I doubt the subjects themselves would know, if they were asked… My assumption based upon the fact that males have a complement of female genes. Is the “feminine side” expressed? How?
A trio of males I used to know went by the moniker of “The Gay Husbands’ Club”. This was in no way meant to denigrate those who were born with an attraction to the same sex, but more of a statement that we were not afraid to embrace a less than apparent masculine approach to life. We all enjoyed musicals, cooking, design, gardening, and several other non-traditional outlooks. Would this kind of behavior be considered an acceptance of a feminine side or just the ability to not be engulfed by societal norms. I believe the latter to be the case in that many men feel they must play the role set forth by so-called cultural norms. At some point in the future, my hope is that we can remove those shackles of conformity and allow everyone to be who they are (unless that inner person is physically destructive to others). Perhaps without those constraints, people would be less destructive since they would no longer need to express their repression through acting out. Anyway, them’s my 2 cents once again.