Drag racing is the loudest, fastest, and brashest motorsport in the UK, and its concept is brutally simple. Take two large-engined cars, tune them to the maximum, and race them head-to-head down a quarter mile straight. Go to a meeting and stand close to the course, known as the ‘strip’, and you’ll feel the ground literally shake when the 6000-plus horsepower Top Fuel cars come to the line.

As the start lights on the ‘Christmas Tree’ gantry go green, flames pour from the unsilenced exhausts as the drivers floor their throttles and the cars hurtle down to the finish line in under six seconds. Speeds at the end of the ‘strip’ are so high that the cars use parachutes to help haul them down from over 300mph.For sheer, raw spectacle, drag racing just can’t be beaten.

Away from the racing, take a look around the paddock to watch the mechanics stripping the cars down and completely rebuilding them again between runs. The array of high-tech equipment and computers they use would rival a heart surgery for technical excellence. Trophy hunters can often buy bits of wrecked engines at bargain prices as a reminder of their day of thunder. This is a sport where you can get close to the action and the personnel involved are invariably willing to have a chat.

Racing takes place at Santa Pod , near Bedford, and Shakespeare County Raceway near Stratford-on-Avon. Go and experience the pure excitement soon.

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