MotorSport Culture in New Jersey

A Pro-Mod (Pro modified) late 1960's Ford Mustang warms up the tires in the 'Burn Out Area' on the Raceway Park drag strip during the annual Toyota Summer Nationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. The burn out area is where the tires are warmed and cleaned by spinning them on water covered asphalt before the race.
A mechanic works on the carburetors of a Pro-Mod (Pro modified) race car during the annual Toyota Summer Nationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. Notice the plumbing for this gasoline engine with additional Nitrous Oxide.
In the 'Sportsmans' trailer/pit area, a crew member sleeps in a traditional non-racing vehicle during the annual Toyota Summer Nationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. The non-pro sponsored drivers are called 'Sportsman' rather than amateurs due to the level of professionalism and cost of the sport.
A fan poses with 'Advertising Honeys,' scantily clad women used to draw interest in a sponsors booth during the annual Toyota Summer Nationals in Englishtown, New Jersey.
Fans look over the engine of a nostalgic Funny Cars during the annual Toyota Summer Nationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. There are several circuits though out the country where hobbyists race actual old 1970's and 1980s Funny Cars of the 'Golden Age.'

The Toyota Summer nationals at the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown New Jersey is one of the original seven NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) events showcasing the worlds fastest drag racers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock categories. And this, Raceway Park’s 49th season, there was a great deal to see. Drag racing is unique among motorsports because fans have direct access to the drivers and the teams, watching from as close as five feet as the highly skilled mechanics "twirl the iron," and get to talk with the drivers who control these speed machines and sign autographs in the pits.

A drag race is a competition of acceleration from a standing start between two cars or motorbikes with the looser of each race being eliminated until only one competitor remains, There are several fields of competition, Funny Car, Super Gas, Super Stock, ProMod, and dragster to name a few. The competitors are also as diverse as the vehicles: young, old, professional, non-professional, men, women, and all ethnic backgrounds.

The fans are of all types, ethnically diverse, racially diverse, all ages and all backgrounds, and they travel from all over to see the cars, crews and speed, but most come to see the professionals. The pros drive the Funny Cars that run on a fuel mixture called nitromethane, the result of a chemical reaction between nitric acid and propane. The funny cars are as loud a jet engines with flames shooting out from the exhaust tubes while the sound compresses the chest of those near the starting line. Before each race in the funny car division, the engines are assembled in less than 75 minutes. After this assembly the most loyal and zealous of fans stand in the pits, ready to inhale the exhaust of the nitromethane. Most can not stay for long as the fumes painfully burn their eyes and lungs, but others stand strong, with the deafening sound and noxious smoke. The races last less than six seconds with the drivers accelerating the 8000 horsepower engines from 0 to 300 mph (490 kph) in under four seconds; the cars are brought back to the pit to have the engine stripped and reassembled, then moved back to the starting line for the next race.

The NHRA boasts that it is the world’s largest auto racing organization, and with the diversity of vehicle, racing discipline, class, age, gender, and ethnicity of the drivers, it may very well be.