"I'm covered in Rubber"

Molten rubber to be precise. The post title is a quote from this past Sunday when I attended my first ever NHRA Drag Racing event at Infineon raceway. The dragsters and their rabid fans were surreal against the rolling hills of Sonoma.

The event was easily one of the loudest experiences of my life. The top fuel dragsters run nitrous through 8,000 horsepower engines. To give you an idea, one piston produces more HP than a NASCAR. They would start with a burnout which would send nitrous fumes and rubber filled smoke toward our seats. The effect of which made me look like I had black chicken pox. And if you tried to wipe the rubber off your face, it would just smear. After the burnout, the cars would line up and the start lights (Xmas tree) would light up. This was the moment where you cover your ears. Even if you have ear plugs. Because in short order, all hell breaks loose.

4.5 - 5 Seconds and 12 gallons of fuel later, the "car" is a half mile away doing 327 miles an hour. And it feels like a thunderclap has just happened right in front of you.

At one point an alcohol dragster, only 4,000 HP, overpowered it's wheelie bar and went over backward. Luckily the car went airborne and landed back on the wheels. The driver was fine. She actually returned to the track and cheered on her teammate. Yes, she.

Another event of the day was Cops versus Kids. Where cop cars would drag race against High Schoolers in their supped up rides. Only 2 cops won. Out of 10. And all the cops got a head start. The crowd was definitely cheering for kids, not the pigs.

Friday was also quite eventful. I attended the Daft Punk show at the Greek theatre on Cal's campus. Took a party bus over. Heard The Rapture open. Pretty good. Then large black curtains covered the stage. Once DP came on, it became one of the most incredible light shows I've ever seen. I'll let the photos and video that my man Alan captured speak for themselves.

Photos: http://public.fotki.com/ace33/070727/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/EYZA01

It was also one of the loudest shows I've ever heard. My ears took a beating this weekend. Thanks very much to the angel who gave me ear plugs at the show.