Waiting at the entrance gate to pay to get in, fresh dew on the grass, and we are almost last in line. I decide to take a nap and wait it out, I wake up to my dad shaking me. “Come on buddy get up!” said my dad (this is when I was ten). “It’s time for racing!”

This race was one of the biggest races of the year. Right before the season closes; almost every junior drag racer goes to a Halloween race. At this race there were around 75 cars in my age group, and 250 in my index class.

My dad drove around looking for a pit stop and I look around at the different race pits. Some cars are beaten up and look old, while most look brand new. There were many different set-ups, some people had million dollar motor homes and trailers and others had just a pick up truck with the car in the back.

We had an average setup of a truck and trailer. We set up the cars getting them ready to go down the track. I changed the oil, wrapped the tires, and cleaned the carburetor. This was all done to produce the most consistent results. Drag racing was about two things: Consistency of the car, and the consistency of the driver. Speed and looks while nice, have nothing to do with winning. After we get the cars ready we tow the cars to the starting lanes.

The two time trials we had went great and we already know the rest of the day is going to be good. We roll up for the first round and in my opinion the first round is the scariest. The first round is never forgiving. You either win or you go home in the first round.

I roll up to the starting line and I’m next in line. My dad starts up my car and the pressure starts coming down. I roll up to the water box and do my burnout, next I roll up to the start line and everything is happening really fast. The lights come down and let off the brake and smash the gas. The 3Gs of force push me back into my seat as the car takes off. I go down the track and a great pressure is relaxing. I look over my shoulder and the other car and he is slowly losing. I know now that I have won. Round after round I go, I lose track of how many and before I know it I’m in the final.

My dad never said one word to me before the final. He was either to excited because of the race or didn’t want to excite me and mess up the race. When we finally got to the starting lanes the other car was sitting there. I could tell that this car was very expensive. I went over to shake the drivers hand and to wish them good luck like I do before every round and she just ignored me. Now I had to win, and I knew it was going to be difficult. I ended up winning the race after all the anticipation and suspense. This made me almost win every race after this because it boosted my confidence in myself. Winning makes you more able to win in the future…