Today was my second adventure day, followed by a bit of sightseeing. About six months ago I saw a story on TV about a company that offers drag racing experiences and, as I planned my trip, I realized I could be in the right place at the right time to try it. That was how I found myself at Brainerd International Raceway this morning completing the quarter mile in 10.307 seconds at a speed of 120.7 mph. After two shorter runs to get used to doing the burnout needed to warm the tires and timing the launch I did two full quarter-mile runs which were amazing. The only downside is that I have no video of the experience.
I had paid $50 for the official video (with one camera looking straight down the track and a second watching me) but, when I plugged the USB drive I was given into my computer, it was unreadable. I got in touch with them as soon as I discovered the problem and they said they should be able to recover the files if I mail the drive to them.
When I booked the drag racing session I was told I could be finished any time between 11 AM and 4 PM, depending on the weather and number of customers, so planning the rest of the day was tricky. I knew I wanted to visit Lake Itasca State Park, which contains the headwaters of the Mississippi river, but didn’t know if I would have time. Therefore I reserved a hotel in Bemidji, MN which allowed me to visit the park today or tomorrow. I was lucky to be in the first group of four drivers and was actually done before 11 AM so had ample time to take in the park and wade across the Mississippi to round off the day.
If you are not familiar with Minnesota you’ll find the map and video here.
Since I don’t have drag race video to link to I’ll make do with these photos. The inside of my cockpit
Vehicle and driver.
Lake Itasca is quite mundane for a State Park and, if it were not the source of the Mississippi, would probably not enjoy that status. I stopped at all the “vistas” on the map and the best view of the lake I found was
The actual headwaters area was overrun by families and kids on this beautiful Saturday
So, along with most other adults, I decided to cross it at a point about 300 feet downstream. Shorts would have been better than jeans but we were told to wear long pants for the drag racing.
Well done Steve! Curious about what the maximum speed those vehicles can attain. I guess that’s the closest you’ll get to actually straddling the Mississippi River. Where was that new Sony camera positioned when you took that shot?
The Mississippi photo was taken by a fellow visitor using my old camera. I don’t know the maximum speed of the dragsters. I was going about 120 mph at the end but they only had two gears and there was a rev limiter on the engine so probably not much more than that. I was told that they were designed so that, with a perfectly positioned and timed start, they could complete the quarter mile in 10 seconds flat.