"Straight-line acceleration is probably the first aspect of automotive performance that any intelligent driver gets bored with."  Peter Greg.

LOL, I wouldn't go quite that far. We owe a lot to the dragsters. They always break something, figure out a way to beef up the part and the benefit trickles down. I once swore that I would never go drag racing.  I also swore that I would never modify my Z but that promise also went by the wayside.

Street racing is dumb and dangerous, which is why I try and save all my racing for the track.  But being human, there are sometimes nearly irresistible temptations. 

My Z buddy Neil took me to Numidia, a drag strip in the middle of the country.  Friday nights are "run what you brung."  For twenty bucks you can get in as many quarter mile runs as daylight and number of cars will allow. 

Waiting in line, I was surrounded by mostly classic American muscle.  Look carefully under the front of my car and there is a shiny spot.  That is coolant leaking out of my blown radiator lower hose connector after one run.  Seems in drag racing, something always breaks.

I got to match up against my friend's Twin Turbo Z in this pic, which he kindly took of me as we approached the starting line.   

My first night there, I made one run and blew a radiator hose.  So in my personal experience, when you go drag racing, something always breaks.  Still, it was a lot of fun.  I was amazed about how much was "going on" during that short, quarter mile run.  I have a lot more respect for those guys into drag.  However, for now I still prefer "tracks" like Watkins Glen or Sebring to "strips."

Another integral part of drag racing is always having a "back-up" excuse as to why the run was not faster.  I later found out I was only running on five cylinders.  I had a bad fuel injector that ohm tested way out of spec.  That must be why I didn't break 14 seconds, lolam.