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UNSOLICITED.OPINION
Believe it or not, it was Winston Churchill who coined the phrase "the proper application of overwhelming force," which perfectly describes the basic premise behind drag racing. Churchill did not happen to be talking about the world of straight-line performance when he said this, though. In fact, it was a line he used to describe how the Allies were going to win World War II after the United States joined the fight. At that point, he was pretty well convinced that the bad guys would not overrun the free world and that things would eventually be OK.
Twenty-four weekends a year, some of the smartest drag racing minds on Earth gather themselves and their wild machinery to test their ability to properly apply overwhelming force to dragstrips across the country. It is a far more delicate exercise than most people could ever understand but one that turns into a deafening and mechanically violent ballet when it is done correctly. The variables are basically endless; from the temperature of the track to the temperature of the air, there are considerations that range from tire pressure to blower overdrive to headgasket thickness, and the list goes on and on and on.
As many of you know, the NHRA has made modifications to the procedure of preparing the tracks for racers to compete on. The change that has had the drag racing world talking is the reduction of traction compound applied to the track for competitors to run on. The "glue" percentage change has sent crew chiefs back to the drawing board in many situations, and the learning curve, as is everything...