Slingshot Drag Racing - Essay Example

Motor racing came into being when automobiles (cars) and motorcycles were invented and it is not surprising races of this kind were also invented; people wanted to see who is the better driver or whose the car or motorcycle is better to handle and has better maneuverability or has a higher speed. Most of the early motor racing activities were informal affairs that involve just a few close friends and their relatives perhaps on a dirt road or some remote place where the people can show off their driving skills and their beloved machines. It is not surprising the motor events soon attracted enough followers to become formal big sports events in later years.

Drag racing is the name given for motor racing in which there are usually only two people involved as contestants. The race follows a short but straight course (over an open field or even a rarely used or abandoned city street) and the rules are straightforward too: just to see which of the two racers can get to the designated finish line first. Drag racing along the streets is kind of illegal and so it is banned as it can endanger people while the motorsports version is legal but is highly regulated by authorities and sports officials. The early drag racers were more concerned about how they and their machines performed against a competitor and were not so overly conscious of whether few or many people are watching the event. These racers were more into their passion for the sport in terms of its speed and of course the inherent risks involved in racing. In this paper, the discussion revolves around how the sport of drag racing evolved over the years.

Drag racing is a type of racing car with the engine out in the front supposed to make it go faster and gain speed easier but this very design is also inherently unstable (wrong engineering) so crashes and explosions were quite common. Many race drivers got seriously injured or even killed; the term “slingshot” is an allusion to its ability to gain extremely high speeds, much like throwing man and machine in slingshot fashion. What started perhaps as a mere hobby grew into big-time spectator sports because of the thrill involved, including the risks to life and limb for the drivers. When the old aficionados mention slingshot dragster racing as a disease, what they meant was it is a kind of addiction; the adrenalin rush was addictive and combined with the pride of getting monies and trophies (as prizes) only served to enlarge the sport with new spectators coming in and with more people watching it, advertisers saw an opportunity to pitch various products and services to a captive audience.

A hint of danger is a heady mixture that will not fail to excite an audience, much like the gladiator sports of ancient Rome where there was blood. Modern society is still bloodthirsty to an extent but this is muted or latent. People want to see drag racing at its best and slingshot dragsters provided that much-needed but inherently dangerous element to a benign spectator sport. Ernest Hemingway if he had been alive in the heyday of the slingshot dragster would surely love this sport, much like he loved bullfighting which he wrote about in one of his best-selling novels. It is a sport that invites machismo and so it gained a good measure of popularity and also legitimacy over time. Advertising sponsorships can help a sport to grow faster. Read More