detroit the automotive capital of the world people but with one idea one dream to build a hot rod that is swifter than any other hot rod in its class the test of one car against another to determine the lowest elapsed time that straggler racing and this is the king of all drag races the so here we are five hundred horsepower ready to push me down that quarter of a mile in less than ten seconds you don't drive get a game and try to keep it straight it's like threading a needle at a quarter of a mile but it's really liv so let's see how it all began i guess everybody has a shangri la for us it's drag racing i us because it takes a team to build and race a top contender the happy hours of a man's life are spent creating something some people  right some design a rocket to the moon but for us is trying to build a machine that will cover a quarter of a mile quicker than anything else on four wheels and there's the high lama jim wilson he's the engineer in real life he's manager of a speech up in oceanside tom and jim are brothers there i am with the jacket supervisor you gotta keep an eye on these boys or some they all mashed on the throttle and head right into outer space takes a lot of doing to make a record run these cars are more highly bred than are a source in fact this is probably the most specialized type of machinery in the automotive world when we head out for a big race like the nationals we take a long enough spare parts to rebuild the engine as many times as we have to a liability is almost as important as speed it's a combination of both the way and the fact i've known it to happen where the fastest  isn't necessarily the winner and dragline or was our last year's like nick purchased it when we built the drag master mike in nick we're running it this year we got to st louis and across the mississippi the weather began to look a little on the  following day the sun came out and everybody took a deep breath even so we almost lost the whole day on packing everything and getting it dried out and we had the car to clean up and get ready for technical inspection the next morning all cars must pass a thorough technical inspection by representatives of the national hundred association is o c a sions rules have been responsible for setting and keeping the highest standards of safety so typical of modern classes are divided according to body types engine size and weight of car that's affords a wide variety of creations for a hot  the check charge system is used to and each contestant's car must pass all requirements before he is allowed on the drag strip this often creates some lively discussion weighing in is always a critical moment rules call for thirty percent front seventy percent rear weight ratio a few pounds light on the front end can disqualify a car and a few pounds too few can throw it into a higher class after technical inspection the crew transports the car to the pit area where a thorough tune up is done before their first run barbara livingston the charming secretary of an h r is on hand to greet old friends and to give newcomers a helping hand once satisfied the crew wheels the car through the staging area and an amateur photographer gets her chance before the car gets to the starting line