Words and photos by Tom McCarthy

In drag racing, the people who truly love the sport, live the sport. They’re at it 24/7, one way or the other. If they’re not turning wrenches, they’re turning things over in their minds. How to go quicker of faster, make things stronger and more reliable; the pursuit of unobtainable perfection is endless. Drag racing is a sport where the OCD people of the world can truly feel right at home.

In the world of motorcycle drag racing, because of this, if a drag bike breaks (which is sometimes every pass) there’s just no way a racer can go to bed. If the race bike is broken, there would be no sleep, so what’s the sense in that?

A drag racer must not only fix what’s broken but also find out WHY it broke. Sometimes sleep gets in the way of drag racing.

In roaming the pits of the Summit Motorsports Park's annual "Cavalcade of Stars" show at midnight after Friday night qualifying, I was able to connect with some racers and fans that typify what our sport has come to know as drag racing after hours. It’s a way of life for many.

Top Fuel Nitro Harley builder Don Johnson of New Jersey, better known to racers as DJ, spent his Friday night after qualifying repairing his monster driven that day by Chris Streeter. Chris had the bike about eighty feet out off the starting line during Q-1 and the beast, for whatever reason, pushed out a head gasket from the front cylinder, right about where the exhaust pipe exits the front head. There’s a divot in the head where the sealing surface was -- about the size of a nickel -- that looks like a Plasma Arc torch was struck there. Forget the JB Weld, this head will need some shop time to repair.

When I asked Don what happened he replied, “Who knows? Not sure really. If the damn driver would just do his job” (He said with a big wide grin). Chris Streeter, who like DJ, was just getting his cold-cut sandwich dinner at midnight replied in kind, “Up yours!” And like DJ, he said it with a big wide grin. The two nitro junkies continued wrenching into the wee morning hours. Q-2 will happen in the afternoon, there’s a drag bike to repair, no time to be worrying about this and that, and there’s work to be done or no sleep tonight. This is drag racing after hours.

Inside the Jason Pridemore trailer it was more of the same story. “She’s not happy,” commented Jason. “The rear cylinder leak down was good, but the front cylinder said ‘check me.’ The scuff marks tell the tail, so we’ve got work to do.” All of Jason’s team were at it well into the late night. “We’ll have it ready for tomorrow,” commented Jason.

Team Pridemore is a family affair with all hands on deck. No one minds the hard work, in fact they thrive on it as a family. Jason will sit down with his mom and go over tune up decisions before each round. Nitromethane as well as Grace is spoken at the dinner table with team Pridemore. T/F motorcycle drag racing is part of the thread that weaves through the fabric binding their co-existence. Drag racing after hours is a way of life for them.