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Contact: www.myspace.com/shagadelic_swinga
or E-Mail
Bio
Age: 19
Home Town: Sydney, Australia
One of two female Top Fuel license holders in
Australia.
Results
Schedule
My
First Full Track Pass
My first full pass in a Top
Fuel Dragster felt as though I was strapped into a
rocket and I was being launched into the air. It
was a sensational feeling, One that I will never
forget.
In order for me to pass my
Licence there are certain steps I need to take.
First is to do a burnout and a launch, then a half
pass (600 feet) and then 2 full ¼ mile passes
both over 250mp/h (which is roughly about 400km/).
I have succeeded with everything so far except for
my 2 full passes, which was what I was aiming for
on Sunday.
On the 22nd of July I set
out to achieve what would hopefully be my first
full pass down the ¼ mile over 250 mp/h. Like
usual, I had spent all the time leading up to it
preparing myself and running through my head what
my procedure was.
I even tried to go through
in my head what could go wrong when driving a Top
Fuel Dragster and what I have to do when it
happens. The thing that most people don't realize
about these beasts is that everything happens so
quickly when you jump on that throttle that your
mind has to be ahead of what's going to happen
next, if you catch my drift. So basically, if the
tyre's start shaking then you have to react the
instant you feel a change in the vehicle.
I thought about everything
from going through the finish line, pulling the
parachute lever and then finding out they didn't
blossom and ending up in the sand to even thinking
about what would happen if the car wheel-standed
and just kept going over and flipped out. I went
over it in my head so that HOPEFULLY I wouldn't
freak out and I would react to what I had taught my
mind to do in preparation for it. But of course it
would be different whilst in the car.
Sunday morning had finally
arrived. We got to the track and starting setting
everything up. I had tried to keep myself calm and
collected during the morning, but little help that
was. Phil Reed came up to me and asked if I was
nervous. I said to him "Phil, I don't have
butterflies, I have Terodactyls". He just
laughed.
Mat, Dad & my Cousin
Luke all said that after half-track you wont seem
to feel the acceleration as much. The big blast is
in the first half of the ¼ mile. I was
actually quite surprised at this.
Dad had ordered a HANS
device for me from America, which hankfully had
been delivered in time. We tried to fit it a couple
of weeks before, but it just wasn't
working.
The device is designed to
stop your head and neck from moving around too much
when you take off, pull the parachutes or have an
accident. The first time I put it on, I couldn't
believe how much support it provides. I sat in the
car all geared up and strapped in and I could not
move my head and inch left or right.
All I could do was move my
eyes, not my actual head. It made me feel really
safe, however, the problem was that he device
pulled my head back, which means when I looked
straight, my eyes and head were pointing towards
the sky. So we thought we would order a skinnier
neck brace and see if that helps. We didn't get
that until the day of the race. We tried it on and
tried to make it work, but unfortunately it just
wasn't comfortable for me. So we decided and were
advised to run without it until we can get it
fitted properly.
The amount of gear that I
have to wear is incredible. People that suffer from
claustrophobia couldn't do it. I have a balaclava
on, a fire suit, clothes on underneath my fire
suit, a mouth guard, a helmet, a neck brace, racing
boots, thermal socks and 2 pairs of gloves (for a
tighter fit). It doesn't seem to affect me,
although I think that's because adrenalin gets the
better of me.
It was great all of my
friends and family were there to support me for the
day. that was a big plus. Some think im totally
crazy and out of control and others can't believe
that I actually do it.
My mum was so nervous (as
always) and so was Dad. My Boyfriend had actually
said to me the day before that he needs to spend
the night preparing himself for my drive tomorrow.
Im starting to totally understand where he's coming
from. I have some relatives that as much as they
would love to and are right behind me supporting
what I do, they just cannot come out and watch me
drive down the ¼ mile in a Top Fuel Dragster.
I think it doesn't scare me or worry me because I
have grown up with it.
I have worked on it for so
many years, I have grown up being right beside my
Dad for every pass that he has made in that car,
and I have seen him create fireballs that Evil
Kineval would be jealous of, so I guess im just
used to it now. After driving the fueller and
understanding just how powerful it really is, im
starting to see where some of my relatives are
coming from.
We went through the warm
up procedure in the pits and all was good. I did
the methanol warm up with all of my gear on and I
asked Mat to strap me into the car so it was as if
I was actually on the start line and I could get
the feel of it again and run through it.
We then did the Nitro warm
up and all was good. I was beginning to get
extremely pumped up by the stage. 12:30pm rolled
around and we finally set out for the staging
lanes.
Like always, as soon as
that 7000hp engine fires behind you, you don't
think about or even see anything but the ¼
mile in front of you and what you have to do. It
still amazes me. Even the butterflies
disappear.
Mat signals me to move
forward on the break and the clutch alternating
between both, and I roll through the water. Then
Dean signals me to burnout and he does the brake
signal as well so I don't forget to hold the brake
on when I do the burnout. This is because we have
carbon fibre brakes and they work best when hot, so
we have to hold the brake on slightly when doing
the burnout.
It's such an awesome
feeling doing the burnout. You slide from side to
side and there's more steering involved than you
could imagine. I even have to focus on something to
try and keep the car straight during the burnout. I
pull her up and flick the lever in reverse. After I
had finished reversing and had found forward gear,
some of the officials started running over and
giving me the "kill it" signal by waving their hand
against their neck.
I had about 3 different
people telling me to shut her down, but I wasn't
turning her off until Mat came over. As soon as I
saw Mat give me the signal, I turned the fuel off.
I thought we must have had a fuel leak or
something. After I turned it off, Mat informed me
that the car that had made a pass before me had
ended up in the dirt down the bottom end. It was
all good and cleaned up then all of a sudden whilst
I was reversing, the car had actually caught on
fire again down the bottom end. So they shut the
Fueller off until they cleared the car and made
sure the driver was ok.
I didn't freak out, I
didn't get nervous and I certainly didn't become
un-focused. I tried my hardest not to let this
little incident phase me in the slightest. I new
what I wanted to do and I was not going to let this
put me off.
I sat there, went through
what I was about to do (again) and just kept on
focusing. I had people coming up to me stressing
out saying "don't stress its allright you will be
fine" when actually they were all running around
like headless chooks. Its Racing. These sort of
things happen and the best thing to do is stay
focused and to not loose your
concentration.
The boys re-fuelled the
tank and we got the start up signal again off the
officials. As soon as it started I pulled the fuel
on. I tried to be a little be quicker this time
with everything because the car was already hot. I
did a little burnout and pulled her up. After
reversing, found forward gear and Mat bought me
into stage. This was it. The moment I had been
waiting for. The moment that every Top Fuel drag
racer I had spoken to was trying to prepare me for.
This moment was mine.
I put the pre-stage light
on, put it on the high side, pulled my visor down,
let my foot off the clutch and moved slightly into
stage. I waited for what seemed like forever. I was
so pumped up and ready so I just went. I didn't
even wait for the flash of the amber from the
Christmas tree.
Most of you probably
aren't aware that the take off in a Top Fuel
Dragster is just a blur. It must be for 0.00001 of
a second where you cant focus on anything and you
cant remember anything. I remember seeing half
track and knowing I was there. However, after half
track, it felt as if the car had dug the back end
into the ground and the front end was launching
into the sky. It was another massive kick.
The car just took off
AGAIN. It was incredible, and it actually caught me
off guard. That's the best part of the run. When
the clutch locks up and the car just goes like a
rocket. Its amazing.
I remember my hand being
on the parachute lever when I went through the
finish line, however im not sure at what point in
the run I put it there. I think it was just
automatic. The feeling that you get when the
parachutes blossom is a definitely a feeling of
relief. They really do hit you hard though, but its
good to know they are out.
I got out down the bottom
end and one of the officials filled me in on my
time. I nearly died. I did 449km/h in 5.16 seconds
down the ¼ mile on my first ever full pass. I
was so excited.
The tow truck pulled up
and everyone was ecstatic. Mat and the boys told me
that standing from behind all you could see was me
trying to drive the thing. Apparently it was going
down the ¼ mile like a snake and I spent the
whole run keeping it in the groove so they were
over the moon. To be honest, I didn't even realize
it was moving around that much.
On the return road I saw a
couple of my friends parents that had never seen a
Top Fuel Dragster before and they couldn't believe
it the fact that I had just driver that rocket down
the track. I turned around and I said "I still cant
believe I've done it".
Phil Reed came up to me
and congratulated me and also told me how much it
was moving around. Top Fuellers aren't as easy to
drive as you think, and there is so much that you
have to do in less than 5 seconds, and if you
forget something, then your doomed.
I still cant believe that
I had to drive the thing to keep it in the groove.
Dad had written me a note on Sunday Morning that
said "I've got 40 years of driving experience and
today, I will lend it to you". I have no doubt this
is where I pulled my knowledge from on the day.
It was so great to have
everybody behind me and there supporting me. Thanks
to Skips Fire Service and to Dragster
Australia.
Unfortunately for us we
did not make a second full pass as we had engine
problems. Yes I was extremely disappointed at this,
but I must admit I was totally exhausted after that
first run. All the adrenalin and the focusing and
the excitement during and after the run just took
all the energy out of me. But like Mum and Dad
said, as soon as you step into that fire suit, the
adrenalin starts pumping again.
It was a sensational day
and I would once again like to thank all of the pit
crew, the officials and everybody that was there
supporting me because without any of you, non of
this would have been possible.
I've done it. My first
full ¼ mile pass in a Top Fuel Dragster. I
will never forget that feeling.
Until Next
Time…
Go Hard Or Go
Home
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