(Brother left, myself on the right; we were always our fathers biggest fans!)
From 1982 until 2003 my father drag raced motorcycles in the IHRA division. There was nothing my brother and I loved more than going to cheer on our old man. We always thought it made him the coolest dad around. Even though money was tight at times he always found a way to get his black drag bike down the quarter mile strip!
Early years: My father was a wild child, constantly driving his dirt bikes and motorcycles way to fast. In 1982 after he found out he was going to have his first child he realized he couldn't be speeding because it could lead to losing his license. My father was only seventeen at the time but realized he needed to man up. He had been working full time since he was ten years old so work ethic was never a problem, he knew he could provide for his family. He got the idea of drag racing because he knew he could still get the thrill of going fast but this way he would be safer and it would be legal.
(8.82 seconds was his fastest quarter mile time!)
To his surprise he was an extremely good drag racer. Winning his first few races on a completely stock bike. Most people don't understand drag racing. Yes it is a race but it's more of a timing race. You have to dial in a time you think you'll run and if you over shoot it you automatically lose (even if you got over the finish line first).
Over the years he learned a lot about building engines and designing the bike to be the most aerodynamic possible. My father met most of his closest friends at the drag way. Sadly he has lost quite a few of them to cancer, heart attacks & car accidents but the memories of them forever remain. He won the Motorcycle Eliminator Class three times over his years at New England Dragway, most people are lucky to get one!
Unfortunately around the 2000's when the economy went in the shitter so did most peoples drag racing careers. It isn't cheap to run a drag bike. He knew he had to put his hobby to the side to put money towards his priorities. I know he still misses racing to this day and I hope that one day he'll hop back on the bike (before he's too old!).
(Not his drag bike, just his new street bike at the time he obviously wanted to show off!)