photo by Scott Beale
The Power Tool Drag Races, long thought to be extinct by most, is back and will be taking place on Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! May 7th at The ACE International Speedway in San Francisco.
Every year in San Francisco, Chopped Chainsaws and Supercharged Speed Wrenches go head-to-head down 75 feet of two-lane blacktop at ACE International Speedway (aka ACE Junkyard). From Super Stock off-the-shelf machines, to full-tilt multi-motor Top Fuel moooooonnnstrosities, it is capacitor blowing, carbide tooth shrapnel mayhem brought to you by, well, *you*- the finest redneck fabricators (a.k.a. machine “artists”) in the world. Participants and spectators alike thrill to the speed and smells as Black and Decker, Porter Cable, DeWALT and Milwaukee battle it out for supremacy, dubious claims to glory, lots of cold hard cash, and yet another turn-the-key-and-drive-it-away EDSEL for the fastest run of the day (also known heretofore as “The Edsel Cup”).
If you are interested in building an entry for this year’s Power Tool Drag Races, check out their registration/builders database website. Here are the event rules.
Have an idea in the back of your brain? Do you go into shiny-thing vapor-lock at the hardware store? Do you have niggling fears that the truth about the relative size and capacity of your reproductive organs will come out in a sordid manner if you do not prove their worthiness?
Last year, the 2004 Power Tool Drag Races event was featured on The Discovery Channel as a 4 part series.
There will be a special Power Tool Drag Races preview at the Maker Faire which takes place this month on April 22nd and 23rd.
Here are my photos from the 2004 and 2003 Power Tool Drag Races.
See you at the races!
UPDATE: Here are my photos from the 2006 Power Tool Drag Races.
