Mark Twain and drag racing

When Mark Twain wrote "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure", no one realized we was referring to Nitro-methane gulping, fire-spewing, 300+ mph funny car and top fuel drivers. 

This is what they put themselves through over and over again, just to get that perfect ride.

In the top picture, most probably the body was blown off by a blower "blowing up". The tremendous force released by this causes the chassis to come off the ground while fuel can be seen gushing from the right side of the engine. As this happens, the driver is just along for the ride.

The next picture illustrates the shear severity of a Top Fuel engine explosion, in that even with a fire wall, the flames still somehow find their way in to the driver's compartment.

To these drivers, it is business as usual and these wild rides are a part of racing. Most likely, they were back in the same car just 90 minutes after these pictures were taken.

Thanks for reading.

Photo credit: unknown.