[sammyg2]

i used to have an 18' flatbottom with a supercharged chrysler hemi when i was 24 and I decided to enter the drag race circuit. The engine had all the go-fast goodies, tricked out as far as I could take it. Things that bring tears to a gear-head's eyes.
i volunteered at Mert Littlefield's shop just to learn the tricks.

it wasn't as glamorous as it sounds.

I was making about $22 an hour at the time and spent about $35k in three months just on the motor, and it was already putting out well over 1000 hp when I started.
It was running in the mid to high 7's when I ran out of parts and money.
I had it up on one plate at over 120 mph once, soiled my suit. The only thing that brought it back down with the right side up was the huge rotating mass of the motor. When I got out of it the inertia rotated the boat so it didn't keep going over.

I went around 150 in the quarter in a friend's drag hydro once, that's when I decided it wasn't for me. Stuff happens real fast at that speed on water. too fast to react.
It was like Russian roulette. Aim, pull the trigger, and hope for the best.

Cost me my girlfriend and credit rating and place to live but I eventually put it behind me.
It's a game for rich guys with clean hands or poor guys with dirty hands.