They do their racing on "drag strips"—abandoned airport runways, four-lane roads specifically set aside for their use, or some other isolated and guarded track. A drag race is an acceleration contest from a standing start between two vehicles side by side over a measured distance. The accepted standard for that distance is either a quarter-mile or an eighth-mile.

The cars are built resembling open-wheel circuit racing vehicles, long, narrow and have very thin front tires. Their race performance is exclusively in a straight line.

Competing two at a time, the cars start from a standstill and make a straight quarter-mile run. They test both acceleration and speed as they are clocked with electronics.

The cars are run on a maximum of 85% nitromethane and about 15% methanol (also known as racing alcohol), instead of gasoline. A Top Fuel dragster accelerates from 0 to 100 mph in less than 0.8 second, subjecting the driver to a force about 5.7 times his weight. Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

Before their run, they do a burnout. This is done for three reasons, it heats the tires up for better traction, it removes debris from the tires, and it coats the track surface with rubber which greatly improves traction during the subsequent launch.

Dragster racing is exciting, and really noisy. As the dragsters statt their run the ground rumbles under your feet and you hear the incredible brutal whine of the engines that hammers your eardrums. Soon the aroma of the fuel will whiff by and complete the experience. It only takes going to one race to get you hooked on the power sport excitement.