Paige Murtaugh in the cockpit of Steve Harwood’s “Nitro-Hemi”

Dragstrip Rumble pit reporter Paige Murtaugh: “Staring down the body of a front engine, top-fuel dragster from the driver’s perspective is an electrifying experience. Visibly excited after cajoling racer Dusty Green and his team into letting me jump in the hot seat to film a segment for ‘Dragstrip Rumble’ at last weekend’s March Meet… Still can’t figure out why they denied my wishes to take the car on a test run 😉😫

“Green explained what it’s like to be in control of a beastly machine that flies down a quarter mile track at speeds upwards of 250 mph. With these cars reaching 0-100 in 1 second, drivers experience visual impairment from G-force comparable to a rocket ship blasting off…. The drivers can’t see during those initial moments at takeoff… anyone else see a problem with this?! Green insists it’s a game of muscle memory, but if anything goes wrong, the driver has a split second to make a decision and always runs the risk of the front engine blowing up in their face. If you call these need-for-speed cowboys on wheels crazy, they’ll laugh in agreement.

Color analyst Whit Bazemore listens in bemusedly.

“Running around the raceway being blasted by toxic nitro fuel, feeling the ear-piercing rumble of those cars, and tight knit sense of community mixed with competition surrounding the sport left me craving more.” –PM.