Top Fuel Dragster

Saturday night at TonyLabs Raceway. The stands are packed, the light towers glare off the glossy paint, and the nitro is in the air. You’re belted into the cockpit of a Top Fuel dragster.

Pull up for the burnout and spin the slicks to heat them, then let go. Creep into the beams until the second row of bulbs lights, and keep your eyes on the tree. When the three ambers flash, floor it. The car leaves at nearly five g and covers 1000 feet in under four seconds at more than 330 mph. You steer it with your hands on a real butterfly wheel. Then you lift, grab the chute lever and pull.

It’s sim-lite physics. A slipping clutch hands over the power, and traction depends on how hot your tires are. Tires can shake, and you have to pedal it: lift for a moment, then get back in. Smoke them and you lose the round. Stay on the gas past the stripe and the engine lets go in a bang and a fireball. Cross the centre line or touch the wall and you’re disqualified. Leave before the green and you red-light.

Every control in the cockpit works:

• the butterfly wheel: grab it with either hand or both, or steer with the thumbstick
• the red CHUTE lever by your right knee
• the black BRAKE lever by your left knee
• the yellow FUEL shutoff on the left wall

The carbon-fibre dash has an engine temperature light bar that runs from green to yellow to flashing red, with a buzzer before the engine blows. It also has warning lights, analog RPM, MPH, engine, tire, oil and fuel gauges, and a gold screen.