Memphis doesn't have any major league sports franchises or even a NASCAR Winston Cup Date, but once a year the top names of drag racing show up for the

NHRA Mid South Nationals

And I was there to take pictures of their pit bikes.

Eddie Hill grabs his helmet for a ride on his pit bike. Much more thrilling than the cage behind him. Penzoil sponsors several teams that compete at the NHRA events and they had 5 or 6 of these Penzoil scooters.
I thought I was getting in line for Edgar Winter's autograph.
If you didn't get that, ask someone old.

NHRA drag races draw huge crowds with people coming from all over the country, they also command a lot of money for tickets. The best deal is Friday night qualifying where you can get a two for one coupon at Auto Shack If you buy 5 quarts of oil. The cars usually run their best times of the weekend in he cool night air, the downside is that it that it is difficult to take pictures at night.

The first picture is a naked funny car testing an engine. Those guys are wearing gas masks because these cars run incredibly rich at low engine speeds. Standing next to one of these cars while it is idling will deafen you as well as evokeing a flood of tears and leaving you gasping for fresh air. This pit was next to John Force's. I think Austin Coil asked these guys to start up to disperse the crowd. By the way, John Didn't have a fleet of Castrol scooters like Eddie Hill. Next is a terrible attempt at taking a picture of the six foot flames shooting from the exhusts of a pair of passing funny cars.

The minibike on the left was for sale at one of the vendor booths for a paultry $875.00. I spoted this rare 1988 ZB50 as we were leaving. I asked the rider if I could take a picture and he complied. When Rita went to the bathroom I made an offer, but it was not for sale. I have been looking for one of these and now that I have seen one in person, I must have one.

This was the Harley Davidson powered Pro Stock bike. The big V-Twin sounded cool on the starting line but was painfully slow. It may have qualified, but I doubt it. Eagle-eyed viewers will note that the pushrod tubes are on the left side of the bike. That's because the engine is in the frame backwards to facilitate the drag racing transmission.