Drag Racing
Bristol, VA
The Fleenor Family are regular as bracket racing at the Bristol Dragway, aka Thunder Valley. Bracket racing is a form of drag racing in which the drivers make a series of time runs down an eighth-mile tarmac strip and then mark their expected time. During the head-to-head races drivers attempt to be as consistent as possible without going faster than their posted time. Bristol-area mechanic Larry Snead said it breeds more camaraderie with the drivers because they are racing against themselves, not against each other. It also rewards consistency and reliability over straight-line speed.
Chris Fleenor still likes to go fast. His rear-engine dragster weighs about a third of what a production car weighs but has about five times the horsepower. Its components are welded together on a lightweight, metal tube frame with giant rear tires that grip the asphalt at low PSI for maximum traction at launch. The 20-foot-long car seats one and is about as wide as one person’s shoulders. The front tires are skinny and lightweight, perched just under a front end that is less than a foot wide, making it look like the car is sharpened to a point. The names of Chris’s crew, his wife Tammy and his children Holly, Blaine and Anna, are written on the side of the car.
“The racetrack has always been a place that we could all come together, no matter what happened at school, what is happening at home, all that is out the door when you come to track,” said Chris, “and all of us work together.”
Bristol Motor Speedway draws race fans from around the world. It is the fourth-largest sporting arena in the United States and tenth-largest worldwide. With NASCAR's inextricable ties to moonshine production, it is easy to see why this monument to motorsports belongs in central Appalachia.