Two trucks, one towing what’s basically a giant shovel and the other a hoe, ensure the ruts and digs get pulled over to keep the track flat and safe, and a water truck comes through to help provide a little more traction through terrain density. Thankfully, everyone gets a breather every few runs as the track needs to be groomed frequently to keep it from sinking further into the Earth’s crust. In fact, excessive wheelstanding will get you booted from the race!ĮTs fall between mid-two to four seconds across the range, so the racing is fast-paced and violent. Most are equipped with wheelie bars, which are often relied upon though soon ndistinguishable in the storeys-high rooster tails that are thrown at the fall of the tree. The cars are built to race on loose terrain with altered bodies and gnarly paddled tyres, and are a sight to see as they scream down the 300-foot track.

The racing, while staying mostly true to its roots on the blacktop, is like nothing else around. Yep, that’s right – there are people crazy enough to race nitro rails on sand. Now in its second year, the Hammer Down Nats are put on by the Southern California Sand Drag Association (SCSDA), and the event attracts a respectable field of competitors in classes ranging from two-stroke quad bikes to altered-body Jeeps, all the way to fire-breathing, ear-bursting Top Fuel. The event is the Hammer Down Nationals, and these men and women are So-Cal’s sand drag racers.

Once a year it plays host to a small but devout group of competitors armed with paddles and horsepower. THERE’S an empty backlot attached to the Soboba Casino, about two hours into the desert from Los Angeles. It’s rooster tails galore as Povi Pullinen checks out Southern California’s sand drag racing scene

Original Post: WhichCar By Povi Pullinen – Story & Photos, Drag Racing

Sand drags at soboba casino