A Place to Celebrate New Year's - A Drag Show

I

n Ohio, there is a place offering a New Year's Day drag show that has a strange rule about being slower every year since it began.

For this year's Hangover Nationals at Dragway 42 in Ohio, the rule is 20.21 seconds -- more than two-tenths slower than what it was when it started.

The drag competition is held in all weather conditions and with street driven cars.  The object of the race is a bracket event.  A decade ago, the race was run with a 20.11 second index.  As is a sportsman event, the Christmas Tree counts down bulb every half second (unlike a Pro tree, which lights all three in four-tenths of a second) before going green.  People actually count seconds to ensure they are going no faster than the index.  If you're faster than the index, you are disqualified unless the opponent rings up the red light or crosses a boundary line.  If both drivers are faster than the index, the slower car (closer to the index time) wins because it is closer to the index.

Happy New Year everyone.