Nation Of Go

On the way out of Phoenix, the Nation of GO Tour stopped by Firebird International Raceway for Friday Night Drags. It was “Run What Ya Brung” night and we definitely wanted to run. The obvious choice for the strip was our WORKS-tuned Lancer Sportback. But since we promised Mitsubishi we wouldn’t track the car, we went with the next best option.







None of the crew had ever staged a drag car before, much less a 4X4 van loaded with gear. Luckily the Firebird staff was helpful in explaining things and soon we were ready for our timed run. The Christmas tree flashed yellow once, then twice, and then we got the green. A little over a second later, our driver reacted.



With the throttle to the floor, the big van moved diligently down the quarter mile. We watched the speedometer slowly climb and wondered if we should have turned off the dual air conditioners for a little more power. There was time to wonder about things. Nearly 22 seconds after we got the green, the van blazed through the trap at just over 66 mph.

Lots of different kinds of cars and motorcycles showed up to drag race that night. We saw several Corvettes, a Mazda RX-8, a stock-appearing Kawasaki sportbike, a dedicated drag-racing Harley, and even a couple of pickup trucks. But nobody else ran a 4X4 van. Which meant ours was the fastest one of the night.