Like trying to control a runaway freight train with the wheels plowing through a field of ball bearings.
That's what it was like for Fort St. John driver Greg Morton Friday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Raceway when he hit the button to unleash the power of his rear engine dragster.
In drag racing terms, a green track is a new surface which has little or no rubber compound on the track, which is needed to gain traction, especially for high-horsepower race cars.
When it was poured two years ago the 770-foot concrete section of the drag strip was left with small imperfections and to make it smoother it had to ground down with a cutting tool, a 15-day process completed two weeks ago.
But until the race cars started using the track, it was too slick for comfort for guys like Morton, capable of 7.93-second quarter-mile passes at 169 miles per hour.
"The first one Friday was terrible, no traction, and we were all over the place skating everywhere and it was actually getting pretty scary out there,' said Morton. "But it's better now. They've done a good job of prepping the track."
It had been eight years since Morton had raced in Prince George and a lot has changed.
Instead of the snowmobile he used to race he's now at the controls of a rail that runs so fast, he needs to deploy a parachute at some tracks to stop him in time.
"A sled, you leave off a thumb (throttle) and this car I leave off a button and it's all controlled by a computer," said the 46-year-old Morton.
He bought the dragster two years ago from a guy he knows at the track in Edmonton, where he parks his trailer and motorhome between races at Castrol Raceway. Morton is grooming his oldest daughter, Madison, a 15-year-old junior dragster, to take over as driver of a full-sized dragster.
"I'm going to drive this when I get my licence," said Madison.
She plans to try for her IHRA 7.0-second licence next year when she's meets the minimum age requirement of 16.
"I'm going to try to get her an Alberta licence so I can get her in the car quicker, I just want to see her in a big car," said Greg Morton. "She'll do well, she's very skilled. She's been racing since she was eight."
The safety equipment available to drag racers takes a lot of the worry out of racing, especially when Morton toys with idea of putting his daughter behind the wheel of a car that runs so fast.
"They're so safe in these cars," he said.
"They wear fire suits and fire shoes and wear a harness device so they won't break their neck (in the event of a crash)."
Morton noticed the improvements that have gone into the facility since Brent Marshall bought it in 2012 and predicts more drivers from northern B.C. and Alberta will start making the haul there to race.
"It's a way nicer track, it's smoother - I give them another year and they'll do really well," he said. "The facilities hare are amazing. There's a nice paved pit area, you roll down into staging. Prince George has always had an amazing facility."
Morton will be back in Edmonton Wednesday for the start of the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals.
For more coverage, check Thursday's paper.
