“You experience five G’s at the start and sustain three G’s for the whole pass,” explains Mike Hinbest of what it’s like to be in the cockpit of a top dragster class machine that is powered by a 2400 horsepower, methanol burning, super-charged, highly modified power plant.

At the other end of the track, you decelerate from over 200 miles per hour down to 100 mph in about one second - thanks to a couple of parachutes that are deployed after crossing the finish line.

Racing since 2006, Hinbest is the driver for the racing team that bears his name - Hinbest Racing based in Orangeville.

At 23, he is one of the youngest drivers on the strip in this class that sees races won or lost in hundredths of a second.

He competes mainly at Cayuga Speedway and Grand Bend Motorplex.

Hinbest has come a long way in a short time in his racing career. He started in the street class five years ago driving an S10 pickup truck and soon decided to take it up a notch.

He was awarded ‘Rookie of the Year’ for his first season on the strip.

His move up in class was supported when he received sponsorships - notably from NAPA Auto Parts - a large auto parts and accessories company - and The Tire Discounter Group.

He is home based, and it doesn’t hurt that he comes from an automotive background. His father Roy operates Roy’s Service Centre just north of Orangeville.

“At this level, it’s completely different,” he says of the move to the ‘Quick 32 Class’ fueler level racing.

It’s a complicated sport that requires taking many things into consideration for the start of a race.

Everything from the temperature of the race track to the humidity in the air is checked and the race team will make adjustments in fuel mixture and tire temperature for optimum performance when the light turns green to start the race.

For Katie Ward, her involvement with Mike on a personal level has turned into a new career when she began racing in 2010.

“At first she would talk about how involved I am in racing,” Mike explained, since it took up so much of his time.

But after starting to attend events and work as a part of the crew, Katie’s interest in the sport started to grow.

So much so, that when the opportunity to get in the cockpit was available, she decided to give it a try.

“It’s not like I thought it would be,” she says of her first time out in an ‘eight second’ car. “But the extra car was there and Mike asked if I wanted to try it. It was a good ‘learning’ car.”

She started training in that car and learning the nuances of high speed racing.

She actually won her first race.

In a sport that has few women involved, Katie is one of three women drivers in her class - out of a compliment of 32.

She has always been involved in athletics and that helps out a lot in a sport that is highly physically demanding for shorts bursts of explosive energy.

Katie now pilots a car that churns out 1400 horsepower and burns a fuel called C12 - a 112 octane jet fuel - with a top speed of 192 mph and completes the quarter-mile in 6.98 seconds.

“This is my first full year, (of racing)” she says. “I’m really happy with this car, I’m just happy to be able to drive it. If I had the opportunity to drive a faster car, I would.”

In a sport that is inherently dangerous, the sanctioning body - the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) - has a strict set of safety guidelines covering everything from driver qualifications to the seatbelt harness in the cockpit.

At over 200 mph, you don’t have a lot of room for error.

Hinbest racing is also turning their efforts to giving back to the community through fundraising efforts for the local hospital and a $1000.00 scholarship in partnership with the Quick 32 Sportsman Series and Canadian Automotive Institute for the Automotive School of Business at Georgian College in Barrie.

Hinbest Racing will be competing at the Mopar Nitro Nationals IHRA National Event at Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario, on July 16 & 17, then on August 6&7, they will be at the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals at the same venue.

For more information visit on-line at www.hinbestracing.com.