Cynthia Davis, a 51-year-old Tarpon Springs resident, has missed only two Gatornationals since 1986.
She said it’s not long before newcomers get hooked on the barrage of activity.
"It’s just the aura of feeling," she said. "You just gotta feel it."
All five senses are engaged at the four-day Gatornationals, one of the largest stops in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
The thunderous sound of dragsters permeates the parking lot.
The smell of nitromethane greets fans at the entrance, and a tingle forms in their eyes and throats.
They can wash down their cotton candy with a soda while watching cars barrel down a quarter-mile racetrack at hundreds of miles an hour in a matter of seconds.
But J.R. Todd, a 33-year-old Top Fuel driver, said his passion for drag racing goes beyond the action.
He appreciates the sport’s strong diversity.
Todd became the first African-American to win a National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel race in 2006, according to an NHRA report.
His victories expanded beyond borders in 2011 after competing in the Arabian Drag Racing League at Qatar Racing Club.
He said drag racing fans are found beyond Gainesville’s Auto-Plus Raceway, including places like Finland and Australia.
Villy Bobic, 30, browsed racing merchandise on Saturday during his vacation.
He sported a racing tattoo on his right leg, depicting an orange, red and blue dragster. He said it’s an exact replica of the 1,100 horsepower car he races in Sweden.
Adjacent to the merchandise, rows of pit crews deconstructed and rebuilt their racecars before starting them about 5 feet from spectators.
Some of the crowd had thin lines of black tire dust across their faces, referred to as "Goodyear freckles" by Senior Marketing Manager Al Rondon of Coca-Cola North America.
The Force family signed autographs in their hospitality tent next to the John Force Racing team’s RVs.
Ashley Force became the first female driver to win in the Funny Car division after beating her father in 2008, and Courtney Force became the 100th female victor in the NHRA during 2014, according to the report.
Erica Enders became an icon in the NHRA after becoming the first female to win a Pro Stock race.
The Disney movie ‘Right on Track’ is based on the experience of Enders and her sister in the male-dominated sport of drag racing.
Enders said females are more marketable to sponsors and fans, but sometimes they face old-fashioned chauvinists.
Enders remembers crying in her rental car after certain races and calling her husband or father for support.
But rather than dwelling on the valleys she’s braved, she focuses on the peaks.
Diversity is great, she said, but the car doesn’t know your gender or ethnicity, and racers only have one focus on the track: their passion for racing.
"The late nights driving a pickup truck with an open trailer and a car to the racetrack, with a 5 gallon pail of gasoline, those stories are what make what we do now so cool," she said, "because we all started from the bottom."
Follow Giuseppe Sabella on Twitter @gsabella
Top Fuel series drag racer J.R. Todd drives down the quarter-mile track at Gainesville's Auto Plus Raceway during a qualifying round at the 2015 Gatornationals on Saturday.
