We’ve written before about our fascination with slow-motion video in relation to drag racing. The visceral nature of the sport, and the speed at which things happen, lend themselves to an opportunity to slow down the action and view it frame-by-frame. In fact, perhaps no sport has been revolutionized more by the inclusion of slow-motion video capture than drag racing.

It’s about time the NHRA started putting together more videos like this; the sheer insanity going on in this video is a roundup of the highlights from the first half of the season. And by highlights, we mean explosions, crashes, and wild rides – you know, the stuff people actually tune in to watch.

Although we’re thankful for the safety enhancements that have come into the sport in the last decade or so, we wish the drivers had to actually drive the cars without computers and timers doing the work for them. The highlights of this vid make us yearn for the days gone by.

Who wants to watch two boring Top Fuelers run A-to-B, straight as a string, where the only determining factor between who wins and loses is how quickly the winning driver can let go of the brake lever?

Scratch that — people want to see , as good ol’ boy John Force says, “on fire, upside down at 300 MPH,” and that’s why they tune in on Saturday and Sunday. That’s what this video delivers in hi-def slow motion. Exploding superchargers, brushes with the wall, carbon-fiber bodies flying into the sky, and all of the life-and-limb threatening moments that can take place during a single weekend of NHRA racing. The amazing skill demonstrated by these drivers in the face of adversity, on fire, with blown-out tires – it’s what the NHRA should be marketing every single day.

We’re glad someone at the Big House in Glendora is finally beginning to embrace social media as a place to gain potential fans and sponsors, broadcasting the stars, cars, explosions, and crashes from the sport we all love so much. After all, Force, Kalitta and Schumacher won’t be around forever to drive the sport into the future.