It’s easy to forget just how far nitro racing has come since the early days of drag racing. The technological marvels we see running over 330 mph are radically different from their front engine forefathers. There are still plenty of racers out there like Bob Hawkins who love to wheel front engine dragsters that guzzle nitro and run well into the 6-second range in the 1/4-mile.

Hawkins is a United Kingdom resident who campaigns his Time Traveller II slingshot dragster all over Europe. You might recognize Hawkins and his dragster thanks to the numerous old-school fire burnouts they’ve performed at different events over the years. The Time Traveller II is a real deal supercharged front engine AA/FD that is powered by a Chevy-based engine.

You’ll typically see Hawkins competing in the Nostalgia Cannonball class behind the butterfly steering wheel of the Time Traveller II dragster. Piloting a slingshot dragster with a nitro-burning engine sitting right in front of you takes a certain level of skill and elevated level of bravery. These diggers love to wander all over the track since they don’t have a giant wing adding downforce to keep the rear tires planted. Needless to say, you have to be ready for anything.

In this video from his YouTube channel, Hawkins gives us a bird’s eye view of what it’s like to drive the Time Traveller II during a run. Check out this gnarly 6.73 pass at 193 mph that Hawkins made during Nostalgia Cannonball class qualifying during the Dragstalgia event at Santa Pod Raceway.