Video: Pomona Ride Along With Some Sportsman Racing Hitters

There was a time when helmet cameras were something that only the million, err billion dollar networks could afford to have. But thanks to the beauty of technology and the vast decrease in the cost of said technology, anyone with a couple hundred bucks in their pocket can mount a camera on their helmets and provide drag racing journalists something to write about. Some of the toughest sportsman racers in the business captured some in-car footage at last weekends season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona with cheap $189 helmet cameras and were kind enough to share them with the world.

This first clip takes us along for the ride in Doug Lambeck’s low 10-second A/SA ’69 Camaro during a wheels up charge down the Fairplex quarter mile.

Now we take a ride in another Stock Eliminator machine, this the C/SA ’98 Firebird of California racer Bernie Cunningham. While Cunningham certainly would’ve liked to have seen a different result, this gives a great illustration of what its like down at the finish when ever inch counts. His opponent Robbie Irving had .043 advantage out of the gate and as the quarter mile marker inched closer, began to back into Cunningham so as to not break out, or at least not by the greater of the two. Both drivers broke out, but Cunningham took too much trying to make up for the later reaction time.

In this final clip, we again take a ride along with Lambeck, only this time in his Competition Eliminator D/SMA ’07 Sunfire alongside Sal Biondo’s I/AA ’07 Cavalier in the second round of eliminations on Monday. This one is particularly cool in that, because the camera is mounted on Doug’s helmet, the viewer is able to see his vantage point as he looks over to drive the finish line by spotting Biondo’s quicker Cavalier. Note Doug dumping it just before the first timing block in order to save some index.