The hot sun of summer is prime time for racing schedules, but the year still has four seasons. Inaugurating the passing of winter with springtime in Florida where the scent of orange blossoms and sound of roaring engines fill the low sky is appropriate. And warm.

Sun seeking tourists and fans of speed don't have to travel deep into the long state to find the bright rays and artificial thunder they crave. They don't have to look high in the sky for big noise from lightning, it happens on the ground. They don't have to bask in the sun on a breezy beach to justify their distant journey. They just have to find a parking place at the NHRA POWERade ACDelco Gatornationals.

For 39 years noise and speed on flat ground carved between pine forests north of a cozy college town in Gainesvillle, Fla., have thrilled fans of side-by-side racing. The spontaneity of drag racing and the incredible burst of speed to get to the win line draw tourists and residents as well.

The story of Gainesville Dragway over the years is all about growing crowds and faster speeds. Track manager Don Robertson said, "This year we ran out of parking places."

Drag racers are passionate and vocal about their sport. Prose can't compare. Recent select comments from a Q&A with nine top drivers and team members prove those points.

Part two is a fast read in many ways.

Words can't describe what you do, but can you try to describe to a fan what it's like to launch and go 300 plus mph?
"It's hard for me to describe because it happens so fast and you're so busy doing it. It's not like you on a run and you say, 'Wow man, this is fast. It's cool. It's really pulling.' No way. If you do that you're way behind. You're not with the car and it's way ahead of you. It may go straight or whatever and get lucky but honestly it even takes a little bit of time after the run for everything to register what just happened. If there was something peculiar on the run or something you haven't experienced before. It's too much in a short period to actually describe it or think about it as you are doing it. It's a rush. Just anything will put you behind the car, because it's accelerating way faster than your mind is going."

Fans can't know what it's like to be in a dragster. Can you explain how tough it is to race at 330 plus mph?
"Oh. It's extremely tough. It's not just watching these cars go down the racetrack. I mean there is so much work that's involved. These race teams sometimes work 12 and 14 hour days getting ready for the season. The offseason is really not an offseason. The off-time is that we're not racing. But we're getting ready for the new season. We're building new cars, building new motors, getting all the crew new uniforms. It's a lot that goes on to make sure that everything is ready for the season."

Is there a way to fine tune focus?
"It's very important. You have to concentrate. As a driver that's what your job is, to get in that racecar, focus all your attention on driving that racecar the best of your ability. Hopefully you get the wins and the championship in doing that. You just got to concentrate. It's a concentration game just making sure you're on top and doing exactly what you need to do in that racecar."

You've probably heard this question a 1000 times from students, but fans can't get in a race car and they can't feel the speed …
"Tell me what it feels like? Well, we can get you in a race car and accelerate you from zero to 170 in seven seconds just to kind of give you the feel. If you multiply that by 10, that's pretty much how it feels."

Words can't really describe launching in a Top Fuel Dragster. A lot of fans can't really relate to what it feels like to be in a race car. Can you find some words for fans so they can better understand it?
"That's a good question. It is hard but I can relate it to my school. That's the best way I can relate it. In my school when a guy comes in and he's never driven in a car before and I put him in a 10 second dragster that goes 130 mph. He says to me, 'It's not as bad as what you do'. I'll guarantee when you get in that dragster you are going to be a lot more nervous than I do, because you've never done it before. It's going to scare you.

"It's a good healthy adrenaline rush. You definitely sometimes look back and say, 'What am I, nuts?' Definitely you do that. It's just something that for me, if I'm not in Gainesville in March, I'm not alive."

You have much experience. What from your past works best now, something that just never stops?
"You know I'll tell you one that really gets my attention is in the offseason when we work on the car. The guys are building them. I'm out doing my thing and seeing my family. You take a couple months off and get back in the car. It's like driving one all over again for the first time. That first one, man, this thing had to run a 4:40 something. Well, it ran a 4:90 at about 320. Let me tell ya, the sensation is still there. It's like jumping out of an airplane. If you haven't done it for a while, you got to see what it feels like."

What makes a good team scream?
"I'm really proud of how we started. We didn't have a lot of experience. We developed it ourselves. Gary has been the crew chief from day one. He's done an awesome job and got us in the top 10 without having any experience at the racetracks, the conditions and what they have to offer. The thing that I'm proud about our team is that we didn't go out and buy the hired gun and buy the sports psychologist. We didn't buy it all. We learned it all. We developed our own program. Is it the best way to go? I don't know. It's kept us in the top 10 and we have a great synergy with our team because of it. We all work together very well. I think that's a part of having a team is that we all work well together. We don't have to worry about the personality conflicts when you bring in all these strong personalities. We don't have to worry about that because we blend very well."

What parts of your job are really not like a job at all?
"Driving the car - that doesn't seem like a job, that seems like a gift. It's something you'd pay to do. Just the traveling and even functions like tonight, being able to go out to dinner and stuff like that. Really, a lot of it doesn't seem like a job. Sometimes when you're back at the shop sometimes that feels like a job, but for the most part this doesn't really feel like a job. For the most part this doesn't really feel like a job. It's a blessing to be able to do something you truly love to do."

Usually you two are too busy to be seen together at the racetrack, but today you're in the same area.

Tommy Johnson
"Everybody always asks, 'Where's your wife?' How am I supposed to know where she's at?"

Melanie Troxel
"Usually we get to see each other all the time during the day and we keep track of each other. But once we leave the motor home, we're pretty much off to separate pit areas."

Tommy Johnson "I see her at night when we come back to the motor home. Everybody thinks I have a GPS tracking system on her or something. I don't know. Her trailer is down there. She's down there somewhere."

Melanie Troxel
"It's great for us out here to be able to travel to all the same races. I can't imagine how tough it is for a lot of our crew guys. The people on these teams leave their family behind and go on the road for such a long time. We get to go everywhere together. The two of us and two dogs in the motor home and we hit the road. One of the things that makes our relationship work so well is that we both love drag racing so much and we've committed our life to it."

Tommy Johnson
"Yeah. It's definitely nice to travel and be at the same place every week together. It's probably good that every day we go to our own separate areas and do our own thing and then at the end of the day we come back and talk about what happened."

Greetings from Florida