the story of what it's like to be a starter at the line in the NHRA " When a driver blips the throttle, you’re sprayed with a mist of unburned fuel like somebody turned on lawn sprinklers in hell."

Autoweek writer Steven Cole Smith got to tag along with Mark Lyle, the NHRA chief starter, and it's a really good article  http://autoweek.com/article/nhra/posing-nhra-official-eye-opening-experience