(Photos by Charles Wickam) – Antron Brown walked out of Houston last weekend with a top fuel Wally as he has done so many times before. Brown piloted his Matco Tools sponsored dragster through a tough field of top fuelers for the win. Our man Charles Wickam was stationed dutifully on the wall during the professional rounds and these photos were taken on Firday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas. Top fuel cars are literally awesome machines.

From their sheer size to the smell of their nitromethane fuel, to the indescribable sounds they make while heading down the track, the big dragsters are amazing creations. One of the reasons we love them is that they are so singularly purposed. They suck at turning, suck at stopping for the most part, they are virtually impossible to parallel park and the fuel economy leaves something to be desired. The fact that they are designed and constructed around the single premise of being the fastest accelerating race cars in the world appeals to us. There’s no frills with a top fuel dragster. Period.

This gallery will show you some of that incredible power on display. The photos were taken during the first round of nitro qualifying in Houston. Like day drinking, day header flames are super awesome and there’s plenty of those to see here. Also, take note of the rear tire shape in the lead photo and on the launch. Pretty crazy stuff.