(Photos by Benoit Pigeon) – They are the undisputed masters of the acceleration racing world. They may give up some slipperiness to their funny car cousins but the mighty top fuel dragster stands alone in its ability to get up and GO from a standing start. This is a category of scalpels and sledgehammers. A place where minute adjustments and fractions of a reaction time second mean success and failure. A place where you win and lose in front of God and everyone.

Benoit Pigeon’s top fuel photos from Bristol are stunning. Capturing these cars in not only an active light but an artistic one, his lens shows us things that no video can truly capture. Those instantaneous twitches, lurches, and wrenching twists that 11,000 horsepower provides.

Top fuel dragsters are the most singular purposed racing vehicles on Earth. They do nothing well other than hauling ass in a straight line. Even a funny car is good at aerodynamics. These things are better at punishing the poor, unfortunate air molecules that have the misfortune of getting in front of them.

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