Its the reason that race car drivers and dragsters come home smelling like gas fumes and exhaust every weekend.
Its the reason why Chad Dotson has climbed in and out of his race car since he was 16 years old.
In the racing world, Dotson is known as the Lizard because of the green 1972 Chevy Nova he drives. Now he can be known as the world champion lizard.
Dotson won the Summit Super Series No-Box World Championship on October 18. He just returned to Mill Spring from a weekend of honor in Ohio. He was award all the prizes and trophy from his world championship.
The 33-year-old returned home with a trophy, a championship ring, a championship coat, a cash prize and an all-expenses paid trip to Aruba, where drag racing is the countrys national sport.
But more important than all that, Dotson got a gold card that allows him to race for free at any IRHA sanctioned event.
Im hoping this will open up doors to running a bigger circuit, he said.
That gold card will go a long way to helping that cause, he added. Dotson is currently looking for sponsors.
To get to the big stage, a drive has to qualify on their home track. Dotson is a regular at Greer Dragway, but ended up qualifying at Carolina Dragway in Jackson, North Carolina.
Each track champion then moves on to the divisional championships in Darlington, South Carolina. Dotson won there and qualified for the world championships.
The world championship was a weekend long even in Rockingham, North Carolina.
In the finals, Dotson went head-to-head with a driver from Aruba. Before the race, he was interviewed by a national television network in Aruba. Then it was on to the track where he won with a time of 10.67. His dial-in time was 10.60.
It was unreal, he said. It was a lifelong dream come true.
Doston wasnt the only one proud of his championship run. He comes from a family of racers. His dad, Ronnie, races and he has a couple of cousins that race.
Im very proud of him, his dad said. It was very exciting. When I heard him whack the gas, I knew he had him.