What a drag!

Jason MacNeil hates red lights.
Thankfully he rarely sees them on the racetrack.
He does however see three yellow before the green bulb glows signaling he can go.
In about 10 seconds his race is over.
MacNeil is a drag racer - has been for about 15 years. This year the Stellarton resident beat out the best in the Maritimes and took home the 2009 Atlantic Drag Racing Association Championship award for the Super-Pro category. The division is for racers who can travel the quarter mile in 11.5 seconds or quicker. He does it in about 10.8.
What made this racing season more special than any other was a win he made in New Hampshire at the International Hot Rod Association Race, which was held on Sept. 19. He was named the Division 1 Pro-Am Winner and finished in the top 10 in the IRHA point series.
"That's kind of a pretty big deal," MacNeil said.
But winning is nothing new for MacNeil. He's placed in the top five in the ADRA for the last six years and he was named champ in 2007 which has drawn him sponsorships from local businesses including Geliget Gear, Apple Auto Glass and Rhyno's Paint and Collision. It wasn't always that way though.
"I win all the time now, but for the first five or eight years, I never even won a race," he says.
He's learned a lot from other racers though who taught him how to become a track champ, but there are two factors that have really made the difference for him.
The first is having a reliable car that will do what it's supposed to every race.
MacNeil has used the same car his entire racing career. It's a 1979 Chev Monza, that his father had built back in the early '80s. But before he had the chance to really race with it he was killed in a car accident. MacNeil's uncle Anthony would race for a few years in the car, but it was ultimately Jason who would take the driver's seat.
The second factor is quick reflexes, so when the green glows he goes.
The key MacNeil says is to start going for the gas as soon as the third yellow lights up. So he is already moving as soon as the green is on.
He loves those green lights.