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

Ezra Dyer's recent column in Car and Driver excerpt

Some assignments damn near killed me, but they're now part of the lore. And a lot of them just came out of idle bluster, like:" Whats the world record distance for a limo jump? I'll bet I could beat it"
Next thing you know you're in Tallahassee wearing a prom dress.

Some of the ideas didn't pan out, but we've never lacked ambition. I look on the bright side with these things. Where some see an expensive Mercedes that's totally submerged in salt water, I see a marine habitat. Sure, that's not how Sea World looked at it, but they learned an important lesson about signage. And believe me, I caught an earful about that one.

Car and Driver Magazine, Ezra Dyers column, the 60th Anniversary issue, July 2015