Speed is as much a part of Mike Strasburg's life as food or water.
The Lehi resident laid the foundations for his racing career many years ago by racing everything from prototype Ferraris to roadsters on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Since that time, he has taken an unquenchable thirst for speed to the next natural level — as a professional drag racer in the International Hot Rod Association and the National Hot Rod Association.
Now Strasburg will get a chance to conquer the quarter-mile again in his home state when he joins several other IHRA drag racers to compete in the Nitro Nationals this weekend at Rocky Mountain Raceways.
Drag racing is a different animal from the racing that shaped Strasburg. His father Allen began building cars to run on the salt flats when Strasburg was a child. In that environment, he got his first taste for true speed.
"Drag racing is over so fast," Strasburg said. "Four and a half seconds, you're at speed and slowing down. Out there, it's about a minute from the time you leave the starting line until you are finished."
Since his family started racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats nearly five decades ago, Strasburg and his three brothers have combined to break 22 land-speed records. All four siblings have been inducted into the prestigious 200 Miles Per Hour Club.
In some ways, breaking those records became addictive. Doing it once and with one brother wasn't good enough.
"We always took turns driving the cars," Strasburg said. "Once one of us had set a record, we'd look for another class for one of the other brothers to set a record in."
On the quarter-mile, Strasburg has continued to test the boundaries of speed. He is two years removed from eclipsing 330 mph in his top fuel dragster in Las Vegas just before the strip was shortened to 1,000 feet. At the time, they were one of only a handful of Top Fuel drag racers in the country to run over 330 mph.
Strasburg also holds the mile-per-hour record at RMR. He clocked in at 302.72 mph to claim the top spot at the track in September 2002.
His team, which is composed mostly of family and friends, has stayed competitive on both the NHRA and IHRA circuits. Strasburg finished fourth in the IHRA world points standings in 2008. It is a testament to his family's commitment to racing that Strasburg has been able to stay level with teams that expend millions of dollars annually.
"It's really tough," Strasburg said. "We're competing against people that spend 20 or 30 times more money than we spend."
Several other top racers will join Strasburg on the drag strip in West Valley City this weekend. Included within that group are the two most recent IHRA Nitro Funny Car champions — Terry Haddock and Dale Creasy, Jr.
The two champions will square off in a funny car battle on Saturday night. When that happens, it will mark the first time Creasy has been behind the wheel on a drag strip in nearly a year.
An accident nearly ended his career 11 months ago. On a run down the strip, the transmission broke off from the bell housing in Creasy's vehicle. It spun around multiple times before stopping. When it did, Creasy suffered a broken right leg and his left leg was completely shattered.
Doctors contemplated amputating the leg, but found a way to save it. Since then, Creasy has made a comeback his top priority.
"I been working at it for the past two or three months, and I still have a long way to go before they're back to normal," Creasy said. "But they're a lot better now. My biggest thing was making sure I still I had them."
Before his life-altering accident, Creasy had won IHRA championships in 2006 and 2007 and was on track for a third straight title last summer. He held overall points lead going into the race that ended his season. Haddock eventually finished in the top spot to claim the Nitro Funny Car championship.
Creasy hopes coming to Utah will be the first step in ultimately returning to that elite level he once enjoyed. But he knows the road back will be a tough one.
"I tell you after you have that much time off, you're learning again," Creasy said. "It's not like I'll be starting over, but I'll be starting farther back than any season I've ever started."
EMAIL: jcoon@desnews.com
IHRA Nitro Nationals
Friday and Saturday at Rocky Mountain Raceways
Spectators: Gates open at noon both days
Feature Cars run at 9 p.m. on Friday
Feature Cars run at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday
Ticket prices:
Friday — Adults $25, Kids ages 5-12 $10
Saturday — Adults $35, Kids ages 5-12 $10