Heh...I've been trying to write this post for most of the afternoon now, but I keep finding more distracting videos and articles.
Growing up, the notion of a five or six hundred horsepower daily driver car was outlandish. Anything "serious" needed a steady supply of race fuel or octane boost and was wholly unsuitable for any real travel on the street for all but the most dedicated gluttons for punishment.
30-odd years later and we can buy 600hp (or more) family wagons with full OEM warranty, American-made cars with superchargers from the factory and we've developed an entirely new class of exotic - the hypercar with offerings over 1000 HP. I am amazed at the level of OEM horsepower available in your local showroom today.
The technology trickle-down to hot rods has been equally amazing. It wasn't that long ago that a 9 second street car was fast. It's still fast, but it can be done with relative ease - a GM LS with head studs and a large turbo will put you in the 9s. There's 19 year old Alex Taylor with her air-conditioned / power steering / roll up window daily driver Camaro that runs 8s. And the Drag Week Unlimited classes...wow...I mean WOW! Larry Larson ran a 5.95 at 244 mph, hooked the parts trailer to the back of the race car and drove it 300 miles to the next track as part of it's ~1200 mile 5-day event. It's just astonishing to see the degree of civility that people have figured out how to dial into their monsters. 3000+hp engines that roam the street. Boggles the mind.