For anyone that's interested in creative engineering in motorsports I'd definitely recommend trying to make it out to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah for one of their speed trials [1]. It's an amazing experience. You'll see everything from multi-$100k vehicles with huge corporate/university support down to a guy who put something together in his shed four a couple grand (and he may still get a record). Some people go to try to break official records, others to break personal records, and others just to have fun. There are lots of different categories so almost anything you would want to make/modify can be brought out there as long as it's safe. Go to one that has both motorcycles and cars to see the best diversity(Speed Week, in August, is what I'd recommend).
Another cool thing is how close you are to the vehicles. You can be 20 feet away when the 2000hp streamliner takes off. (Although they aren't dragsters, so the acceleration isn't what's important). And most of the people love talking about what they built. So when they're waiting in line you can get right up to the cars and ask questions about stuff (just don't bother them if they look like they're in a hurry to fix/modify something ;) ). You'll see extremely well engineered vehicles using established ideas for going fast as well as crazy ideas that may or may not work (e.g. a v-twin converted into a single cylinder which uses the second cylinder as a supercharger.) Often times it's not even about trying to go faster, it's just about trying something new or challenging.
Anyone into cars and motorcycles should go at least once if they can. For many people, after their first experience they decide they need to bring something to run next year, and that's when the addiction starts. :)
[1] http://www.scta-bni.org/