October 03-05, 2003

Fomosa Raceway, Bakersfield, CA: "The Sheriff" and his Utah Posse proved once again that if the door is left open just a crack, they'll kick it in. Facing the toughest competition of his career, Jack Harris captured his second consecutive California Hot Rod Reunion - arguably the most prestigious race of the year for Nostalgia Top Fuel. With temperatures in the mid 80s on a superbly prepped track, Harris used a string of five second runs and a stroke of racing luck to best the quickest 16 car field (during eliminations) in history. In the process, Big Red posted the fastest speed ever by a front engine dragster - 257 MPH! 260 is just around the corner. The rest of the story below

 

With only two rounds of qualifying, no one could afford to make a mistake. As Brett starts the car for the first session the crew is doing a mental check list to make sure all their bases were covered.

The final job for the crew before a run is to make sure the tires are scrubbed clean of track residue.

First session on Saturday afternoon -- Harris, who rarely makes a mistake, sets the bar with a nice 5.973 @ 246.77. Here's a nice photo sequence of the run.

In the second and last session, Harris had hopes for a really BIG number but could only improve slightly with a 5.960 @ 244.89. He would end up # 4 in the 16 car field.

11AM Sunday morning and the sun is already beating down on the track. It's hard to tell here if Billy is keeping himself or Jack cool before round one of racing.

First round Harris drew the hot Top Fuel rookie, Sean Bellemeur in the Mastercam car.

After staging, both cars left together but it was all Nitro Thunder from then on.

Harris lit up the scoreboard with a 5.87 @ 254 to Sean's slowing 6.56 @ 163.

After the car is serviced between rounds, its always warmed up to check for leaks or other potential problems before going to the staging lanes for the next race.

The fans are always on hand to get a load of "the yellow fog" (nitro fumes)- they love it!

The backup ritual after the burnout never changes. Consistency at every turn is a Nitro Thunder trade mark.

Harris not only put a huge holeshot on Diehl but streaked down the Famoso quarter mile in 5.85 at a stunning 257.43 MPH - the fastest run in history. Another notch in The Sheriff's gun.

Diehl laid down a game 5.950 @ 236.71 but was no match for the huge top end numbers of Nitro Thunder.

The semi finals by itself was worth the price of admission featuring the four quickest cars during eliminations and four drivers 60 or older - the kids were long gone. And there was no question that it would take a solid five second run to win in this round.

60 year old Harris was paired with 66 year old Bill Dunlap in Mike Fuller's car. Both drivers had been in the fives all day but based on his second round 5.85 (to Dunlap's 5.96), Harris had lane choice in this match up. Dunlap's earlier 5.84 was a tad better than Harris' best of 5.85. Any way you sliced it, this was going to be a tough drag race.

As it turned out, the race was decided on the starting line. Dunlap got the holeshot (0.510 to Jack's 0.604) which was what he needed as his 5.899 @ 239.55 just held off Harris' quicker (and much faster) 5.887 @ 254.66.

They don't get much closer than this. Dunlap got the win by less than 3 feet!

The Nitro Thunder team, who dedicated the victory to the late Ernie Hashim, got the proverbial second chance when they got back in on the "break rule," which allows the low e.t. loser in the previous round to advance if one of the previous round winners can't show up for the next round due to mechanical or other reasons. Such was the case in the final. Bob Muravez was unable to make the call and that left the door open for Harris to even the score with Dunlap.

The final was a rematch of the semis with the only difference being the cars swapped lanes. Harris had been in the left lane all day and since he had lane choice, Dunlap, looking for any edge they could get, put him in the right for the final.

With the tires being scrubbed, Brett Harris moves to the front of the car to lead Dad into the staging beams and make the final adjustments to the engine.

Both cars left together and it was a classic drag race until the 1000 foot mark where the Nitro Thunder horsepower took charge. Harris took full advantage of the second chance and beat Dunlap 5.87 @ 250 to a game 5.92 @ 235 to capture his second consecutive CHRR Top Fuel Championship.