Winning the Top Fuel Dragster
crown, Jack Harris and the Utah Posse put their one-race old
"Nitro Thunder" Fueler into the Winner's Circle. Racing
Bill Dunlap in the final, the pair lit up the boards with Firebird's
quickest Top Fuel "side-by-side" race in history. "The
Sheriff" laid down a stout 5.91 @ 255.02 to top the 6.02
@ 237.84 by Dunlap in Mike Fuller's "Westwind" fueler.
Saturday, qualifying
... Jack Harris set both ends of the Firebird Top Fuel Dragster
record with their opening qualifying run of the weekend. In spectacular
fashion, the new "Nitro Thunder" Dragster rocked the
house with a brilliant 5.85 at 255 miles per hour! The track
record run included a 1.05 (60), 201 mph (660 speed)
and a 4.98 (1,000) intermediate time. More than impressive
at this altitude. Needless to say, that locked down the #1 spot. Brian
Losness Photos
The Utah Posse
acknowledges the cheering crowd as the go to pick up Jack at
the far end.
The next ten
shots are by Billy "The Kid" Robins and they show the
teams second run on Saturday. They show all the activity on the
staring line and what the crew members do to get the car staged
and ready to make its pas. This first shot is Jack doing his
"burnout" (heating up the tires).
Brett
Harris marks the spot his Dad needs to back up into.
After the car
is backed up into its "tracks", the crew goes to work
cleaning off any extraneous dirt or rock off the tires.
Rayce Muchmore leads Jack toward
the staging beams. When the car is within a foot of the first
light, Harris is on his own to stage the car.
Brett Harris turns on the data
computer just before Jack puts on the first light.
Once the car
is staged, the crew is done and its time for Jack to go to work.
Between runs, Harris is busy
signing autographs. Nitro Thunder is gathering a huge fan base
and some of them are caught on camera by Billy at Fan
Club.
Unlike the major Goodguys events,
Boise is a little more laid back and allows the team to bring
along the wives, kids and yes, grand kids. This is Kaden Harris,
Brett's son - Jack's Grandson. Billy titled these shots: "This
chocolate milk packs quite a wallop".
A spectators view of
Nitro Thunder from the grandstands.
The Nitro Thunder pit area is
always a center of attention. Actually, its very hard to miss.
No matter what's going on, the
fans are always stopping for a look, photo or autograph.
Oh yea, there was something else
going on this weekend. Long time partners and friends, Billy
"The Kid" Robins and Jack "The Sheriff" Harris
celebrated their Birthdays! Jack - April 19 and Billy April 21.
Neither will ever see 50 again.
Kaden was first in line for the
cake then found a great spot to chow down it down.
Some candid shots of
the staging lanes at Firebird.
Firebird is not the most level
drag strip in the country. Check out the dip just past the finish
line!
Billy n' crew before
the final.
Jack get dressed prior
to the final round.
Good buddies, Harris and Dunlap
exchange a hug and good thoughts before they do battle.
The final was without a doubt
the best drag race of the weekend. Both cars left great and ran
clean. On the other end it was Harris with a 5.91 @ 255.02 over
Bill Dunlap's 6.02 @ 237.84.
Day's over - let's go
get the money!
One thing the Nitro Thunder team
is good at and that's filling up a Winner's Circle photo!
Nitro
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