Jack "The Sheriff" Harris, Billy "The Kid" Robins and the Utah Posse went to Vegas with a fresh deck of cards and played them perfectly. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the team celebrates their second win in a row of the young 2004 season, and their second consecutive Nitro Nationals crown. The first Goodguys/VRA night event since Pomona last year, saw Harris qualify #1 and ultimately beat Bill Dunlap in the final while gathering Low ET and Top Speed on the meet. They also left town with the points lead for the 2004 VRA Top Fuel Championship jumping ahead of Jim Murphy 226 to 184.

The track temperature was over 110 degrees so traction could be tricky. This was taken into account before the run.

Jack backs up by direction from Steve Tyrrell before a sparse crowd. Being a work day (and a hot one at that) the fans would be out later in the evening.

In the other lane was Lee Jennings. Both crews make their final adjustments before the drivers stage.

Since this was a "dial in run", the car was not on a "full" tune up. The first run at any race is to get a feel of the track and gather data for the next session.

It was over 6 hours between sessions so after the car was ready, the crews did what they could to beat the heat and relax.

 

Jack Harris and Mary Ann Robison found lounge chairs and cold drinks to their liking.

On the other hand, Lauren (Don Tyrrell's daughter) and Nitro Billy went to Kaden Harris' beauty salon for some custom hair styling.

Selana, Billy and Melissa hang out in the trailer - at least the girls look cool.

Mary Ann Robison holds the truck up while Bob Eames cleans his fingernails in the background. Who said racing was always exciting.

Oh yea, there was something else ... Marvin (Marv) Riftkin's 89th Birthday party hosted by the Nitro Thunder family.

The NT Womens League (or Deputyettes) are well known for their baking abilities (i.e. the famous star cookies) and never miss a chance to do up a cake or two.

Although Marv (far left) sold his M&H Tire Co. he still has an active role in the new tire development.

Jack and crew give respect where respect is deserved. Marv has done more for drag racing than most people could ever imagine. It's great to still have him with us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARV!

Before the second qualifying session the Nitro Thunder fans get a good seat. As big as the stands are at Vegas, a good seat was no problem.

The second session of qualifying went off at 10:20 PM and with a cooler track and better air, the teams were "stepping on" their tune-ups.

Harris sounded like a modern fuel car putting on the high side as he staged.

The clutch dust cleared and Harris had low ET and Top Speed of the event to that point - 5.867 @ 251.67. Jeff Diehl wasn't over shadowed as he went into the #2 spot with a stout 5.926 @ 248.34.

As a side note here, for some reason there was a grasshopper invasion on Friday night and they were "all over" the track. It's amazing that they didn't cause problems with the cars.

Saturday morning, Melissa Robins, Billy's daughter gets checked out in the new car. It as her first time at a VHR race.

The third and final qualifying session was at 3:15 (the hottest part of the day) Saturday afternoon. Knowing that under these conditions the car would not run as good as the previous night, the team worked on a race day tune-up.

Check out the "Sheriff Star" reflection on the left slick. That comes from the body. How cool is that!

Steve Watson activates the data computer as Jack rolls into the staging beams.

When the front tires set down, the rear tires shook violently and Jack wisely shut it off and coasted through with a 12.655 at just 75.86 MPH. However, they remained in the #1 spot.

First round of eliminations kicked off at 6:00 pm. Weather conditions were 88 degrees (dry heat), 11 percent relative humidity, the barometer 30.04 inches. Lot's of the surface was falling under the shadow of the grandstands so the track temperature was falling as well. Harris was paired up with the # 8 qualifier, Pete Kaiser in the Ground Zero fueler.

Harris and Kaiser back up from their burnouts. With virtually no breeze, the tire smoke hung over the starting line. A condition photographers don't like at all.

"The Strip" is just part of the massive Las Vegas Motor Speedway complex. In the background you can see the back of the grandstands for the NASCAR track. Meanwhile, Harris and Kaiser prepare to stage.

Harris dodged a bullet here as he was late which made it a much closer race than it should have been. Jack needed every bit of a 6.006 at 240.98 to beat Kaiser's game 6.119 at 225.63. The Nitro Thunder car crossed the finish line with a margin of victory of a mere 0.0080 seconds (approximately 3 feet). This could have been a huge setback for the championship points.

Second round of eliminations went off at 9:15 and the weather/track conditions were a ton better and more conducive to "big numbers". Harris was paired with a tough customer in Howard Haight who was coming off a 5.95 first round win. Haight had lane choice.

This would prove to be a great side by side drag race. The drivers left together and on the other end both cars ran over 253 mph, but ...

Kenny "The Fuel Man" Robison and "Nitro Billy" at work? Steve mixing fuel - Billy on the phone.

Kenny fills the tank before the warm-up prior to meeting Dunlap & Fuller in the final.

Jack and Billy go over the tire problem in the trailer. It seems most of the high horsepower cars were tearing the centers out of the new M&H slicks. A situation that could prove to be dangerous and one that needs a solution quick. By the end of the event there were few tires left that weren't torn up.

The low key Harris son, Rod works feverously on getting a new set of tires ready for the final.

The Top Fuel final didn't roll onto the pad until after midnight. It pitted Harris and Bill Dunlap who owed Jack one for beating him in the final at Boise three weeks earlier.

With no breeze, even after the cars had backed up there was still tire smoke hanging in the air from the burnouts.

Payback was not to be ... Harris strapped a hole shot on Dunlap and never looked back. However, in all it was one hell of a race and probably the first final were both cars ran in the 5.80s.