The 2005 edition of Nostalgia Drag Racing's premier event was marked with a mixed bag of weather, several new winners - some close calls and upsets. In spite of rising gas prices, for the forty sixth year in a row a full complement of race cars (including a record 25 Top Fuel cars) invaded the hallowed grounds of Fomosa Raceway and gave the SRO crowd one hell of a show.

Backing up to Top Fuel Friday, this years March Meet followed the successful 16 car format used at the 2004 CHRR. There would be only two qualifying sessions (one Friday and one Saturday) with the first round going off Saturday afternoon. This would leave eight cars for Sunday and make for a smoother running show. When all was said and done the field was much tighter than previous years with a 6.17 bump spot. However, Jim Murphy's ET and Jack Harris' speed records were never in jeopardy with most cars in the 5.90 range all weekend.

The Goodguys 46th March Meet didn't turn out the way Jack Harris Racing had hoped but Brett's first round loss could have been a disaster. So all's well that ends well. More on that below

AND - The biggest news may be the Goodguys put together a television package and this March Meet will be the first nostalgia event to be televised nationwide. Both Jack and Brett were interviewd for the show. The first airing will be April 9, 2005 on Speed Channel. Check your local listings for the broadcast time in your area.

After unloading and setting up at the track Thursday, Jack and the Utah Posse went to the Double Tree Hotel for the first "official" function of the event - the Goodguys Awards Banquet. After dinner, all the 2004 champions were honored and received a very classy trophy and other goodies. Jack would receive his accolades for being the 2004 Top Fuel Champion.

After dinner, some cool videos and the other awards, Goodguy's John Drummond honored Jack and gave him a trophy to be treasured (below).

Brett and Jack (above) and Jack with friend and Jr Fuel Champion, Scott Parks (below).

Friday it was back to business as the crew prepares the car for the first qualifying session.

Crew Chiefs, Rayce Muchmore and Steve Watson make final adjustments before warm-up.

The engine is warmed up about an hour before the first qualifying session.

With Brett in the car Jack fine tunes his new role as Team Owner and overseer.

Prior to the first session the crew from Speed Vision TV interviewed Brett.In his new roll as Crew Chief, Jack moves Brett into the staging beams.

As the interviews go on the crew makes sure the car is absolutly ready. Billy Robins is constantly checking the rear tire pressure.

Another new duty for Jack is starting the car. He's probably thinking how much easier it is to sit in it.

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Jack Harris (red shirt) in his new role as Team Owner gets a whole new perspective from the outside.

After a good leave the car drifted out of the groove at half track and headed for the center line. Harris wisely shut down to a 6.705 at just 151.59. The weather was in the mid to high eighties with lots of sun on the track. Made for some tricky conditions.

After the first session the guys from Full Throttle News came by to give Billy a copy of their new format magazine featuring Jack in Nitro Thunder on the cover.

Saturday it was the same drill... warm the car an hour before the second, and last, qualifying session.

As the new deal dictates, Rayce Muchmore and Steve Watson back Brett up with Jack's direction.

Big Red clicked off an impressive 1.08 60 foot number but appeared to be pretty well done by 1100 feet mark netting a 6.042 at just 212.01. This would plant him firmly in the field.

With a renewed sense of confidence, Harris makes his burnout for his first round match up with Lee Jennings. Big Red sounded like its old self and Brett stopped on spot. That's when things went south.

Harris' weekend was over in a hurry when the steering arm snapped in two just as he started backing up. Track monitor, Gary Edwards gets him out of the car and over the wall so Jennings could leave.

After Jennings left, Jack and Don ran a marathon to get to the car... no paramedics were needed.

Upon further inspection it was noted that the aluminum arm had previously cracked and the new (complete) break didn't take much. It's a very lucky thing it gave up when it did. This could have been ugly at 250. Needless to say, Big Red will have a steel arm next time out.

Rather than call in the wrecker and flatbed, Harris opted to take the wounded warrier back to the pits in the back of the Nitro Thuner pick-up. It wasn't easy, but they did it.

 

After the act-of-fate loss in round one the Nitro Thunder team made the no brainer decision to stick around for the finals on Sunday. This entailed a temporary load up Saturday night. By this is meant that the race car goes in the bottom of the rig (when it travels on top) and everthing else just finds an overnight home.

Jack Harris - Nitro Thunder Racing is sporting a new transport for the 2005 season and its a beauty.

When all is said and loaded, the final task is getting the tow car into the trailer. It's a small truck you say but its just one foot narrower than the inside of the trailer.

What does the tight fit mean - DUH!, you can't open the doors when its in.

There's only one man for the job - Jack. Owner or not, he's the only one on the whole crew who's svelt enough to climb out the back window of the truck and get out of the trailer. And with that it was back to Utah.