BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (June 18, 2005) - Jack Harris left a packed house cheering under the covered grandstands of Beech Bend Raceway Park as he drove the quarter-mile in 5.913 seconds at a speed of 245.94 miles per hour, shattering both track records in the process. The run came in the final qualifying effort at the 3rd Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, presented by DuPont Automotive Finishes.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – (June 19, 2005) – Racers from across America competed in eliminations as the 3rd Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion came to a successful conclusion at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. Three days of beautiful weather, sell-out crowds and over 1,300 race/show cars made this an event to remember. Unfortunately for Jack Harris Racing, a very rare crew error took the # 1 qualifier out in the semi-finals.

The team arrived at Bowling Green early enough to take in the National Corvette Museum located not far from the fabled Beech Bend drag strip.

With the lush scenery for a background, the Nitro Thunder rig waits to enter the track. Located on 368 acres, Beech Bend Park hosts a huge amusement park, lush camp grounds, a 3/8 mile oval track and a drag strip with the nicest pit area anywhere. The beautiful rolling hills in Bowling Green, Kentucky are covered with beech trees and are bounded by the Barren River . . . thus the name "Beech Bend."

Calm before the storm... taken Thursday an overview of Beech Bend Dragway.

Built in the mid 60's, Beech Bend is one of the oldest active drag strips in the country. Over the years it has made many safety improvements while maintaining the original "feel".

Regular driver, Brett Harris (on roll cage) reverted back to his role as Crew Chief for this event so dad, Jack could do a NHRR.

Friday evening Jack Harris heats the tires for the first qualifying session.

Jack Harris is "retired" as a driver, came back out of retirement for this race. He showed why his car has so much success as he drove it right down the groove. Harris' incremental times: 60ft-1.087 sec., 330ft - 2.759, 660ft - 4.040/195.68mph, 1,000ft - 5.121. He didn't get into the fives, but he didn't miss by much. This put him in the # 1 qualifying spot that he would never relinquish.

Harris heats the tires for his second qualifying run. He was paired with Mendy Fry, the fastest female Nostalgia Top Fuel driver in history.

Due to tow rig breakage, Fry was not here on Friday so this was her first attempt. Both cars left together but Harris' car slipped out of the groove and moved toward the guardrail and he had to lift. Fry went right down the groove, but shut it off at half track and had the chutes out before the finish line. Harris did not improve his position and Fry was not in the show.

The third and final qualifying session was held on Saturday night. Harris' engine sounds much stronger than the preceding cars and he went right down the groove setting both ends of the track record for Nostalgia Top Fuel cars. His incremental times: 60 ft - 1.072 sec., 330 ft - 2.729, 660 ft - 3.976 at 202.73mph, 1,000 ft - 5.019... net results were an outstanding 5.913 at 243.28.

Sunday was Fathers Day... so what does dad do when he's at the digs, he dresses up.

11:00 am Sunday morning kicked off round one of Top Fuel eliminations. Harris was paired with the # 8 qualifier, Mark Worden.

Worden started smoking the tires before going 100 feet while Harris was on a rope. Jack motored right down the center of the groove. He shut off before the finish line to a 6.023 @ 227.31, but there were no signs of a problem. He would have lane choice against Brendan Murry in round two.

Harris had lane choice and was the heavy favorite against Murry. But as the old saying goes, drag races are not run on paper. Murry had a slight lead at the hit but Harris reeled him in by 300'.

Harris was streaking to a win until his engine coughed, revved the RPM's and smoked the tires... all this happened in a split second. The end result was a destroyed engine.

One of the reasons the Nitro Thunder team wins on a consistent basis is the fact they rarely make mistakes. But when you race for fun, on a limited schedule, with a volunteer crew the odds are, sooner or later, a mistake will bite you. This was the case at Bowling Green. During the routine maintenance between first and second round a rag was inadvertently left in the oil pan. It's effects were not evident until Harris was under power and the rag sucked into the oil pump screen. Starved for lubricant, the Donovan engine seized... big time. Needless to say, it was one of those human error "things" that will never happen again - at least to the Nitro Thunder team.