NITRO RACING UNDER THE LIGHTS

[Pam Schavrien]

NITRO RACING UNDER THE LIGHTS

Once again on this past August 14th thru16th there was plenty of “nitro under the lights” at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho! Nestled quaintly between the foothills in Treasure Valley, this track is considered by many to be the coolest Drag Strip in the Pacific Northwest.

Home to Idaho’s premier motorsports event, the legendary “Pepsi Nightfire Nationals” is not only Firebirds signature event, it is the longest running Nostalgia Drag Race in the Northwestern territory! In addition to the undying dedication of Drag Racers all across the land, the New family tradition runs deep at Firebird and is the cornerstone to its decades of impregnable success.

This years Nostalgia Top Fuel line up was a terrific collection of some of the finest Nitro Cowboys in the sport today. Each competed ferociously for that pot of gold at the end of the 1320 rainbow along with their well earned share of NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series points. There was no question about it; the thrills and chills permeated the Boise air with the smell and sounds of nitromethane at its finest!

This all took place under the star studded heavens of some of the most magical Idaho summer nights ever. Perfect weather conditions welcomed the fans and racers alike which attributed to some of the most spectacular racing action in the events history.

In attendance were Mike Chrisman, James Day, Troy Green, Brett Harris, Mark Malde, Mike McClennan, Jim Murphy, Rick White and Rick Williamson who all went nose-to-nose throughout the weekend!

This year’s two qualifying sessions took place on Friday night (at 7PM) and Saturday (1PM), setting the stage for the first round of eliminations later that evening.

Qualifying results were as follows:

1. Rick White 5.81/250.62
2. Brett Harris 5.81/251.67
3. Mike McLennan 6.04/246.84
4. Jim Murphy 6.16/219.51
5. Mike Chrisman 7.39/130.52
6. Rick Williamson 7.72/112.72
7. James Day 8.06/117.69
8. Mark Maulde 8.25/108.81
9. Troy Green Crossed centerline

Round one of eliminations kicked off under the lights on Saturday evening.

Round one results were as follows:

Winner: Rick White, 5.763/252.10
Runner-up: Bye-run

Winner: Rick Williamson, 5.916/250.90
Runner-up: Mark Maulde, 6.353/177.13

Winner: Brett Harris, 5.818/237.09
Runner-up: Mike Chrisman, 11.843/65.14

Winner: Jim Murphy, 5.842/229.29
Runner-up: James Day, 9.347/100.12

Winner: Mike McLennan, 5.984/241.22
Runner-up: Troy Green, 6.464/168.16

The remainder of the elimination rounds commenced on Sunday evening until the eventual winner, Rick White was crowned!

Semi final round results are as follows:

Winner: Rick White, 6.668/238.22
Runner-up: Brett Harris, 14.855/54.47

Winner: Jim Murphy, 5.980/212.21
Runner-up: Bye-run

Final round results are as follows:

Winner: Rick White, 5.704/254.45
Runner-up: Jim Murphy, 6.748/144.43





Photo courtesy of Dan Kaplan



Photo courtsey of Dan Kaplan

Congratulations to Chuck Neal, Rick White and their hard working team for yet another well deserved win!

Once again AAFD News would like to extend a sincere thank you to Scott New (at Firebird Raceway) and his outstanding crew for their traditional Boise hospitality, support and dedication to our ongoing event coverage! As always, great times were had by all!

(Photos by Darrell Conrad, Pam Schavrien and Don Atkinson)
For complete photo coverage, please visit our attached gallery:

http://sharky.startlogic.com/aafdnew...9nfn/index.htm