Jack Harris and his Utah Posse pose in the winners circle at Infineon Raceway celebrating their first major win of the young 2003 season.

The Top Fuel final should have been a great match up pitting Jack Harris who had run a 5.98 in round 2 against Jim Murphy who'd carded a 5.93 in the opening stanza.

At the green Harris was gone and Murphy blazed the tires about 200 feet out and shut her off. End of deal. The Sheriff motored on down for the win with a nice 6.11 at 223.

Harris heats the tires before the final.

As he'd done all weekend, Harris launched hard in the final. And as he and several other cars had done all weekend, spun the tires hard from the 800' mark on. Due to the lack of traction on the top end, the engine hit over 10,000 RPM on every run. This is tough on parts and the driver.

Jack "The Sheriff" Harris on his way to the TF title.

Harris at the finish line before pulling the chute (below) in the final.

The Sheriff patiently waits for his second shot at qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

On his second attempt, Harris improved on his early 6.16 with a nice 6.03 at just 217 which put him in the # 3 position, well in the top half of the field.

Ready for the first round of racing on Sunday, Harris relaxes in the car while some of the crew hang loose in the staging lanes.

Even thought Harris had a single run in the first round (his opponent couldn't make the call) he went for low ET but had to settle for a tire spinning 6.12 at just 181 MPH.

Between rounds it was business as usual. Everybody on the crew has a job to do and they do it with the precision of the professional teams.

If you ever want a major nitro fix, just go to a nostalgia race and hang around the Nitro Thunder pit for a warm up! It'll take your breath away ... literally!

Harris does his burnout prior to his second round race with Jeff Diehl.

Brett Harris backs dad up after every burnout.

After the burnout the staging procedure is also an orchestrated affair - done the same every time. As Jack moves into the lights, the rear tires are cleaned of any debris and the data computer is activated.

Round Two: a huge 5.98 @ 221 win to advance to the semis.

On Sunday, Jack Harris and Billy Robins presented Gerry Steiner with this giant mural/get well card of his car signed by all the other drivers. Steiner was seriously injured in a top end crash six weeks earlier at the March Meet and although he's not yet 100%, his recovery has been quite remarkable.

Camp Harris overview - The War Wagon and "Tweety" (new tow vehicle) in foreground.

The semi finals would prove to be the tightest of the day for Harris. Matched with # 1 qualifier, Rick McGee the Nitro Thunder crew knew going in that they had to be on their game. McGee had not run worse than a 6.01 all weekend. The previous round both drivers recorded 5.98 ETs but McGee's was one one thousandth of a second quicker which gave him lane choice.

McGee took the favored right lane putting Harris in the left (which he had not run in all day). Unrattled, Jack does his burnout.

Harris got a slight lead on the starting line and never looked back.

As it turned out, the left lane wasn't any worse (or better) than the right and Harris' 6.02 was plenty good enough to cover McGee's 6.10. In the lights it was Nitro Thunder by a full car length.

It's not easy to see, but on the right side of Jack Harris' roll cage is a "lipstick" video camera being tested by Jim Greer of 1320TV. This was the first outing for this revolutionary on-board system and the results were very positive. Greer plans to have them on two TF cars at Pomona -- Nitro Thunder and Western Hoist.

One of the most important "tools" on any racing engine is the oil pressure gauge. Here the unit shows 180 lbs of pressure as the 3000 HP hemi warms up in the pits.

After his costly wheelstand at the 2002 CHRR, Harris moved the fuel tank forward and added lead plates in front of the wheels. The car seems to be well balanced now and the wheelie bars that were put on for the 2002 VRA Finals have been removed.

There are always a group of fans watching the Nitro Thunder team at work.

It's not called the "War Wagon" for nothing. The Nitro Thunder trailer is literally a rolling race shop complete with everything the team needs to compete.

Most drivers prefer to pack their own chutes and mix their own nitro - Jack is no exception.

Adversaries on the track, friends the rest of the time - Jim Murphy congratulates Jack on his win. Some say these two are the "Bernstein & Dixon" of Nostalgia Top Fuel. Could be. The chances are they will do battle a few more times before the season's over and the outcome will probably be a coin toss every time.

After the final, an elated Utah Posse arrives at the top end to pick up Jack and the car.

Work hard - play hard - celebrate big time!

Jr. Fuel winner, Scott Parks (of Neal & Parks who built Nitro Thunder) gets a ride back to the pits in Jack's seat as one of the Posse sat in his car.

"Tweety" pulls "Big Red" back to the winners circle.

After the trophy ceremony, Brett Harris, Jack Harris and Billy Robins head back to the pits to savor a great weekend.

The Nitro Nationals also marked the debut of "Tweety" the crew vehicle. Jack wanted red (go figure) but when the sponsor (Young Chevrolet) gives you yellow - you now like yellow.