From the opening event in March, the 2003 VRA Top Fuel championship was a two horse race ... Jack Harris and the always tough (and three time championship winner) Jim Murphy. And as it should be, the title came down to the wire at the final event of the season. Coming into the 5th Annual Fuel & Gas Finals, Harris had a slight 8 point lead (less than one round of racing). The bottom line was whoever went one round further in eliminations would be the 2003 Top Fuel Champion. From Saturday morning the drama was palpable throughout the pits of Famoso Raceway. Amid the smiling and joking, the underlying anticipation and tension between the Murphy and Harris camps could be cut with a knife. For the fans it added a dimension seldom seen at any race. What fun!

In a scenario beyond the mind of a Hollywood screen writer, the weekend played out with twists and turns earning it the nickname, "Groundhog Day." Amid world records and very close racing, the actual championship was not decided until the semi final round of eliminations on Sunday. And that story would be better told in the photos below.

After a heavy rain storm on Friday and with temperatures in the mid 60s, the track surface was suspect going into the first session of qualifying. Most teams "de-tuned" for the conditions and as a rule, that was a good call. The "groove" was narrow and only four cars (including Harris) ran in the 5s - the rest were all over the board.

 

Under overcast skies, Harris heats the tires for the first qualifying session.

Sweatshirts and scarves were the dress of choice for the crews but the fuel burning hemis liked the cool air.

The Nitro Thunder car left hard and charged on down the track.

Harris runs a huge speed to set the first half of a new MPH record. Both he and Jeff Diehl run straight and true with a great side by side drag race. Harris clocks a 5.86 to Diehl.s 6.00. At this point, both drivers are solidly in the top half of the 16 car field.

As usual, the Nitro Thunder pit was a scene of constant activity.

Packing the parachutes.

In the second session the Nitro Thunder team had high hopes of not only backing up their new speed record but improving their qualifying ET. For what ever reasons, the car slowed down from the first session and carded a very respectable (but not what they wanted) 5.937 @ 250.41. The ET landed them in the # 3 qualifying spot and the MPH was not fast enough to back up the 257 speed from the first pass.

Driving one of these cars may be fun but its not a walk in the park. This could explain one of the reasons Harris didn't back up the record on this run. Can you say sideways at 250!

As the sun goes down on Saturday afternoon, the pit work carries on into the night.

10AM Sunday morning and first round is under way. The temps are still in the 60s but there's enough sun to make for perfect racing weather. Harris heats up his tires to meet Kent Terry in the Champion Speed Shop small block Chevy fueler.

Any racer will tell you that the first round of eliminations is always the toughest on your psyche. Anything can happen and often does. You can never take your opponent lightly. On this day Kent Terry proved that in spades and left the Nitro Thunder camp stunned.

In spite of leaving hard, Harris was on the losing end of one of the biggest upsets all year. The victim of a hole shot, Harris couldn't catch Terry who ran his career best - a 5.878 @ 234.74. Jack ran a quicker and much faster 5.860 @ 256.70. When Terry's win light came on there were 10,000 jaws on the ground. Harris ran his race thinking he had enough ET in the bank to cover the Chevy - like they say, in round one anything can happen.............

Harris comes to a stop after blasting by Terry (too late) at 256 which was good enough to back up his earlier 257.28 - a new worlds record (for the moment).

It's not an easy thing to run 257 MPH on just 6" of rubber but its even harder when the center of the tires strips out on the run. This was a common problem at this race (bad batch of tires) as several of the top running teams had to change tires every other round.

After every run the data from the on board computer is uploaded to this desktop. Here is where Brent and Jack (below) can see what the car is doing and make tune up changes accordingly.

Round Two - In this round Jim Murphy was due to meet Bob Muravez and was breathing easy as the championship race was over. Or so he thought. In a piece of racing luck, Jack Harris got back in under the break rule. Muravez blackened the crank in the first round win and couldn't make the call. Now all bets were off and this race would decide who will win the Goodguys Top Fuel title - or would it?

After their respective burnouts, both cars methodically back up to the starting line.

Harris took a small lead at the green and held it most of the way down. Murphy got the lead back and squeaked out a win and the title (so they thought - again) with a 5.897 @ 220.37 to Harris' stout 5.933 @ 253.02.

As Jack get his helmet off, the crew is speechless. With two losses in a row, the new speed record isn't making them feel much better.

After each run that counts for qualifying or eliminations the cars must go over the scales and meet the minimum weight requirement to be legal.

Prior to a warm up or more importantly, a run a crucial job is getting the fuel percentage correct. This is done with patience, a mixing jug and a hydrometer. If the tune up calls for 94% nitromethane, that means that 6% methanol (alcohol) must be added to the nitro to "cut" it to the needed load.

Before every round of racing the engine is warmed up in the pits.

Semi Finals: Groundhog Day (as it became known) - take two. The event had turned into a two out of three match between Murphy and Harris. Like dirt, the Nitro Thunder team was everywhere and would not go away. Being the low ET loser from round two, Harris got back in on the break rule - again - when Kent Terry failed to make the call.

For the second time in two hours Murphy and Harris back toward the starting line. Same lanes - same everything.

Harris gets another slight lead at the hit but it's Murphy that pulls out the astounding 5.734 (first leg on a new national record) at 255 to take the win. Harris goes into uncharted territory with a 5.857 @ 259.29 mph pass (fastest in history and upping his own World Record that was just 2 hours old) in the other lane. For Murphy the margin of victory = 0.024 seconds (approximately 9 feet).

After running 259 MPH, Harris smoked (literally) past Murphy (in background - between chutes).

"We wanted to win the points, but I guess we'll just settle for the mile per hour record," said Harris, who was trying to win his first VRA points title. "It was close. It was within a couple inches down there. I passed him right near the light, I didn't see him until about half track, he held about a half car on me and then I started gaining it back."

Harris scoreboard - the fastest run in history.

Murphy's scoreboard - the quickest time in history.

Together this adds up to the quickest and fastest Nostalgia Top Fuel race ever! Now, if you are not duly impressed by these numbers I would ask you to go get a garden variety 12" ruler and hold it in front of you. The width of this ruler is all the tire that's on the ground when these cars are racing. I think the point is made.

When all was said and done, the Nitro Thunder gang (and everyone else) were still wondering how you could run consecutive passes of 5.860 @ 256.70, 5.933 @ 253.02 and 5.857 @ 259.29 without winning a round. Needless to say, this is a president that Harris doesn't want to repeat in the future. But for now its time to go home to Utah and regroup for the 2004 season when Nitro Thunder Racing will field two Top Fuel cars... a new Neil & Parks chassis for Jack and the current car with Brent Harris in the seat. This should make for an interesting 2004 season and hopefully the championship that came so close this year.