 Two or three times a
year the Nitro Thunder team gets to go racing for fun. No qualifying,
no stress, no time limitations, no need to run as fast as you
can - these are called booked in match races. Such was the case
July 17-18, 2004 at Mission Raceway in Mission, BC, Canada. Matched
with John Blanchard's beautiful "Thunderbird Racing"
Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster, Jack Harris and his ever expanding
Utah Posse gave the Canuks a taste of nitro, US style.
 Getting ready
to head north, the Nitro Thunder rig (War Wagon) sits in front
of the Robins house in Washington.
 Mission Raceway Park - the perfect setting for a
weekend at the races. The track is only 12' above sea level but
the corrected altitude was between 2700 and 3000 feet.
To set
the stage, a match race is the best two out of three between
two cars. In this case Denver Schutz was scheduled to drive the
Blanchard car and of couse Jack Harris was to be in Nitro Thunder.
For reasons unknown, Schutz was not allowed across the border
into Canada which left Blanchard without a driver. As to not
disappoint the fans, Harris came up with the idea that he drive
the blue car and son Brett would drive Big Red. This worked for
all concerned and here's a few photos of how it went.
 Friday evening Nitro Thunder was on display
at a local Boston Pizza so the team killed two birds with one
stone combining the display with a Birthday party for Melanie
Robins, Billy's wife. Since BC is not all that far from Utah,
the "crew" (extended family) was quite large for this
event.
 Steve, Rayce and Don
getting ready to fire up Nitro Thunder at Boston Pizza.
 Satuday the car was at the track and
in its pit ready to go.
 After getting
fitted for a car he'd never driven, Jack warms up the engine
in the Thunderbird Racing fueler.
 Next door the
guys were warming up Nitro Thunder.
 Brett Harris suits up
for a run.
 Brett gets strapped into the car.
 Jack
gets dressed and then buckled in for his new ride.
 Kenny "the fuel
man" looks for some rubber to line the car up. The alcohol
cars had just run but the track was very green and slick. Speaking
of green, check out the trees in the back ground.
 Jack moves into the staging beams. This is one of
only two cars on the circuit that uses a "pedal" clutch
which operates on the same principle as a regular car. The other
cars (including Nitro Thunder) use a centrifical clutch that
engages when you hit the throttle.
 Brett moved into the
lights in the right lane. We apologize for the lack of actual
race photos from this event but those aren't Nitro Billy's strong
suit.
 Brett & Jack Harris with their patented "thumbs
up".
 The fans in Canada are great and they couldn't get
enough of the two Top Fuel dragsters. There was always folks
standing around the pits.
 Nitro Thunder in the
staging lanes.
 Lauren Tyrrell (Don's
daughter) keep Brett shaded before his runs. She also guided
the car back after the burnouts.
 The ladies take it easy
on a hot Sunday afternoon.
Who said you couldn't sleep through it all.
 Kaden Harris figured if grandpa could find a new
ride, so could he.
 Taylor and her dad,
Craig, check out the car. Craig is Billy's nephew.
 A long fun weekend comes
to a close.
Nitro
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