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.