June 04-05, 2005, Boise, ID - Tops on the 35th Ignitor menu was a battle of nostalgia Top Fuel cars dubbed "The Nitro Knockout". Jack Harris, one of the undisputed champions in this form of racing, scored a three-round decision with a knockout. Harris, driving for the first time this year, took the final round with a victory over fellow Utah racer Scot Mason. It was a unanimous decision, 5.90 at 257.51 mph to Mason's 6.228 at only 207.80 when the Sudden Impact fueler was shut off when hopelessly beaten.

The Nitro Thunder transported pulls into Firebird Raceway on Friday morning.

Brett and the crew go through the usual routine of putting up the awning and preparing the pit while Nitro Thunder patiently sits on its dolly waiting for the action.

While the crew gets the pit ready, the kids play. Since Boise is one of the closer races for the Nitro Thunder gang it is truly a family affair.

When all the ducks were in a row it was down to business. This weekend Harris Racing was trying out a new engine and this is the first fire-up on the Rodeck block.

Kaden Harris got into the middle of the fire up and decided the noise wasn't bad but the taste was!

After the warm-up everything looked fine so it was off to the staging lanes for the first Qualifying Session.

The crew goes over their mental check lists while Jack gets suited up for his first pass of 2005. Brett is the "regular" driver but Jack misses the fun and will drive at some non-VRA (Goodguys) events.

In this shot you can see Jack has the front wheels turned left as the car was wanting to go right.

At this point Harris is ahead of Terry Cox (who went on to run a very nice 5.964 at 244.10).

Since this was the first pass on a new, untried (for Harris) engine combination it was pre-determined that it would be a half pass. Jack shut it off way early to a 7.167 at just 127.33. Upon inspection, everything looked okay except for the unusual amount of oil in the "puke tank" (a tank on the back of the car that collects oil bypassed from the engine).

The second Qualifying Session went off at 7:30 Friday evening and the stands were packed.

Harris would once again be paired with Terry Cox in the Cheetah II entry.

When all was said and done Harris ran 5.923 (good for the #1 spot) at 243.37 to Cox's very close 5.933 at 239.74. It marked the first side-by-side 5-second Nostalgia Top Fuel race in Firebird Raceway track history.

The down side to this great run was that the oiling problem experienced on the first half pass manifested itself big time on the full run. Harris and the car were literally covered with oil in the lights and luckily he was able to come to a safe stop. To illustrate how bad it was, this is Jack's helmet still dripping oil after the car got back to the pits.

Not knowing why it happened and not wanting to go through this again, the crew removed the new engine Friday night and replaced it with a tried and true Donovan.

In round one Harris was paired with Adam Sorokin in John Blanchard's car.

Sorokin caught and almost perfect light so Harris had to play catch-up for a few hundred feet.

Catch-up and pass he did stopping the clocks with a 5.962 at 253.44 for the win. Sorokin carded a slowing 6.352 @ 204.54.

Via his low ET of the first round, Harris got a by-run in round two. In spite of deep-staging he still posted a 5.946 @ 254.81 which was the top speed of the event to this point and gave him lane choice in the final.

It was an all-Utah final in Boise. Scott Mason will need some luck to win, as Jack Harris really flexed his muscle all day. Here Mason and crew wait at the Nitro Thunder crew brings Jack from the staging lanes (below).

This is the first of a great 11 shot sequence by Billy Robins of Harris doing a burnout. In this first shot Brett has Jack roll slowly through the water box to soak the tiers.

Jack lets go of the breaks and lets the car roll until its well clear of the puddled water.

At this point Harris is easing into the throttle to start building tire speed.

Kenny winces as the RPM's increase and the smoke begins in earnest.

Just behind the starting line the burnout is is full swing - laying down rubber and heating the tires.

Backing up for the final.

Both cars left together but that's where a close race ended. Harris shows why he's the defending VRA World Champion. He sets the track speed record (257.51) and runs low e.t. (5.901) of the event. A nice effort by Mason with a shut-off 6.228 at 207.80, but this one was all Harris.

We'll close this page with a question.... Which Harris will drive after Brett. Could it be Carissa?