Back In The
Seat Jack Wins Boise "Nitro Knockout"
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.
 Team Harris and Team New celebrating
a huge win.
Photos
by Billy Robins
 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.
 Lauren Tyrrell, Kaden and Carissa Harris
 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.
 Brett installs the Hans device just before Jack is
strapped into the car.
 Jack in the car its a short two to the water box.
 Jack rolls into the water box for the burnout.
 Brett guides the car back then makes sure Jack is
secure in the car.
 Final check from Brett and Jack moves into the staging
beams.
 At the hit the tires squat and Nitro Thunder rockets
off the starting line.
 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).
Final
Top Fuel Qualifying
|
Psn Driver
ET Speed
1. Jack Harris
5.923 @ 243.37 mph
2. Terry Cox 5.933 @ 244.10
3. Scott Mason 6.186 @ 231.71
4. Jason Richey 6.210 @ 235.04
5. Brendan Murry 6.310 @ 226.47
6. Adam Sorokin 7.776 @ 114.11 |
 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.
 Rayce Muchmore guides Jack back from his burnout.
 Both cars left good
and from A to B it was a great drag race.
 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.
Saturday Eliminations
 Jack on his way to the staging lanes.
 Saturday morning it was hurry up and
wait for Round One of racing.
 In round
one Harris was paired with Adam Sorokin in John Blanchard's car.
 Jack stages and leaves.....
 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.
 The tires are just starting
to smoke and grow.
 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.
 As Jack passes the christmas
tree a Firebird official is lovin' it.
 Backing up for the final.
 Wiping the tires clean.
 Mason and Harris stage
together.
 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're
# 1 - AGAIN! The crew heads up track to get Jack.
 Crew and car heading for the Winners
Circle
 The New Family awards
Jack and Brett the "Wally"
 No comment necessary!
 Back to the pits, trophy
in hand.
 Cody Kramer wins 5 buck...
he bet on Harris.
 Andrew Kramer finds the cot pit of the car to his
liking.
 Cody
Kramer gets to try out the car after winning the 5 dollars.
 We'll close
this page with a question.... Which Harris will drive after Brett.
Could it be Carissa?
Nitro
Thunder Photo Archives |