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GOLD CUP RACING KICKS BACK INTO GEAR ON SATURDAY-JULY 31
Racers will compete in the Boise Muffler/Auto Body
Paint & Supply Gold Cup Series during the Pre-Nightfire
Warm-up, which is set to take place this Saturday night,
July 31st. In addition, the annual Summer Bike & Sled
Drags will coincide with racing that will take place in
Super Pro, Pro, Snow/Bike, Sportsman, Junior Lightning
and Thunder. This event will mark the final opportunity
to secure “round points” for the Gold Cup categories
leading up to the Summit E.T. Finals in Mission. The
Pepsi Nightfire Nationals on August 12th-15th, will
reward racers with premium points in Super Pro
(Bracketeer), Pro or Heavy (for racers chasing points in
Pro) and Snow/Bike on each of the four nights.
Following a one month break from the point’s trail, the
current leaders include: Cody Hiatt and Ed Cutler (tied)
in Super Pro, Joe Witherspoon in Pro, Lynde Fischer in
Sportsman, Craig Jensen in Snow/Bike, Krystal Busby and
Dakota Lancaster in Jr. Lightning and Thunder,
respectively, and Gerard Stanberry in Street Bike
following his big win at the last point’s stop.
Racers making plans to attend the E.T. Finals over Labor
Day weekend are encouraged to drop by the Sport Shop the
next time you make it out to the raceway (for an event)
and get yourself locked into the “Revin’ for Seven”
team.
Gates open at 2 pm, followed by the first round of
eliminations at 6:30 pm. Adult admission is $11, kids
6-12 are $3, and toddlers 5 & under are free.
MOMENTUM RAPIDLY GROWING FOR IDAHO’S PREMIERE MOTORSPORTS EXPERIENCE
Just about every track in the country has an event
they call their “signature happening”, the “granddaddy”
or even a title like “hallmark”. In Cordova, it’s the
World Series. Bakersfield would have to give the nod to
the March Meet. At Firebird, it’s unquestionably the
Pepsi Nightfire Nationals. All of these are events are
not only steeped in tradition, but also carry decades of
history. Stories, if you will, that play out over the
course of time that leave lasting memories and
highlights for many future generations to retell.
The Nightfire turns 39 this year. Since 1972, it has
featured what announcing greats Bill Doner or Steve
Evans would’ve certainly exclaimed, “the indescribable
sights and sounds of Nitro.” For any of you that have
been around the sport for any duration of time, you can
quickly trace back to those famous radio spots as events
like the Nightfire came to town: “Together once and only
once for the biggest drag race of `em all, it’s gonna
look like a fiberglass forest in Firebird’s pit area
featuring the who’s who in the world of drag racing…”
And all the drama and excitement of yesteryear continues
at Firebird this August 12th thru 15th. By all accounts,
the Nightfire has definitely earned the title of Idaho’s
biggest motorsport’s event. A tremendous field of
AA/Funny Cars, AA/Fuel Dragsters, and Outlaw Pro
Modifieds will qualify on Friday (7 pm) and Saturday (1
pm and 7 pm), followed by final eliminations (beginning
at 1 pm) throughout the afternoon and evening on Sunday.
All three defending champions have been gearing up to
defend their 2009 titles. Rick White (Top Fuel), Kris
Krabill (Funny Car), and Dennis Radford (Pro Modified)
will be loading their cannons to attempt to win in
back-to-back years. In fact, the Gary Turner “Pedaler”
Arrow driven by Krabill will try and sweep an
unprecedented three-in-a-row this August.
Let’s take a quick glance at several of the early
pre-entrants.
The AA/Fuel Dragster class will be very interesting this
year as the White & Neal Fueler will be challenged by a
number of top runners. No doubt, the Ignitor winning
“WW2” team of Jim Murphy will be one to keep your eyes
on after rattling off a barrage of 5-second performance
here in May. Jack Harris just had the “Nitro Thunder”
dragster completely gone through at their midwest
chassis shop, so don’t be surprised if the big red
machine gets back to its frequent winning-ways at
Firebird. And although they apologized for being unable
to attend the Ignitor, Michael Bartone pre-entered
potentially one of the hottest new dragsters in the
field as Tony Bartone will be making the trip from New
York in their brand spankin’ new nitro digger.
The Nitro Funny Car field is loaded with both quality
and quantity. This may very well be the strongest
flopper field in Firebird history. And every single
entry will be coming to Firebird loaded for bear or
maybe “Krabill” for that matter, attempting to dethrone
the two-time champ. Paul Romine needs no introduction.
The “Man-O-War” Mustang will return from Indianapolis
after finishing in the semi’s here last August. John
Hale will also make the long distance tow as the number
#7 ranked Heritage Funny Car will be debuting the all
new “Nitro Boss” `stang that’s comin’ all the way from
Dallas, Texas. One of Canada’s hottest nitro racers, Tim
Boychuk will also be right in the mix of things with his
Troy Lee Designs Trans Am from Edmonton that is co-owned
by Ron Hodgson. And let’s not forget the two Steve
Plueger-owned cars, one driven by point’s leader Leah
Pruett-LeDuc and the other by Steve Rajic (currently #4
in the points). Bucky Austin finished runner-up at last
year’s Nightfire and will be bringing the Pisano-tribute
Arrow that he and Cruz Pedregon are tied together on.
You can count on Gary Densham, too. He’ll be returning
to Firebird for the first time in nearly two decades.
The two-time Nightfire champ will be assisting his son
Steven, who will drive the “Teacher’s Pet” Camaro (and
recently graced the cover of Hot Rod magazine) that
finished runner-up at the season opening March Meet.
Another one to keep your eyes on will be the “Code Red”
Camaro of former Nightfire winners’ Lee (dad) and Lee
Paul Jennings (son), and a number of other top guns.
In Pro Mod, this year’s race will return to a double
throwdown affair of both unlimited blown and nitrous
doorslammers. Many of the top runners in the west will
compete at the longest running Pro Modified special
event in the west. Dating back to 1986 when both Wayne
Torkelson Sr. and John Sciapi first dazzled Idaho fans,
the wild bunch Outlaw Pro Modifieds will take their
place center-stage at the Nightfire. The open 8-car
field will not only see a number of veterans return, but
also a new crop of top flight teams that are led today
by Rod Burbage, who heads up the West Coast Outlaw Pro
Modified Association. All of us can’t wait for the
supercharged and nitrous wars to heat back up in the
foothills above Idaho’s capital city.
Reserved tickets can be purchased through the Firebird
Hotline: 208 938-8986 or you can capture a ticket
application off our website (and mail it to Firebird
Raceway, P.O. Box 1398, Eagle, ID 83616 or fax it to:
208 938-8961). In addition, advance discount tickets
will be available at Les Schwab Tires and participating
NAPA Auto Parts stores for both the adult and kids (for
Saturday and Sunday).
At the same time, pre-entries are being accepted for the
classes of Bracketeer, Top Fire, Pro, Heavy and
Snow/Bike.
Be a part of the big one this August as the next stop in
the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage point’s series takes up
residency over the weekend of the 13th, 14th, 15th and
16th of August. If the March Meet at Fomoso and Hot Rod
Reunion-East held at Bowling Green, Kentucky, earlier
this year are any indication of the sweeping success and
interest—then this one may be one for the ages.
On behalf of every member of the New Crew and our
raceway staff, we’re certainly looking forward to seeing
everyone in less than one month.
