Night Under Fire 2011

As I expected, Night Under Fire 2011 was a huge hit. Despite an iffy forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening, the stands were packed throughout the day. In fact, it was announced during pre-race ceremonies that the Summit side of the track was completely sold out, with the Bud side almost sold out.

In my opinion, this year was the best Night Under Fire in a long time. Though there weren't 8 modern Fuel Funny Cars like in previous years, the variety of "acts" made up for it. The eight Nostalgia cars was a great addition. As a big fan of blown alcohol cars, it was cool to see 4 of the fastest outlaw dragsters race for the trophy, even better that Troy Stone won.

If you live within 250 miles of Summit Motorsports Park, I highly recommend planning on going to next year's Night Under Fire. It's one of the very last match races in the country, and certainly the only that John Force Racing still competes at. I don't know what classes/drivers/cars will be making an appearance at NUF 2012, but I can guarantee it will be a good show and I can almost guarantee that John Force will be there. Will you?

For those of you who were unable to attend this year, check out some of my photos from the race. These are just highlight photos; you can view my whole album in my Photos section on Facebook, if you're friends with me on the 'book.

Robert Hight's crew chiefs, Jimmy Prock and Eric Lane. Robert and the Automobile Club of Southern California team ended up winning the event in the modern Funny Car class.

John Force smokin' the hides before his first "elimination" run of the event. 

Jeff Arend and Robert Hight in round 1. As you can see, I'm no Mark Rebilas

Pretty cool shot of the two wheelstanders, Danny O'Day (near lane) and Richard Hutchins (far lane) in the legendary Chevy Rebellion.

 

This was probably the best part of pre-race ceremonies. John Force got on the mic, letting everyone know how excited he was about witnessing the evening's activities. It's a good thing that the FCC doesn't regulate the PA system at the track, as Force's speech was full of expletives. 

The eventual winner in Outlaw Dragster, owner of Vintage Trailers, Troy Stone. Troy beat out Mike DiDimenico, Sheldon Bissessar (who traveled from Trinidad and Tobago to race), and Paul Molnar to win his second consecutive NUF trophy. Norwalk has to be Troy's favorite track; he won the NHRA National event this year and was runner-up last year. Oh yeah, throw in a couple #1 qualifier awards too. 

Funny Car legend Raymond Beadle (middle) was in attendance with the Blue Max Nostalgia Funny Car team. Ronnie Young (left) was driving.

As always, thanks for reading! While you're here, please check out my new blog, Top Alcohol News for the latest news and points standings in the Top Alcohol categories. We're planning some big stories for the U.S. Nationals in Indy in a couple weeks.

Time for Night Under Fire!

It's almost August 11th, so that means one of my favorite motorsports events of the year is only two days away. The race I'm talking about is the Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. If you're not familiar with this speed-fest, let me fill you in.

NUF is one of SMP's premiere events that attracts throngs of fans and racers annually. Way back when it was Norwalk Dragway, the track started Night Under Fire with a couple jet cars and a few local fast cars, along with basic racing. 1994 was the first year that they brought John Force in to the mix to attract more fans. Local Funny Car racer Dean Skuza was the other Nitro Funny Car. Over the years, they've added more Funny Cars and other exhibition vehicles.

One of those attractions is Bob Motz and his legendary Jet Kenworth semi-truck. Originally, he was brought in to make a pass or two in the truck; nothing more. One year, he decided to park the truck closer to the big head-of-staging sign that's behind the burnout box. He started the truck, locked the brakes, and let the jet fuel flow into the jet engine, burning the sign until it was nothing more than a frame of orange embers. Track president and co-owner Bill Bader Jr. was not pleased, but later realized how much the fans enjoyed it. The rest, they say, is history, as it's a part of the NUF show annually. I think there were maybe two instances where the sign was not burned down.

Over the years, the Bader's have brought in several attractions to mix it up and make it an amazing event, year after year. In 2006, Ashley Force made a few passes in her Mattel A/Fuel car. In 2007, Bill Reichert (A/Fuel) and Jeff Bohr (Blown Alcohol) competed in a few match races during the event. One year, the Bar's Leaks Supercharged Thunder group was part of the show. This year, there will be four jet dragsters, two wheelstanders, and Larry McBride's Top Fuel Motorcycle. Elaine Larsen, Jill Canuso, Ernie Bogue, and Lou Pereira will make up the Jet Dragster field; Danny O'Day and Richard Hutchins will be the wheelstanders.

Along with the jets and wheelstanders, there will be an 8-car Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car field. The entry list doesn't look much different than it would in the 70's. Dale Pulde or James Day in the War Eagle, the Dick Harrell tribute car driven by Lee Paul Jennings, Ronnie Young in the Blue Max car, the Jungle Jim car driven by Jon Capps, Mike Savage's Candies & Hughes flopper, Brian Stewart in Tom Hoover's Showtime car, Doc Halladay in the Telastar, and the one and only Frank Hawley behind the wheel of the Chi Town Hustler! This is the first time that these legendary cars and drivers have been all together at a track in this area, so I'm really looking forward to this part of the show.

There's a program that's been absent at Norwalk this year, but it's coming back this weekend for the largest single day drag racer in the world. I'm talking about the Outlaw Dragster and Outlaw Door Wars program. It's basically like the NHRA's Top Dragster/Top Sportsman class, but they run the 1/8th mile heads-up, instead of the quarter mile on a dial-in. Last year, Troy Stone in the wicked Vintage Trailers dragster won. I'm not sure if the door cars ran, or who won if they did. This year, there will be four dragsters and eight door cars, I believe. You can quote me; Troy Stone is going to win Outlaw Dragster again.

The amount of cars for the modern-day Nitro Funny Car portion of the show is a little short this year, but it'll still be awesome. Robert Hight, Jeff Arend, and Ohio favorite Jim Head will be the drivers in Fuel Funny Car, along with some guy named John Force. Although they're tuned down a bit because the race isn't for points, the Nitro cars are almost always the highlight of the night. The amazing fireworks show that follows the Funny Cars is also a must-see.

Once the funny cars and fireworks are over, the real race begins. This is one of Norwalk's regular Saturday points races, one that brings in over 600 sportsman racers from all across the eastern U.S. and Canada. The sportsman points race begins after "the show" and is run until completion; usually around 12 the next day!

You can see why I and so many other Ohio race fans are drawn to Night Under Fire every year. I know I'm ready, and the racers certainly are. They've already lined up to get a pit spot, and the actual on-track racing doesn't start for another day and a half! One way or another, I'll be posting a complete event wrap-up from Night Under Fire, either on this blog or Top Alcohol News. Thanks for reading!