SATURDAY NIGHT NITRO, JUNE 26, 2014, FAMOSO RACEWAY.
Summertime is a time for traditions – summer camp, fireworks, lazing by the pool and Saturday Night Nitro at Famoso. There is no better way to spend a warm summer evening than track-side with the smell of nitro filling the air.
Nitroholic and Burin’ Money in the final round
Gates opened Saturday afternoon and race cars and bikes hit the track. Funny cars, nostalgia top fuel cars, a couple of pro NHRA top fuel cars, altereds, bikes, A fuel cars, gassers, and nostalgia eliminators were testing throughout the day. About 7:00 pm the crowds started flowing in and by 8:00 pm when the qualifying round of funny cars began the stands were full.
After the Star Spangled Banner, the first pair of funny cars roared to life. Rick Rogers in Fighting Irish sat next to Roger Garten in War Horse. Garten crossed the finish line first, but both Rogers and Garten advanced to the final round. Next up was Richard Townsend in Nitroholic and Brad Thompson in Jailbreak. Nitroholic was the quickest down the track after Thompson’s chute opened at about the 500’ mark. Dale Van Gundy in Quarter Pounder took the line next to Scott Cousimano in Nitro Mafia. Quarter Pounder went to the final round. Next Dean Oberg in Holy Toledo met James Day in the Pedaler. Although Pedaler took the win both cars qualified for the final round. Donnie Walkins in Thunderstruck met Rian Kono in the Kazanjian & Lemon car. Kono pushed back at the start and Watkins took the win but wasn’t quick enough to advance to the finals. Dennis LaCharite’s Back in Black was next to the line and ran a single but failed to go on to the finals. Bob Godfrey in Burnin ‘Money sat next to Robert Overholser in California Hustler. Olverholser took the win but both cars moved on to the finals. Last up was Dan Horan, Jr. Horan seemed to suffer some tire shake, and after running strong in testing, didn’t qualify.
The final round was set:
Garten in War Horse; Day in Pedaler; Overholser in California Hustler, Rogers in Fighting Irish. Godfrey in Burnin’ Money, Van Gundy in Quarter Pounder, Townsend in Nitroholic, and Obergin Holy Toledo.
Between the qualifying and final rounds of funny cars, several top fuel cars ran including Rick Williamson in the Team Craig car, Bill Dunlap in High Speed, Rick McGee in Circuit Breaker, Mike’s Transmission rear engine top fuel car and Ron August Jr. in Forever Young. Brenden Murray’s Running Wild ran during the day and then again after the final round of Funny Cars.
Also running between rounds of Funny Cars were the nitro bikes hitting speeds of 182 mph. Two altereds ran – Keith Wilson’s Witch Doctor ran an ET of 6.47 going 243 mph and Mike Sullivan’s Fiat had an ET of 6.30 going 208 mph.
Gabe Wood ran his Nostalgia Eliminator Fiat and Boudakian Racing ran an altered. A dozen or so bikes were racing on dial-ins throughout the day and night adding some excitement.
Three jet cars were at the track and ran between and after the Funny Cars. The first to run was Jeff Atamiam in The Beast.
Next up Terminal Velocity ran side by side with MAV Missile. Terminal Velocity was the winner running 288 mph in 5.45 seconds.
This great looking funny car was doing licensing runs throughout the day and night.
The final round of Funny Cars started about 10:30 pm. Nitroholic and Burin’ Money were first up. Nitroholic’s chute came out early and Burning’ Money ran a ET of 6.01. Fighting Irish met California Hustler. Both cars had problems and neither turned in a competitive time. Quarter Pounder and War Horse were next up. Quarter Pounder turned in an ET of 5.98 and War Horse ran an ET of 6.10. Pedaler and Holy Toeldeo ran the final race. Holy Toledo ran an ET 5.92 but the Pedaler ran an ET of 5.81 to win the trophy and the cash.
James Day on his way to the win in the final round
Congratulations to James Day, Gary Turner and their team.
Even after the final round of Funny Cars was over the racing didn’t end. Nitro Mafia, Thunderstruck, Dan Horan, Jr. and Back in Black came back out and made a run as did a few top fuel cars.
Saturday was the second race of the Boise-Bakersfield Blitz. Boise held the first race in April. Kris Krabill in Bucky’s Pontiac Trans Am defeated the defending Blitz champion, Dan Horan, Jr. and his Patriot Mustang, in the final round. Krabill’s win was by only .0295 seconds. In this 2nd Boise-Bakersfield Blitz race, Krabill didn’t appear and Horan didn’t qualify. As yet, the current points tally for the Boise-Bakersfield Blitz hasn’t been released but James Day has to be at or near the top.
The next Boise-Bakersfield Blitz race will be in Boise in August. The next Saturday Night Nitro with the final Boise-Bakersfield Blitz race will be Sept. 6, 2014 at Famoso. Also running that week-end, which starts Friday Sept. 5, will be Fun Ford Week-End, Nostalgia Fall Championships, and West Coast Outlaw Pro Mods. Should make for a week-end full of racing.
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UPDATE
Saturday Night Nitro was a huge success. We are working on the article and photos and will have it up later this evening. Below is a photo of the MAV Missile and Terminal Velocity jet cars racing side-by-side. Terminal Velocity won posing an ET of 5.45 going 288 mph. What a sight!
Funny Cars, Nitro Bikes, Altereds, Top Fuel and Jet Cars promise to put on a great show under the lights on Saturday night. Qualifying at 8:00 pm and final round at 10:00 pm. Lots of photos will be posted here on Sunday evening.
