Boise, Idaho - August 11-13, 2006: One would have to dig deep into their basket of superlatives to adequately describe the 2006 Nightfire Nationals. It was a race that will be remembered for years to come by those who were there and hopefully those who read about it. For all the fans in attendance, it was without doubt the single most impressive event in the track's thirty-nine year history. Chamber of Commerce weather greeted a record field of racers and jam-packed grandstands to four incredible days of racing. Daily highs saw unusually low temperatures in the 80's and because of it performances across the board were, in a word, stunning.

From qualifying through eliminations, the Top Fuel Dragsters were flying and were by far the fan favorites. Fifteen of the best fuel cars in the world towed to Boise to vie for a spot in the 8 car show. Who would have ever guessed a 6.01 bump at a track with a mien of 5,500 plus feet of corrected altitude. 5.80's and several cars over 250 MPH - AT BOISE!  5500 feet above sea level!

Going into the event most experienced "handicappers" would have bet heavy that the Top Fuel bump spot would, at best, in the teens. Considering low ET of the entire 2005 event was 6.02, someone running in the 5.80's would have carried high odds. Well, the bump spot was 6.01 and Brad Thompson ran a pair of 5.88's on his way to an impressive win over a stellar field of fuelers. Who would have guessed that a NTF car would run over 250 at Boise in August - not one but five cars did with Brett Harris going the fastest at 2.55.17.

The Top Fuel final was a rematch of the 2006 Goodguys Nitro Nationals. Brett Harris in the Harris Racing "Nitro Thunder" red car met Brad Thompson in his LG Bless sponsored orange car. In the semis Harris ran a quicker 5.91 to Thompson's 5.92 so he had lane choice and selected the right side. Both cars were running extremely fast and if there every was a toss-up - this was it. Harris was one up on Thompson this season after his aforementioned near disastrous win at Pomona in May.

Harris had a slight starting line advantage but his engine started eating itself up at the 900 foot mark and Thompson just motored on to a stellar 5.88 at 253.30 win. Harris clicked it to a slowing 6.14 at 210 but the excitement wasn't over.  Covered with oil into the shutdown area, Harris could not see anything. His car drifted into the center of Thompson's lane, and the two cars bumped rear wheels, parachutes-tangled, as both drivers tried everything they could to avoid disaster. Fortunately both drivers emerged unscathed, with very little damage to either car. When you consider weight and magnitude of the situation this one could have been uglier than Pomona. One would think these two are not anxious to meet each other in a final any time soon.

Aside from Top Fuel there were over 500 cars that competed over four days at the jammed packed Firebird facility. Other popular wins were Funny Car rookie Lee Jennings Jr. (his first competitive event), Medford, Oregon's Dave Hix in AA/Fuel Altered and Dennis Radford in the awesome Pro Mod class. The staff of WDIFL.com would like to thank the New family (and trust me, this is a family affair) for one of the best drag races we have ever had the pleasure to cover/attend.

Photos by:  Jason Ellis,  Jim Sorenson and Don Ewald

 

Photos and full story below.

 

 

In spite of its numerous facility improvements over the years, one finds comfort it the original control "tower" at Firebird from where the New family and crew run an event as good as anyone in the business.

Friday - First Qualifying Session

 

The first session of Top Fuel kicked off at 8:30 p.m. with Mark Malde in Arnold Birky's unmistakable yellow car and John Shoemaker in his new (completely built in house) fueler.

 

Shoemaker only had four runs on his new car and in spite of the it left hard and carded impressive 60-330 foot times. The "Birky Bunch" car was just getting a baseline on their Chevy powered fueler.

 

 

Both cars ran well to half track and both drivers shut off early. Shoemaker 6.817 at 187.89 and Malde at 6.311 at 198.15. Not impressive times to be sure but the other teams now knew there was teeth on the track, for sure the starting line.

 

 

The next pair featured two of the four Chevy powered cars entered. Mendy Fry in the Jennings & Steele car was paired with Brendan Murry in his "Running Wild" ride.

 

 

Fry left hard but got out of the groove up track making a sharp move towards Murry's lane. Both cars shut off at that point.

 

 

Adam Sorokin in the RB Entertainment/Champion Speed Shop fueler drew the right lane for his first shot at Boise while Brad Thompson was in the left.

Both cars launched hard with Sorokin stopping the timers with a 6.118 at 241.80 while Thompson netted a slightly quicker 6.111 at just 219.83 which suggests he clicked it early.

 

Bill Dunlap in Mike Fuller's blue car was paired with Jason Richey in Dave Smith's "Nitro Fever".

 

 

Both cars left good and Dunlap stopped the clocks first with a 6.071 at 239.23. Richey carded a respectable 6.118 with a huge 249.86 speed.

 

 

For Scott Mason this is one of the shorter tows he has to make with his Utah based "Sudden Impact".

One the other hand, Rick White and the Neil & White team came all the way up from San Diego, CA.

Mason grabbed the track and made it to the 1100 foot mark before his Chevy started eating pistons ultimately stopping the clocks with a 6.185 at 231.06. White blew the tires before the 330' mark and clicked it. I would note the he was the only car in the session to not hook up.

Brett Harris in the Harris Racing "Nitro Thunder" and Jim Murphy in his WW2 Racing entry.

Murphy got a good baseline time of 6.097 at just 219.23 but problems set in for Harris at the 900' mark. The engine let go and he was forced to shut off to a dismal 6.78 and just 146 MPH. The team would have to return to the pits and install the second of three engines they used over the weekend.

 

 

The next to last pair to take a shot at what was proving to be an excellent track were Howard Haight in Butch Blair's "Fugowie" and Rick McGee driving the Tedford & McGee "Overtime Special".

Both cars yanked the wheels at the hit and had great 60' times. But just off the pad Haight got out of the groove and went cone hunting. Come to find out he couldn't find the strap that secures his helmet to the front of his firesuit and

The final car of the session was Sean Bellemeur in the High Speed Motorsports car.

 

Crew Chief Brett Johansen was shooting for a high 5.90 and that's exactly what he got. Off like a rocket Bellemeur's first pass down the superbly prepared Firebird track netted a 5.985 at 247.52 time slip. That would be the only five second run by any car on Friday and put Sean in the # 1 spot for the session.

 

 

Saturday Afternoon - Second Qualifying Session

The second session kicked off at 3:00 p.m. with Howard Haight and John Shoemaker... neither car was in the show.

With his helmet securely strapped to his firesuit Haight left hard and motored to a nice 5.998 at 250.83 - the first 250+ pass of the weekend.

 

Still sorting out his brand new car, Shoemaker at it as far as he was comfortable and shut off with a 6.517 at 215.28.

The next pair out was Scott Mason and Rick McGee (who had just been bumped by Haight).

 

McGee got back into the show with a 6.017 at 237.90 while Mason just missed with a 6.060 at 236.59.

Next pair featured Mendy Fry (not in) and Brad Thompson who was currently sitting in the # 7 spot.

Fry launched hard and hung on to a piston eating 5.931 at 235.66 which moved her to the top of the class for session two.

 

 

Thompson was no slouch with a stout 5.954 at 247.66 - this was a great drag race.

 

 

Next out was Brett Harris and Bill Dunlap. Harris was not in and Dunlap was falling down the ladder fast!

Harris left hard and ran a nice 5.971 at 244.23 while Dunlap improved slightly with a 6.057 at 246.71.

 

Next out was Jason Richey and Rick White.

 

Richey was a tad soft on the leave and then dropped number eight. In spite of his bottom end problems he still tripped the timers with a 6.084 at 248.61. Everybody agrees that if they can get this car to run strong to the 330' mark and maintain its top end charge it will be a killer.

 

White finally got down the track without smoking the tires and jumped into the field with a 5.99 at 241.09. It would be the only run they made all weekend where the car didn't blow the tires. Obviously they have been fighting problems in the can for several races now.

 

 

Next out was the current poll sitter Sean Bellemeur an 4 time VRA World Champion, Jim Murphy.

Bellemeur carded a nice 1.06 60 foot time and went on to another 5.98 at a faster 248.75.

Murphy had a very weird injector/tire thing going at the hit but that leveled out by the 60 foot clocks and could also explain his off par 1.09 60' time. After the sluggish start Murphy carded a 6.027 at 238.66 - times they were not happy with and that did not improve their spot on the ladder.

 

 

 

The last pair out for session two was Adam Sorokin and Brendan Murry... neither car was in the show.

 

Both cars missed their tune-up and could only card a 6.212 at 233.16 and 6.170 at 222.44 respectively.

 

Saturday Night - Third Qualifying Session

The third and final session went off at 8:30 p.m. The temp had dropped into the high 70's and performances picked up to hard ball time. The first pair out was Scott Mason and John Shoemaker. Neither car was qualified.

 

Mason gave it his best shot with a 6.037 at 237.27 - but it wasn't enough.

 

Shoemaker still couldn't get a full pull from his new car and fell way short with a 6.786 at just 148.19.

 

 

 

 

Next out was a huge fan favorite, Mendy Fry and the struggling Brendan Murry. At this time Fry was sitting # 1 and Murry was a DNQ.

 

Murry's car was done at the hit - a 1.161 60 foot time is hard to overcome in a five second field. Fry had a decent 1.07 60 foot time but it didn't equate to a quicker ET.

 

 

When the scoreboard lit up it was a shut off early 6.214 at 191.81.

 

After the soft leave Murry got out of the groove and aborted to a 7.40 at 127. The hard working Brendan was in the box and back to California.

 

 

 

Next out was another pair of have and have not - Jim Murphy was in the show and Mark Malde was scratching on the door.

 

 

Murphy had a 1.06 60 foot time an rallied it to a 5.971 at 233.88.

 

Once again Arnold Birky gave Malde all it had but fell just short with a 6.079 at 230.71. It would leave the Birky Bunch in the # 12 spot and in the Tater Baker consolation field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the sun set in Boise the next pair is yet another in and out. Brett Harris was in the # 2 slot and Bill Dunlap had been bumped out.

 

 

 

Harris clocked a nice 1.05 60 foot time but developed problems down track carding a 6.116 at 223.82 which did not improve his position. Dunlap was denied a five with a 6.11 6 at 223.82 which would also put him in the Tater Baker field.

 

 

 

 

This is a recording - one in, one out. Jason Richey out, Rick White in. Nothing changed.

 

Richey just missed with a 6.021 at a huge 251.11.

 

 

Once again White blazes the hides early, recovers and pedals to a 6.525 at 240.57. Big MPH for a lousy ET.

 

 

 

Out for their third and final shot to improve their positions was Howard Haight and Brad Thompson. This was one of those deals where all three of our WDIFL shooters were on the same side which left Brad short on the photo end.

 

 

Haight had a bad 60 foot time and it showed with a 6.108 at 243.13.

 

 

Thompson had no such problem rallying his 1.064 60 foot time to low ET of the event - a sterling 5.883 at 245.30.

 

 

Next to last pair was Adam Sorokin and Rick McGee. The RB Entertainment/Champion Speed Shop team had been struggling all weekend and were not close to being in the show. McGee was sitting on the bump.

 

 

Both cars looked okay on the bottom end but Sorokin developed engine problems at the 1100 foot mark and shut off to a 6.690 at 227.84. McGee was a tad slow at the 330 clock and could only muster a 6.093 at 242.13. But he was secured in the # 8 spot. The Tedford & McGee car would be back on Sunday.

 

 

 

For the second time in three sessions the last car out was Sean Bellemeur on a single.

 

Bellemeur left very hard and judging by the incremental times was on his way to a mid to high 5.80 run.
(1.064 @ 60' -- 2.704 @ 330' -- 3.942 @ 1/8 mile -- 5.077 @ 1000')

 

 

But at the 1000' mark Bellemeur got an excessive amount of clutch dust in the cockpit and for an instant lost his point of reference on the track. The car got out of the groove, darted to the centerline and he was forced to abort the run to a 6.07 and just 195.90. This was disappointing as it left him in the # 5 spot - the bottom half of the ladder.

 

Final Top Fuel Qualifying

1. Brad Thompson -  5.883 @ 245.70 2. Mendy Fry  -  5.931 @ 235.66 3. Brett Harris  -  5.971 @ 244.23 4. Jim Murphy  -  5.971 @ 233.88 5. Sean Bellemeur  - 5.985 @ 247.52 6. Rick White  -  5.996 @ 241.09 7. Howard Haight  -  5.998 @ 250.83 8. Rick McGee  -  6.017 @ 237.90 DNQ Jason Richey  -  6.021 @ 251.11 Scott Mason  -  6.037 @ 237.27 Bill Dunlap  -  6.057 @ 246.71 Mark Malde  -  6.079 @ 230.71 Adam Sorokin  -  6.118 @ 241.80 Brendan Murry  -  6.212 @ 233.16 John Shoemaker  -  6.517 @ 218.28

This was the quickest and fastest field in the history of Firebird Raceway. Considering the quickest run made during the entire 2005 event was 6.02, the 6.017 bump spot left everybody stunned.