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Boise, Idaho
- August 11-13, 2006: The 35th Nightfire Nationals was a race
that will be remembered for years to come. For all the fans in
attendance, it was without doubt the single most impressive event
in the track's thirty-nine year history. Nearly perfect 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 stunning.
From qualifying
right 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 for the 8 car show. Who would've
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! Just incredible.
Jim Murphy came
to Boise with high hopes and left scratching his head. He and
his WW2 Racing team were relatively confident that the car was
returning to its previous winning form and after a 6.09 on his
first pass, Murphy felt the car had a lot more left in it...
and it did. Their ET improved on each qualifying pass ending
up in the # 4 spot with a 5.971 at 238.66.
In spite of qualifying
in the top half of the quickest and fastest field in Firebird
Raceway history Jim and Crew Chief Tim Beebe felt they were still
leaving a lot on the table. So prior to the first round of eliminations
Beebe "changed every part he could" to find the missing
link. This proved not to be the answer as the car slowed down
(especially on the bottom end) and lost to Sean Bellemeur with
a 6.11 at 244 while the winner carded a strong 5.92 at 253.
WW2 Racing's
next outing will be the Governors Cup at Sacramento September
15 -16. Murphy is hoping to get a total handle on the car before
the prestigious California Hot Rod Reunion in October.
Photos
and full story below.
Murphy got to put his
new Toterhome through its paces during the 13 hour trip to Boise.
By all accounts he and wife Judy feel this is one of the better
investments they've made for the racing program.
Since the first qualifying
session wasn't scheduled until 8:00 p.m. Friday was pretty laid
back. Murphy and the crew moved at a leisurely pace and had a
lot of time to visit other camps.
Fun and games behind
him, at 8:30 Murphy heats the tires for his first qualifying
attempt.
Getting a Boise baseline
Murphy clicked it early to a 6.097 at just 219.83
Saturday was a little more pressing than Friday as
there was two qualifying sessions - the first at 3:00 p.m. The
car was ready to go from the night before but there's always
tinkering to do.
At 3:30 Saturday afternoon, the second session was
held under the hottest conditions the cars would see all weekend.
In spite of the low 90's temps, the track remained in excellent
condition.
In spite of the heat the car left hard and went on
to card a 6.027 at 238.66.
At 5:00 p.m. on Saturday all the Top Fuel drivers
gathered for an autograph session held in the middle of the main
pits. You would have had to see this to believe it. There was
a constant LONG line of fans that never seemed to end. They were
truly excited about meeting all the guys (and Mendy) and had
them sign just about anything you can imagine. Lucky most of
the teams had handouts (which several ran out of) which the fans
really loved. And speaking of the Boise fans - they are second
to NONE! Across the board the racers constantly commented on
how friendly and enthusiastic everyone was. Racers at the event
for their first time all vowed to come back and the fans were
are big part of their reasoning.
The third and last session kicked off at 8:20 p.m.
With all the cars in the staging lanes Jim Murphy gets into the
cockpit.
By the time it was for Murphy to do his burnout the
air temp was a nice 80 degrees.
After the burnout Murphy moves up toward the staging
beams.
The car left hard spewing a lot of clutch dust.
Once again Murphy improved
his ET with a 5.971 at 233.88 which landed him in the #4 qualifying
position.
Final
Top Fuel Qualifying
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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.
At 5:00 on Sunday the
Top Fuel cars started filling the staging lanes for the first
round of eliminations.
Murphy puts on his firesuit
and gets strapped into the car.
Murphy's first round
opponent was the whiz-kid, Sean Bellemeur in the High Speed Motorsports
fueler.
Beebe makes his last
minute adjustments before sending Murphy to the line.
Unfortunately for Murphy
the car didn't react as they had planned and an unusually slow
60 foot time pretty much sealed his fate. Bellemeur never looked
back running a very impressive 5.934 at 253.59. Murphy gave chase
but his 6.119 at 244.49 wasn't enough.
See the WW2
Racing Schedule for upcoming events
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