Saturday August 11, 2018

The nostalgia portion of the Northern Nationals concluded with some ups and downs.  The nostalgia floppers were separated into two classes, Nostalgia Alcohol Funny Car, also known as BB/FC, and AA/FC for their nitro brethren. The BB/FC ran in a Chicago Style format bringing back the quick two to do battle.  Coming fresh off a runner-up finish at the Funny Car Chaos event in Havana (Chaos in the Cornfield) was Steve Timoszyk, in his "Detroit Tiger" tribute Monza who ran low ET with a 6.23.  He would be met by east coast runner George Reidnaur in his "Excalibur" Corvette.  Reidnaur had just produced a 6.28 in the previous round.  The final was set to be a barn burner as it appeared both cars would be set on "kill."  Unfortunately, the duo would not do battle after an oil leak was discovered in the "Excalibur" Vette.  Timoszyk took the solo, but legged it out putting a show on for the fans with front wheels in the air and a 6.25 at more than 217mph on the scoreboard.  

George Reidnaur

Steve Timoszyk

Mike McIntire

On the nitro side Mike McIntire's "MacAttack" the winner at the Havana Funny Car Chaos event put on quite a show with his Heritage legal set up.  Earlier on Saturday he ran a 5.61, but came back in the evening to better it by a tenth with a 5.51.  However  it was John Lawson, a fan favorite in his "Runaway" Camaro that boasts "big show" flames who ran low ET for the nitro burners with a 5.44 at 250 mph.  This was in the second round and earlier in the day on Saturday. 

John Lawson

Tragically, things would go much worse for the Joliet, Illinois resident in the final run.  During his burnout the throttle stuck which resulted in the car taking a hard 90 degree right angle into the wall, puncturing the fuel tank and send the car spinning round and round multiple times while fire quickly erupted.  Thankfully John, was able to exit the car under his own power and was fine.  Sadly the same cannot be said for his beautiful car as the frame was bent from the impact and the body was heavily damaged from both the impact and fire.  However, if there was symbol for better days ahead it could be witnessed not only by the loud cheer from fans as they realized John was okay, but also when the Lawson family crew returned to pick up their damaged body and carrier it approximately a quarter of a mile back to their pit.  This too was met with resounding applause from the capacity crowd who showed their appreciation for the Lawson family.

NOSTALGIA DRAG WORLD - Text by Mike Sopko Jr. - Photos by Mike Sopko Sr. & Mike Sopko Jr.

Friday August 10, 2018

The Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park kicked off Friday night with some "fabulous flopper" action (some of you may get that reference).  The evening began with Nostalgia BB/FC action as 9 cars took to the track for their first round of qualifying.  After one round, Rocky Pirrone leads the field with 6.50 in his "Super Camaro" out of Pennsylvania.  Other qualifiers included: Bobby Toth in the "Time Bomb" Vega 6.57, Funny Car Chaos runner-up Steve Tomoszyk in the "Detroit Tiger" Monza 6.64, George Reidnauer in the "Excalibur" Corvette 6.68, Monty Stotz in the "Blue Thunder" Camaro 6.99, Nick Tilley in the "Shyster" Corvette 7.01, Bill Anderson in the "Roadshow" Camaro 7.06, Steve Crook in the "Feelin Groovy" Vega 7.20, and Joe Morrison in the "Frantic Ford" Mustang 7.20.

There were three nitro burners on the property as well.  Mark McElwee brought out the "Buzzy's Bomber" Chevy II flopper and ran a stout 5.84.  John Lawson brought his "Runaway" Camaro and Joe Haas' "Quickdraw" Firebird.  Lawson got to the stripe first with a 5.50 to Haas' 5.61.