Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Jeff Burk, James Drew, Darr Hawthorne and Brian Losness

For 38 straight years the New family has staged a drag race at their Firebird Raceway track near Boise, Idaho. Since the first race in 1968 nitro-burning Funny Cars and dragsters have been the main attraction for this event. In the past decade or so the News added the ultra-quick Pro Modified doorslammer class to a big-bucks bracket race.

With its rich history and longevity, the Nightfire Nationals is one of drag racing’s top independent national events on par with the framed Bakersfield March Meet and the Midwest’s World Series of Drag Racing, among others. 

(Jeff Burk photo)

All of these races have been in continuous operation for three to five decades feature AA/FC and AA/FD classes and are a must attend races for the nostalgia fuel racers.

The 38th annual Nightfire Nats certainly lived up to its reputation as fuel floppers, Top Fuelers, Pro Mods and a ton of bracket cars towed from as far away as Saskatchewan, Canada; Indianapolis, Indiana, and Kentucky to race at this historic race.

The racers were greeted by a near capacity crowd on both Friday and Saturday nights. The fans weren’t disappointed as almost every track speed and ET record was shattered by racers and teams in the three pro classes.

Kris Krabill, driving Gary Turner’s Cory Lee-tuned ’78 Arrow, beat Steve Plueger’s highly favored 1979 Arrow Funny Car driven by Bucky Austin.

In Top Fuel Rick White had the dominant car all weekend. He not only won his first Nightfire Nationals but re-set both ends of the track records doing it.