The first Auto Club Famoso Raceway’s Summer Series of Saturday Night Nitro Shows was run this weekend with an enthusiastic crowd, new performance accomplishments and a veteran nitro funny car owner/driver versus a quick rookie in the final round of nitro funny car.

Twelve AA/FC’s competed in the Chicago-style, single day event and an estimated 2,500 spectators cheered for their favorite funny car drivers while also seeing the best of the quick West Coast Hot Rod Association racers. 

Last year’s event was delayed by winds, dust, rains, lightening strikes and unpredictable weather, but this year only a pesky Friday night brushfire in the Grapevine area of Interstate 15 added seven hours to the drive from Los Angeles for a couple of teams.  The weather was great for this year for what some spectators described as a summer evening at the old Irwindale Drags.

In eliminations, the format brought back the quick eight funny cars of a single qualifier with veteran Dan Horan Jr. leading the pack, driving his Ronnie Swearingen-tuned ’65 Mustang to a 5.815 elapsed time at 246.12 miles per hour.  A surprising challenge came from rookie Zane Messenger driving his Chris Nance-tuned ’77 Firebird to a solid 5.956 ET at an early shut off 199.17 mph for the number two slot of qualifiers.