ansas City International Raceway hosted its annual Fox Hunt event August 13th, and it was a hot night packed with even hotter action. As most anyone who has followed drag racing for any length of time knows, the "Foxhunt" kind of show originated back in the wide- open 1970s, and capitalized on the sort of mindset that is responsible for the present-day Spike TV, Maxim magazine and the like. As the woman of the house has been known to say," It's men drinking beer, watching race cars, with some (semi) naked women thrown in for good measure". That's a pretty accurate description. To its credit, the management at KCIR has toned down the woman angle a tad, opting for bikini-clad beauties as opposed to the old school wet-T's-or-less days of yore.

Oh, there were racecars in action, too. Jet Funny Cars and jet dragsters, Pro Mods, and even two nitro Funny Cars. The Pro Mods kicked off the show with a match up between Zach Barklage and Steve Bruce. Barklage took a round one win with a 6.97-190 mph lap, with Bruce losing fire at the green. The best jet Funny Car act in the business was next, as Al Hanna's Top Secret Eastern Raider and First Strike cars wowed the crowd with 5.80 - 270 mph runs and a great smoke and flame session. California Smokey Joe Douthitt won his first round race with Mark Smith's Air Force One jet dragster, running 5-80/285 mph.

Round two saw the Hanna team cars trade win lights, with more 5.80 / 270 mph strength. Douthitt ran into starter battery problems in round two, allowing Smith to even the match with a single. The nitro Funny Cars got into the action, with a match between two Kansas City area cars. Bob Bench, active in the 1980s in Top Fuel, brought out his Olds Cutlass nitro burner to race nitro newcomer Duskin Jerde, at the wheel of the Jerde Racing Dodge Avenger. After two long burnouts, it was Jerde racing to an early lead (and 230 mph 1/8 mile speed), only to have to lift, allowing Team Bench driver Norm Wilding to get by for the win.