Fire & Fury
Packed house and powerful
performances at Night Under Fire
By Mary Lendzion
W
ith famous drivers, header
flames and fireworks flying, fans
filled every seat for the 40th An-
nual Kelly Services Night Under
Fire, Aug. 12, 2017, at Summit Motorsports Park.
They were there for Funny Car drivers John
Force, Del Worsham, Ron Capps, Robert Hight,
Cruz Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson, Dale Creasy, Jr.
and Jack Wyatt; Chris Darnell and his Shockwave
jet engine-powered truck; Sarah Edwards, Scotty
Heat, Robert Albertson, Ernie Bogue and their
jet engine-powered dragsters; Rich Hanna and
Ken Hall and their jet engine-powered Funny
Cars and Jim Brewer and his wheelstander. The
Nostalgia Drag Racing League’s Pro 7.0 category
and ScottRod’s AA/Gas vehicles also commanded
attention.
“Our 40th celebration did not disappoint,”
said Bill Bader, Jr., president of Summit Mo-
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torsports Park. “The feedback from our guests
has been glowing, and we clearly raised the bar
for future years. I could not be more proud of
our team. They delivered
an incredible evening of
entertainment.”
In the electrifying Fun-
ny Car final, Robert Hight
hightailed it to a 3.86-sec-
ond lap at 321 mph in his
Auto Club of Southern
California Chevrolet and
won over Cruz Pedregon,
who was right there with
a 3.92 at 322 mph in his
Snap-On Toyota.
Ken Hall flew to a 5.90
at 270 mph alongside
his Hanna Motorsports
teammate, Rich Hanna,
who charged to a 5.86 in
the Jet Funny Car final, and Hall picked up the
win in the best-two-out-of-three competition.
In the Jet Dragster final, Ernie Bogue blast-
ed to a 5.47 at 284 mph in his “Beast from the
East” to take the win over Sarah Edwards, whose
“Queen of Diamonds II” had an issue and had to
be pushed back.
The DeCerbo Con-
struction X4 presented
by R&R Auto Body final
featured a tight match be-
tween Matt Hutter, who
hauled to a 3.86 and the
winner’s circle, while
his competition, Larry
Higgenbotham, hung on
for a 3.92.
NDRL Pro 7.0 action
put the spotlight on Larry
Harlen, who drove his
Anglia to a 7.04 to claim
the victory over Gordon
Horn, who hustled to a
7.06 in his Corvette, and
in Gasser, Rich Osborn used a better reaction
time and an 11.08 to defeat Gene Schwartz and
his 13.24.
Issue 124
Dirt