Escondido, CA
- September 17, 2010: This year's Nitro Night was a hard fought
program that required everyone to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
And the rabbit was money, in any way, shape, or form. In Escondido,
like everywhere else, times are tough, and many of the traditional
sources for the funding of Nitro Night had dried up. Past sponsors,
though supportive, were hard pressed to come up with anymore
than they already were paying for the weekly "Cruisin' Grand"
event. And all efforts to come up with outside sponsors, came
up dry. But despite this, a first time "program" was
created in the hope that it will help generate sponsors for next
year's event. Every effort was made to acquire the funds to move
Nitro Night out of "the red". An auction fire up was
held by four of the teams and around $800.00 was raised which
ws applied to budget deficit. Special thanks goes out to the
two car Firestone Team of John Ewald, Ron Johnson and his Chizler,
and the Magicar team for providing their cars for the auction
fire ups.
And it must be
noted that all the cackle teams present that night, deserve a
big "Thank You" for not only taking Friday off from
work, but assembling their crews and making the long trek through
rush hour traffic to Escondido. And most importantly providing
us with safe and reliable cackle cars for the show.
|
Tommy Allen "Trick Car"
AA/FD |
Tommy Allen |
|
Tommy Ivo's Barnstormer AA/FD |
Ron Johnson |
|
Poison Ivy AA/FD |
Ken Blackmore and
Jay Carpenter |
|
Shubert & Herbert AA/FD |
Ron Johnson |
|
BankAmericar AA/FD |
John Ewald |
|
Mastercar AA/FD |
John Ewald |
|
Climax AA/FA |
Steve Sarrot and
Rick Billuni |
|
Wynn's Spoiler AA/FD |
Bobby Hansen |
|
Paradise Alley AA/FD |
Bob DeBurn |
|
Yeakel Plymouth Spec. AA/FD |
Baney, Rossi, and
Goebel |
|
Dean Engineering Spec. AA/FD |
Jake McCloud |
|
Marvin Schwartz "Anaconda"
AA/FD |
Bob Hirsch |
|
Thunder Chief AA/FD |
Terry Maestrejuan |
|
ChiZler AA/FD |
Ron Johnson |
|
Magicar AA/FD |
Bill Pitts |
|
The Lincoln AA/FD (display) |
NHRA Museum |
|
Hot Wheels funny car (display) |
Don Prudhomme |
There is always
allot of "behind the scenes" work done by these teams
to bring a well running nitro car to the Broadway arena, where
we do our "start and push" maneuvers. Nitro Night quite
often incorporates MOTION into the show. The added dimensions
of sparkling spokes, glimmering magnesium and chrome, and period
correct push cars adds color and excitement as each car lights
up the one block arena with the sights, sounds, and smells, that
were a part of the show that was golden age drag racing.
Support teams
kept the show running smoothly. Steve Waldron and crew, took
care of crowd control. Connie Braum and assistants kept track
of waiver forms and wristbands. Jack White and Don Irvin handled
arena operations which involved the safe operation of the cars
from fire up to shut down. Fire extinguishing operations, and
track clean up were all part of the show!!! :) And special thanks
to the Escondido Fire Department for standing by, suited up,
in case of an emergency. It's such a reassuring feeling to have
them right there, ready for action.
Drag racing history
was everywhere--Don Prudhomme, Ronnie Goodsell, Mike Bamber,
Ron and Jeep Hampshire (down from Northern California), Tommy
Allen, and Zane Shubert, were all true stars of drag racing's
past.
In short, the
evening was filled with sights, sounds, smells, and tall tales
so thick you could cut them with a knife. Moments and memories
that all who were present will remember for many years to come.
Trust me on this.
Grateful acknowledgement
to the following people and groups--
The Downtown Business Association of Escondido:
Thora Guthrie
Sue Dusharme
Justine Aldridge
Planning Committee for Nitro Night:
Sue Dusharme
Craig Durham
Paul Bundee
Bret Gann
Steve Waldron
Jay Carpenter
Ron Johnson
Bill Pitts
.
