Rattlesnakes and Nitromethane

Story and Photos by Mike Bumbeck

Just when you thought you might have passed by it, there it is. The sunlight glinting off the chrome tips of race trailers was the only visual clue that gave away the location of Top Gun Raceway, a volunteer-built dragstrip in the high desert of North Nevada and the site of the newly formed American Nostalgia Drag Racing Association's first big nitro burn.

After a cold and somewhat soft Friday night session (temps were rumored to be sub-freezing at the 4000-ft elevation Fallon, Nevada track on Friday) Saturday qualifying opened up with a big step up. Cool air and a warm track is about as good as you can get for blown nitro and those factors allowed the fuel teams and drivers to kick down the barricades in that morning's qualifying action.

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