Reflections on Pacific Raceways (formerly Seattle International Raceway) and the NHRA Northwest Nationals

It's been a busy two weeks in the Northwest, with a doubleheader Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Regional/Divisional event at Woodburn Dragstrip, followed just a few days later by the 34th annual Flav-R-Pak NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways (Kent, WA). Competitor numbers at the national event continued their slow downward trend, with just 13 cars in Top Fuel and Funny Car, 14 bikes in Pro Stock Motorcycle, 10 cars in Top Alcohol Dragster and just seven in Top Alcohol Funny Car. It's been 15 years since there was a full 16-car field of TAD's at Seattle, and oddly enough, just eight years since the alky Funny Cars filled their quota.

It's been quite a few years since I've attended the Northwest Nationals, possibly ten years, but I've so many fond memories, and a few sad ones, of races I've seen there, racers and fans I've met there, and waay back in the 1980's, runs I made there in my old Pro Comp alcohol dragster. Just posting the pic seen below brings back so many memories of what I was doing nearly 40 years ago.

That's enough of a trip down memory lane for today, now let's get back to the business at hand: the next FUNNY CAR CHAOS event starts in just three days at Albuquerque Dragway. It's a very special race, celebrating 60 years of racing at the track and there will be a full contingent of cars in attendance. There will definitely be enough cars to fill three fields, and possibly enough to have a "D" field shootout. We've got both of the Northern Thunder photographers scheduled to be there, so there's going to be lots of pics and details to provide a full report on the event next week. Stay tuned for that.