The latest update as of July 12, 2024

The 35th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals
One week from today, the Northwest Nationals begins with four qualifying sessions for all four PRO categories, including what is being played up as a monumental step forward for Pacific Raceways as they will be running the nitro burners under the lights on Friday night. Of course there's been lots of blown fuel racing at the track in the past, at night, and often late into the night, but never before at an NHRA national event at Seattle. We still haven't seen an entry list for the race, which is rather strange this close to an event, but maybe on Monday when entries close, one will magically appear at nhra.com.
In the leadup to the race, there's been very interesting stories on the internet, with Competition Plus leading off with yesterday's Move Over Wrigley Field - Pacific Raceways Will Be Racing Under The Lights. It details how the temporary Musco lighting for this event was arranged as a joint effort between Pacific Raceway's Jason Fiorito, PRO (Professional Racers Organization), with Chad Head coordinating, and the NHRA. All three parties are excited about the possibilities the professional lighting will bring, and expectations are high for a sell-out crowd on Friday evening.
Today, the NHRA National Dragster editor Phil Burgess posted a piece detailing the history of NHRA national event racing in Seattle, starting with the ill-fated Fallnationals in 1975, at what was then named Seattle International Raceway. The event only ran for six years, concluding in 1980, before being resurrected in 1990 with the mid-season Northwest Nationals. Burgess went into detail about each running of the Fallnationals, with my personal highlight being the 27 Top Fuel cars that attempted to qualify at the inaugural event. Twenty-seven cars at an event way up in the northwest corner of the country! My goodness, that's about as many fuelers that exist nowadays, let alone gathering for a far-flung event in a new market.
Check out Phil's story Seattle and the Fallnationals: A history of drama, intrigue, and points battles.
We expect to see more Northwest Nationals related stories posted over the next week, so stay tuned to see what develops on that front.