Words and Photos by Darr Hawthorne

It was a difficult weekend for racers and spectators at the 44^th annual Ignitor at Firebird Raceway near Boise, Idaho.  Fans of the oldest professional racing event in the Pacific Northwest dodged weather and cold temperatures to see an awesome nitro funny car finish with a dominating performance from the Austin & O’Brien “Northwest Hitter” driven by Kris Krabill.

Krabill qualified in the second slot to Dan Horan Jr. with numbers in the low 6.0’s all weekend, but got everyone’s attention when both teams stepped up with Horan’s Ronnie Swearingen-tuned “Patriot” Mustang ripping off an unexpected 5.896/249.51 mph pass against Roger Garten in the semi-final round (above).

On the next run, Krabill then stole away the thunder with a single pass of 5.882/244.10 when Wally Giavia failed to show for the round with mechanical problems.

Going into the final, Krabill had lane choice.  When Horan and Krabill rolled into the water box for burnouts, huge dark clouds had now rolled in over the Firebird quarter mile, threatening rains again.

Both drivers edged into the staging lights, lighting only the top bulb and it was then time to wait, it seemed Horan wanted to stage last.  Both cars sat and sat, then Horan fully staged, and Krabill rolled in – changing the fuel system to the “high side” ready to nail the throttle.

As the tree bulbs flashed Krabill was ready with a .096 starting line advantage to Horan’s .186 leave.  The racecars ran side-by-side as Krabill still had his slight lead at the eighth mile mark.  Heading to the finish line, the Firebird edged Horan’s Mustang as he ran low elapsed time and top speed of the event at 5.845/251.46 to Krabill’s winning 5.906/242.19.  The margin of victory for Kris Krabill was .0295 seconds in his second consecutive Ignitor win.

Ignitor Funny Car Champion Krabill said of the victory, “I wasn’t intimidated by Horan and I was determined to stage last,” getting Horan out of his comfort zone.  “I am so proud to drive this car and have Bucky Austin, Mike O’Brien and this crew backing me up!”

The next event on the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series nitro funny cars is scheduled for Salt Lake City’s Rocky Mountain Raceway on June 6 & 7.  The final funny car round of the Ignitor at Boise will be a tough one to eclipse.

Thanks again to the New family, owners of Firebird Raceway for their dedication to putting on a great show with all the weather adversity that Mother Nature could throw at the Raceway this weekend.  The memory of founder Bill New is still very much alive after his death in February of this year; he guided and taught his family well.