(Lead photo: John Lawson Racing FB) – Awful news from the state of Illinois as overnight a massive fire destroyed the race shop and racing operation of funny car campaigner John Lawson. The fire consumed a total of nine vehicles, three of which were funny cars. Lawson has been a staple in the nitro funny car world, both in the NHRA and nostalgia sides of competition for many years. The family home, which sits directly next to the shop was saved by the heroic action of Joliet, Illinois firefighters who responded in force to tackle the flames.

According to a news report on the Joliet Patch website, a passerby saw the smoke from the fire and alerted the family of the troubles. Arriving on the scene, firefighters had difficulty assessing the situation because of how thick the smoke was. Eventually they began a defensive attack of the fire which was able to subdue it, but the damage had been done. Things could have been worse as the shop had a large store of nitromethane was inside. The nitromethane used to fuel the funny cars, of course. The drums were kept cool to prevent explosion and that tactic was effective.

We feel awful for the Lawson family. Good people, hard workers, and the last people on Earth anything of this horrible nature should happen to. Our thoughts are with them as they assess and move forward.

Read the whole news report of the fire here

More images of the devastation can be seen by hitting the image below