The NHRA has a long and interesting history of racing in the Pacific Northwest and this weekend’s upcoming Northwest Nationals will continue it along with concluding the vaunted “Western Swing”. Teams have been going for three weeks straight now and with John Force having cranked out two funny car victories in a row and different winners in all of the other pro classes, the contest at Pacific Raceways that begins in a couple of days should be tons of fun.
What’s interesting is the fact that the NHRA added a tour event in the Northwest in the 1970s and then abruptly stopped going for a stretch in the 1980s before bringing it back on line from the late 1980s to today. We’ll talk more about that later this week but today we’re taking a look back at the race which was the 1980 Fall Nationals. At the time, Seattle fell one race before the World Finals so it was a super important stop for anyone looking to lock up a championship or cement their season.
We’re not going to tell you who wins but we will tell you that right around the 7:00 mark you will see one of the nastiest pro stock crashes that you will ever lay eyes on and thankfully the driver was fine. It is incredible that the dude was OK because when the car gets up on the guardrail it starts to pull a Glidden Atlanta ’86 and just roll on the sharp upper edge of the stuff. OH, there were people parked within feet of where all this was happening as well. Yikes times 10.
The big names were all present at this race and there was some history to be made at the World Finals by a couple of the strong runners in Seattle. We think you know the names and we think you will love taking this look back. Nitro cars, pro stocks, and lots more. The broadcast was for the (literally) fledgling ESPN company and Steve Evans was the host. Let’s just say it isn’t the smoothest thing you will ever see.
