Last, but certainly not least, on my list of cars to note, the awful awfuls, the guys who have supported this Pro Nitro deal the most this year, Classic Fuel Altereds.

Number one qualifier, Larry Pettit. A 6.389 @ 223.46 puts him at the top of the heap. Pettit told me that after that run, Jeff Diehl came up to him, leaned over and said, "You'd get $1200 in Boise for that run, dude." Diehl should know, as he won the Nightfire this year in his Witch Doctor Fuel Altered.

Second, the always tough James Generalao...a 6.616 gets him in, at 210.79.

Third, a car no one has ever seen before. From Central Point, Oregon, Dave Hix hauls a yellow Bantam (at least that's what they say it is, one of those ugly Spitzer bodies) with a large block Chevy in it...this car will provide much discussion and controversy over the weekend. Hix gets it in the show with a early shutoff 6.886 @ 153.16.

Next, in the fourth spot, it's the NEW Blue Blazer! Handling problems sent the first chassis to the recycling bin, and Bob Hankins has put together an newer style hot rod. A little lower, and little longer, but just as wacky! 7.263 marks their spot.

Larry Leonard is in fifth place, with a 7.316 @ 203.40...the former CIFCA racer seems to be adapting to the Fuel Altered program pretty well.

Ruh roh...as Scooby would say, it's them Godfrey and Close dudes! Is it a funny? Is it an Altered? Well, it's an altered THIS weekend. Gotta move that tank back behind the front wheels, guys...c'mon. They put the Flamed Fortune into the 6th spot with a 7.409 @ 150.69.

In 7th, Steve Tryon in the Pure Heck Bantam...yeah I know he calls it something else, but I like "Pure Heck" better. A 7.580 @ 184.53 is his best for Saturday.

Last in the field, and not for lack of trying, the Nanook car of Dave and Linda Hough, driven by son Rick. After changing a bunch of pistons after the first attempt, they eat some more, and just nick into the top eight with a 8.491.

Larry Pettit's "Hellfire", a former Chuck Etchells chassis, just trimmed up a bit...

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Always consistent James Generalao...

Mike Boersma Photo

Hmm, looks more like a jet ski than a Fuel Altered...the Oregon-based car of Dave Hix.

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Brett Hankins gets a wild ride at the top end of Sacramento...I thought that new chassis was gonna fix this...?

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From what I understand, Larry Leonard will move all this extraneous stuff (fuel tank, fire bottles) over the winter so there's no protrusion past the front wheels...

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The Godfrey & Close transformer...I just saw this as a Corvette funny car at the California Hot Rod Reunion two weeks ago...nice sticker on that fuel tank, though. Even if it sticks out past the front wheels...

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It's "Pure Heck"!!!

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Rick Hough gets it to the other end, not trailing any death smoke...

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The Fuel Altereds are ready to run...first round.

It's low qualifier and slow qualifier. Larry Pettit, Number 1 and Rick Hough, number 8. Hough hangs a holeshot on Pettit, but it's no contest, as the Nanook just doesn't have the beans (or the pistons) to get there first. Pettit takes it, 6.513 @ 223.56, to Hough's 7.73 @ 141.69.

From what I can gather, this is the first outing of the rebuilt Blue Blazer, as Brett Hankins brings the family fuel altered up against Larry Leonard, Hankins drills the tree and gets out on Leonard to about the 1000 ft mark, where the Blue Blazer noses over and Leonard storms by...close though, 6.824 @ 195.45 for Leonard, 7.004 @ 191.09 for Hankins...

Steve Tryon and James Generalao are the next two to do battle. Generalao leaves first, but again, the slower car off the line takes the win, Tryon with a 6.653 @ 186.94, to Generalao's 6.740 @ 202.84.

Last pair, the two most transformer-looking cars, Dave Hix in the funky Bantam, and Bob Godfrey in the Godfrey & Close "are we an altered? are we a funny car?" 23 T bodied thing. Godfrey cuts a amazing .444 light, but Hix is going almost 200 MPH by halftrack...Hix clicks very early, but still takes the win, 6.439 @ 188.71, to Godfrey's much slower 7.377 @ 148.36...

Round 2, the semifinals in Fuel Altered.

Larry Pettit in the "Hellfire" gives a beating to the other Larry (Leonard) with a 6.65 @ 219.89, to Leonard's ill-performing 9.261 at whatever MPH.

Steve Tryon brings his "Pure Heck" up to the line against the mysterious Dave Hix altered. It's a contest of who can leave the slowest (Hix, .583, Tyron, .716) and still get to the finish line first...and that would be Hix, with an unreal 6.193 @ 198.72! Tryon is overwhelmed, as the best he can do is 6.852 @ 209.88...

Now, you're probably asking "Hey, where's the Fuel Altered final?". Welp, there wasn't one. Larry Pettit refused to run against Dave Hix, saying that he would not run against an "illegal" car.

From the racers I've talked to, there were things that weren't quite kosher on this car as far as the Classic Fuel Altered group goes...like allegations of pnuematic air timers for fuel and clutch management, which are verboten, a fuel pump which was way too large for the specs, a front wing which extended out in front of the front wheels, and a few other items, like a 3 speed, besides that Spitzer body. No self-respecting Classic Fuel Altered would run one of those.

This brings up some interesting comments that I've gathered from various folks since the race was completed...I'm told, that the Hix car, by the incremential times, was well on it's way to a 5.90 pass on its last run, but clicked early. From what I've seen of the Hix car, it should be running with the big bangers, such as Ron Fassl, Stephen Neese, Mike Sullivan and such.

But, the biggest problem is that the Pro Nitro rules are woefully incomplete. Many of the alleged violations are more in spirit than in fact, as the rulebook (flyer?) doesn't spell many of these things out, and Pro Nitro has no tech officials of its own.

As I see here, is Dave Hough has put together a group of somewhat similarly minded Altered guys, who've pretty much stuck to a formula, not so much for performance, but entertainment. And, they've been the lynchpin of the draw to Pro Nitro this year. Without the Fuel Altereds, in my opinion, Pro Nitro would have failed to out-draw a Little League game.

I believe it would behoove the Pro Nitro braintrust to go over their rules during the off-season, and specify what's legal and what's not...and make no exceptions to the rules, which they have, to fill the field. Either you're legal, or you go home.

Okay, off the soapbox...and outta here!

Here's some random shots to finish this deal off...

Larry Dana's MOB Fiat. Larrys sez he's gonna run this in Classic Fuel Altered next year, after he removes a mag or two...and yeah, it's the real deal.

Mike Boersma Photo