NITRONIC RESEARCH - AA/FA Match Racing at Fallon

July 20, 2002, Fallon, Nevada-

I was leaving town late and heading for Top Gun Raceway for the AA/Fuel Altered meet when I took the short cut by the fair grounds. The smell of horse manure is a lot stronger than Nitro in these parts and by the looks of things, there wasn't enough room to spit your Skoal without it landing on some dudes Python boots. We had trumped up the fuelers on the local "Radio Free Redneck" but I still felt uneasy..did they understand? You could see bull ridin' nearly any time around here, but you couldn't see some wrangler try and ride two or three thousand horses and be lucky to stay in the saddle for six seconds! The brutal winds and lightening of a few days ago were gone and that was a plus, on the other hand the soft summer breeze out of the north would send the Nitro incense to never never land..

Rick Hough looks out over the vast expanse of Top Gun Raceway...

Rick Hough stood on that Top Gun Starting Line like he knew it too..you know "the Horse Manure vs. Nitro" war and he knew it wasn't going to be easy! He took to walking down that 1320 with James Generalao no doubt discussing the four thousand horses between the two of them, that they needed to train in just over six seconds. It was starting to look like the real rodeo was right here and all hell was going to break loose!

Brothers-in laws, Rich Hough and James Generalao check out the traction action...

Mike Hilsabeck's Arizona Thunder, ex-CIFCA funny.

A couple of uneasy and unfamiliar photographers backed away from the two AA/Fuelers as I watched in amusement. The first round put Mike Hilsabeck out in front of Rick Hough in an ailing Nanook with a 7.92 @ 166 mph to an early shut down for Rick, Nanook lost a fuel pump.

Impatient is a *good* name for James Generalao's Fuel Altered...he was number one qualifier at Tucson, and number one here at Fallon in the Classic Fuel Altered class...

Next pair, James Generalao in the Impatient altered out of Las Vegas in the right lane and none other than CIFCA Funny car shoe Steve Tryon in the Bad Company Bantam fueler on the spectator side. Generalao's .657 reaction to Tryon's .748 combined with a 6.98 @ 213 mph to a tire hazing and gone to shake mode 7.86 @191 mph put a quick end to the Blue Bantam.

Possibly the world's oldest Fuel Altered pilot, Mack McCord launches his "Gorilla" AA/FA off the line at Fallon.

Final first round pair would pit the two Transformer AA/Fuel Altereds of Ricky Ruiz in the Nevada Rattler against Mack McCord in the Gorilla Nitro Machine. Mack launched first with a .615 reaction to Ricky's .781 but quickly struck the tires only to watch Ruiz in the Nevada Rattler lay down a new track record with a straight and hooked 5.998 ET and 235.63 mph! Ricky's crew was beaming with pride with a dead on tuning! We all were!

Ricky Ruiz punishing the hides before clicking off a 5.99!

The Nitro fumes hung there swirling in the air above the starting line, Ricky and Mack were long gone! I was heading for the pit area when I stopped in my tracks to look over my shoulder to see where the whooping and hollering came from when I recognized the group of Native Americans from the CIFCA Funny Car Race a month ago at that same vantage in the stands... I was beginning to like those guys! They new where the Rodeo was! My suspicions were also confirmed on the modest fan count although the Navy flyboys were there from Fallon Naval Air Station, the Top Gun fighter training base.

I regained my focus as I hurried across the starting line as the bracket racers headed for the water box...

The Nanook crew didn't like what they saw, here.

Dave and Rick Hough make some decisions on the fuel pump change out as James Generalao to the far right checks out the trouble shooting.

Over in the Nevada Rattler camp of Ricky Ruiz, preparations for round two are well under way, crowds were milling around to get a glimpse of the "record breaking roadster" and one couldn't help but notice that area was filled with children. Ricky was racing for kids, all kinds of kids! The tables were filled with food and toys, kids running around with squirt guns and Fuel Altered handouts! The children with leukemia and wheel chair bound paraplegic kids..it wasn't easy to tell who was supporting who! Everyone was having fun. Seams Ricky was making all the right decisions and it was paying off.

Ricky Ruiz (right) and crew service the Nevada Rattler.

Round two call was quickly approaching and the Nitro Cowboys were building their fan base! Heading for the starting line myself, I spied two youngsters in a healthy speed based debate over their new found heroes, flashing there photo hand outs in each others face with the tease of "no way..your gunna loose!"....I flashed to Irwindale in the 60s, a killer Fuel altered event and a bet with a friend long ago..the kids split for the line, I did the same!

I still think Steve Tryon should call this car "Pure Heck"!

Tripping down through the staging lanes to check up on the status of our Altered pilots, it did seem like the 60s! The Altereds just had a character as they lined up under the track lights..Steve Tryon in "Bad Company" looked as if he stepped out of a time tunnel as he raised a gloved hand in the "V" for victory.
Rick Hough , and yep, it's another "punishing the baloneys" shot...how many names for burnouts can I come up with?

Choosing a strategic position at the line, I stepped between the guard rails in front of the tree as Rick Hough and Steve Tryon rolled through the water and lit the tires with just enough time for the flash to cycle and catch both cars. Staged and ready Rick left first with a hard launch and healthy header flames, a.557 reaction to Steves .684 then the fire went out on Nanook. Something was wrong and Rick lifted past half track laying down a 7.89 @ 192.86 mph while Steve also shut off early with a 8.55 @ 183.67 mph giving the win light to Rick Hough.

CIFCA veteran Steve Tryon decided to "do the Nitro thang", and came up with this gorgeous Bantam, which I've now named "Pure Heck"!

(recycled caption from the Tucson AAFA story, the caption so nice, I used it twice!)

And they're off! Hough and Tryon hurl their Awful Awful's downtrack...
The next pair sent to the line would be James Generalao in the Impatient fuel roadster challenging the Arizona Thunder of Mike Hilsabeck, also like Steve Tryon, Mike was a CIFCA Funny Car driver now enjoying the Fuel Altered ride! It just seemed to be James Generalao's night when he cut the tree with a .594 to Mikes .624 reaction time, than laid down a 6.898 @ 206.8 mph to Hilsabeck's 7.471 ET @ 174.3 mph..James was moving on in this "Chicago style match racing"
Nighttime at Fallon...James Generalao gets it up on the tires...

Ruiz suits up for the final...

The moment had arrived for the final match of the "Freakaziod Fuelers" better known as the Transformers because they were technically Funny Cars that shedded there flopper bodies for the colorful open wheel flavor of the fuel altered racing with a pre 1949 body and a "run what you brung" somewhat unlimited engine configuration, often with dual fuel pumps, larger blowers and two magnetos. These cars were growing in popularity with the fans and were capable of stunning performance as Stephen Neese demonstrated to a shocked Tucson crowd on June 22, 2002 with his 5.42 ET @ 282 mph, now the standing record.

Both cars boiled the hides, inundating the starting line in that "stay where you are" Chi - Town fog!

The NITRONAUTS staged in a haze of nitomethane as starter Sam Wickizer gave the go..in an instant the Earth shook as the Nevada Rattler flew by me and I leaned out over the wall and watched the fire climb above the rear wing, I felt confident and then turned to catch Mack McCord in the "Gorilla" as the Altered went "apeshit"... Mack peddled and corrected!

Down at the far end Ricky Ruiz brought the Fuel Altered to a stop and was slapped in the senses when he pulled his helmet off with the stench of a burned up brake caliper that had dragged during the run! It would seem fate had the "Rattler" by the tail! Was the "Vipers Venom" of 86 % enough?!?

Back at the line Sam Wickizer set down the starter's hand held and walked over to me, asking "what did he run, I can't see" as he cleared his eyes from the nitro and pulled off his headphones. "A 5.97 at 234" I barked, we both smiled watching the Nevada Rattler crew head down the quarter mile!

Mike Hilsabeck shows some sparklers...

It seemed the final round for the Classic Fuel Altereds had come, as Mike Hilsabeck and James Generalao settled in for the ride in the staging lanes.
Hilsabeck (near lane) stages up against Generalao in the Classic Fuel Altered final.

James Generalao laid down a 6.675 @ 203.1 win over Mike Hilsabeck, won the Chicago-style match race eliminations and felt real good about Impatient's performance that night.

Dave Hough and family (who ARE the crew) take some time to to tear down the late-model Hemi, and correct some of the problems that occured during the day...

Mike Hilsabeck (white t-shirt) stops by to absorb some knowledge from Dave Hough's brain...

Before the fuel haze settled I headed for the pit area to check on the Hough Family and soon found them hard at it tearing down Nanook's engine. I spent some time with them into the wee hours of the morning as the work continued. Both Dave and Linda Hough and I talked of all the miles and years, how the face of Drag Racing had changed so much. We had our laughs thinking back at some of the events and racers, rivalries, and rowdy runs. Linda turned and apologized for Nanook's other than top performance runs..I felt out of place, I was out of place, the Houghs weren't just "the Ambassadors of Fuel Altered Racing", they are Fuel Altered Racing! Dave was a "living legend" and Rick was one of the most talented drivers I had ever met! After their towing accident not much more than a month ago, things just weren't in order yet..it wasn't just a fender bender, seems someone pulled out in front of the tow vehicle on a two lane, than hit the brakes! It was a multi roll over destroying the tow vehicle and trailer and inflicting major damage on Nanook.

Repairs at Stirling Race Cars had to be done including a whole new front chassis section. The fact was we were fortunate to have the Houghs in our midst and I was grateful to spend some time with them. I felt It would not be long before the other teams will feel the "Bear's Teeth" as there wasn't a classic AA/FA that could launch as hard and gain so much ground in short time as Nanook In my opinion.

Looking through the bugs on the windshield I headed home to my high desert hangout, the scent of the lightning fire to the west was in the air and a blood red moon glowed through the cottonwoods like a cherry on some cosmic cigar.

I felt satisfied, Ricky Ruiz grabbed the track record, I got my Fuel Altered fix, and the "Nitro Cowboys" put big smiles on those kids faces with one hell of a show!

This was American Nitro Racing, deep in the heart of a Saturday night. It was like the old days and it wasn't easy to put those Fuel Altereds down that quarter mile.

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