Match Race: US 36 Dragway Nitro Madness

By “Rapid Randy” Baker
Photos by Chet Bain

We went to Osborn, Mo., last weekend to US 36 Dragway. It is a little 1/8-mile track just off the I-35 in Mo. Mike, the track owner, put on a great show. He spent the whole evening making sure all the cars got what we needed to put on a good show. He was concerned first and foremost with driver safety. Mike told me numerous times that if I felt the need to, just lift, and don't worry about a pay cut for an aborted run. It was great to have him behind us 100 percent. He sprays the complete track, start to finish. Just walking the track made me want to get it on!

We were racing a Nitro powered Rear Engine Dragster owned by Randy Jens. Randy, his wife and crew were great people to hang out with. They have raced there quite often, so they were a big help with track info and getting everything in place.

Rapid Randy launches...

This was our first “night race” in forever. I will tell you, except for driving home at 2 or 3 a.m., it was the coolest time. They had a nice crowd and lots of friendly other racers coming over to see the cars. Another guy who helped us out was Matt Sullivan and a friend of his named Scott. Since we were short one crew guy, the extra help was great. Matt has a funny car he races. They are all buddies with Rocky Ausec. Felt like old home week, really.

Oh yeah, one more thing that was way cool: Matt looks just like John Milner in American Graffiti, so all night I just called him “Milner.” He shows up from somewhere around Cedar Rapids, Iowa, driving his black ‘55 Chevy. This is like a 5 or 6-hour drive! He pulls in like it is the most normal thing in the world to drive that far in that kind of car. Skipping ahead, when we leave, he passed me on I-35 going about 80, and kept that pace all the way till we turned off in Des Moines! I thought that was VERY COOL!

Ok, back to the races. First round was about 8:00 p.m. They prep the track and call us to run. I take the left lane on the first run. We fire up and do side by side burnouts clear to the end of the track. When I stopped the car to back up, I was within a couple feet of the finish line. Randy Jens was about ten feet back from me. As I was backing up, we were right beside one another and at about half track, started to back into our own tire smoke. As we got closer to the line, we had to let the smoke clear out a bit before we could pull up and stage!

Another Rapid Randy burnout....

Randy staged and put both bulbs on, so I rolled in and turned my side on. I lucked out and got the holeshot on him. We ran our fastest 1/8-mile time this year, a 4.44 @ 160 mph! I was shocked we ran that well because the car was pretty loose and moving around a lot. I am glad they still put steering wheels in them!

The next round was at about 9:00 p.m. We traded lanes, and again with the side by side burnouts. Mike, the track owner, came back waving his arms trying to move the smoke around, and gave Laura and Scott the thumbs-up sign for the burnouts! I made it to half-track before hitting a bump that threw the car sideways and I had to lift. Randy Jens continued on down to about three quarters track. We backed up, and again I was lucky and left on him. That turned out to be a good thing.

I ran a 4.47 and dropped the chutes at the finish. When they hit, I also hit a bump or something. My car just jumped into Randy’s lane in the shut down area. I just stayed there, as I knew that if he was close, he would be diving for my now open lane. Luckily, it wasn't close and everything was fine. I asked the team if they saw the car get sideways on the burnout. They said they couldn't see anything after we started our burnouts; the track was just smoked in completely!

How about a wheelie at speed?

Third and final round, we go up around 11:30 p.m. Right as we are being towed up, a car oils my left lane. We were just taking turns with the lanes. I knew that since I had won twice and ran faster, I had lane choice. However, I just stayed where I was, giving Randy the better lane for his last run. We waited about a half-hour while they cleaned and prepped the track. Mike did it himself, then sent two or three people down to look over his work. He wanted it safe for both cars out there.

I left first and was on a pretty good run, when I hit some oil or something. The car went sideways instantly and I had to lift. (I know, don't tell anybody an AA/FA driver lifted!) When I was able to get back into it, Randy Jens beat me across the line by a car length or so.

Man I have to tell you, it was a blast. We were short a crew guy, so they actually let the driver work on the car some. It was a great night of racing!

Thanks for taking time to read this,

Rapid