After a year of precise production planning, the 47th Annual Cornwell Tools Night Under Fire was powerfully presented to a capacity crowd on Aug. 3, 2024 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
While the forecast gave everyone a fright early in the week, it improved dramatically and racers and performers dove in to put on a stellar show for the 40,000 fans in attendance.
A qualifying session got the event into gear on Aug. 2, before the main show took the stage on Aug. 3. As part of opening ceremonies, Summit Motorsports Park president Bill Bader gave a touching tribute to sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car champion and longtime and loved participant of the event, John Force, who was not able to attend as he continues to recover from his on-track accident. Additionally, a massive American flag was unfurled over the track, the national anthem was performed by Chris Biggin and a fantastic military plane flyover by the Hooligans Flight Team took place.
On a tight track professionally prepared by Evan Bader and his Summit Motorsports Park Team and Kurt Johnson and his Total Venue Concepts Team, the event engaged with riveting racing and exciting entertainment, and many memories were made at The Greatest Show in Drag Racing®.
The Funny Car field was filled with famous and fierce drivers, including Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, Dale Creasy Jr. and Jack Beckman, who was piloting the John Force Racing PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS. The highly anticipated final round featured Dale Creasy Jr. and Jack Beckman, and Creasy Jr., in his Tek Pak entry, won after both drivers worked to settle their high horsepower cars.
Fan-favorite Top Fuel racers Brittany Force, Antron Brown, Clay Millican and T.J. Zizzo gave it everything they had, with flames flying from their header pipes. At the end of the night, Brittany Force, certainly making her father, John Force, proud, drove her Cornwell Quality Tools Top Fuel Dragster to a 4.19 to defeat T.J. Zizzo, who had to take his foot off the pedal in his Rustoleum Top Fuel Dragster.
Top Fuel Harley-Davidson Motorcycle riders tackled high speeds on two wheels, and when everything was said and done, Chris Smith secured the win with a 6.96 over Tii Tharpe’s 7.49.
NHRA North Central Division Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Alcohol Dragster racers were a force at this event. Among them was Sean Bellemeur, who has been on a roll in his Bartone Bros. Racing entry in Top Alcohol Funny Car, and he continued his winning streak at this event with a 5.53 pass while Chris Foster was forced to get out of the throttle in his car. Additionally, popular racers Gary Pritchett and Tony Stewart, multi-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, met up in the Top Alcohol Dragster final, and while they were close on the tree and the top end, Pritchett pulled off the win with a 5.25 to Stewart’s close 5.26.
The R&R Auto Body Top Sportsman final saw Dwayne Gallogly gun to the win over Dave Paone with a 4.16 to a 4.35 respectively.
In the B’laster Pro Mod Shootout, Doug Winters drove his 1969 Chevelle to victory over Nick Januik and his 2020 Corvette.
Also awe-inspiring were Jet Dragster drivers working toward a North American Jet Car Championship while wowing fans with fiery displays. Among them was Hanna Motorsports driver Josh Graham, who sealed the deal in his Eastern Raider.
Rich Hanna, in his First Strike jet Funny Car, flew down track alongside teammate Gary Schwartz, in his Top Secret jet Funny Car, and Hanna won two out of three races against Schwartz.
Steve Harper and his wheelstanding Cool Bus and Rick Ream and his wheelstanding Studebaker Bullet Nose reached for the sky, and Ream managed to hang his front tires in the air just a little longer than Harper.
Performing at Summit Motorsports Park for the first time, Canadian Russ Lethbridge climbed into his Hellfire jet truck, bumped into the beams and blasted down track with fire flying, and Hayden Proffitt strapped into his Hot Streak II jet truck and set sail with afterburners all aglow.
As part of the exciting Edelbrock Super Series Elite presented by Red Line Oil and Rocko Machine program, the top 16 racers in Edelbrock Super Pro, Edelbrock Pro, Wiseco/CycleTech Super Bike and Edelbrock Sportsman Delivered on Time by TFC Transportation racers as of Aug. 1 raced for a share of a substantial $64,400 guaranteed purse at the event. Matt Cornell cruised to the win over Zach Smith in Edelbrock Super Pro, while Brian Green gunned to the win over Geoff Case in Edelbrock Pro, Jeremy Hicks hauled to the win when Ed James turned on the red light in Wiseco/CycleTech Super Bike and Nick Hastings nailed the win over Mitch Williams in Edelbrock Sportsman Delivered on Time by TFC Transportation.
For the exciting Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster Shootout, winners in Bear Motorsports Junior Dragster presented by Wiseco Advanced, Intermediate and Novice classes at select Edelbrock Super Series races were eligible to compete at the 47th Annual Cornwell Tools Night Under Fire for a guaranteed purse of $6,900. Gabe Wojnowski gathered the win over Maleah Mosley in Advanced, while Jaiden England edged out Ellieanna Oldenburg in Intermediate and Kendall Moreland pulled off the win over Callie Moreland in Novice.
All of the action was capped off by the jaw-dropping Bader Family Signature Fireworks Finale presented by R&R Auto Body, which was followed by the very popular track walk featuring thousands of fans and event winners, and a concert by Trainwreck Country Band in the staging lanes.
“This annual event, which has become prestigious, means so much to our team, and we try very hard to ensure that it is magical and memorable for each and every one of our participants and guests,” said Bader. “That is our number one goal, and to see smiling faces means that we have accomplished that, and that gives us even more inspiration for planning next year’s event. We thank everyone who came to our home for the 47th Annual Cornwell Tools Night Under Fire, and we congratulate the winners. It is not too early to say here’s to next year’s event. We are already looking forward to it.”
subscribe here) and like the Cycledrag Facebook page (Please like here) and more will be coming soon. Also subscribe to our NEW Youtube channel “Racing Jack” and Check back daily.
