The highly formidable Hodgson Racing/Pacemaker Funny Car team flashed some more stardom last weekend by scoring another major victory within the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series.

With aspiring and talented 3rd generation Canadian driver Nathan Sitko now firmly at the controls, the team once again took top honours for one of drag racing’s most time honoured and tradition rich events, the 54th edition Napa Auto Parts NightFire Nationals held at Idaho’s Firebird Raceway. That track, which is located near Boise Idaho, was the site of Nathan’s first major career victory (May 2024 Ignitor Nationals).

After qualifying #9 (5.796 secs), the Edmonton-based team then picked up the pace and had their Pontiac Firebird running extremely consistently during eliminations — producing a string of nothing but low 5.7 secs elapsed times.

The team prevailed at the event which drew in an impressive 15-cars for it’s Nitro FC entry list.

After beating Derrick Moreira in round one, Sitko took decisions over fellow Albertan Tim Boychuk (the low qualifier) and Jon Capps to advance to the final round versus points leader Shane Westerfield. But when Westerfield’s machine lost fire after its burnout — Nathan cruised to a winning 5.703 secs at 258.88 mph single for the score.

“Boise was a hard-fought event for everyone on the team,” Nathan stated. “There were no easy rounds— every competitor has stepped up their game. Racing in that 95°+ heat all weekend added to the challenge.”

“Ryan (Hodgson) made great tuning decisions all weekend,” he added. “The car was consistent, the team was sharp, and we earned valuable points to put us back into the number two spot in the standings. It was a true team effort, and I’m proud of how we performed under pressure.”

The team’s next race will be at Woodburn Oregon – Nostalgia Summer Nationals event – Aug 21-23.

Posted by Bruce Biegler
Photos courtesy of Larry Pfister and Wayne Lederer