Nitro Jam Meets Mardi Gras

Words by Berserko Bob Doerrer
Photos by Larry Crum/IHRA 

The Baton Rouge track was jammed with fans ready to party.

After liking what I saw at last month’s Feld Motorsports Nitro Jam at Palm Beach, I decided to take in the second stop on the tour, the Mardi Gras Nitro Jam at a track I haven’t been to in over 25 years, State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

From 1977 until 1990 it was an NHRA track that hosted the Cajun Nationals, a very popular stop on the tour because of the party atmosphere, and I was looking forward to seeing if that was still the case. I’m not going to talk about numbers or who won what (you can find that at the end of my story), instead here are my thoughts as a veteran drag racing junkie.

The Track

State Capitol Raceway looks just like it did in the 1970s with the exception of a new tower and new grandstands. The fans still like to party big time; it seemed that just about everyone had either a beer or a Daiquiri in their hand and there were beads everywhere. After the races were over on Saturday night the partying began in various racers' pits and there was a lot of Cajun cuisine offered up and I ate my fair share of crawfish, something I haven’t had in years.