John Nifong Doesn't Let Struggles Define His Season
1297
2/5/2025

2/5/2025

Bunker Hill Dragstrip


John Nifong Doesn't Let Struggles Define His Season

John Nifong, a farmer from Plymouth, IN is arguably one of the nicest racers you will meet at Bunker Hill Dragstrip. Whether he’s offering you extra corn or zucchini from his garden, or giving one of his buddies a hard time, people are gravitated to his friendly demeanor and can’t help but like him.
At the young age of 16, Nifong drove his 1972 Buick to Osceola Dragway in Osceola, IN and raced in the Street Class. He had so much fun that he spent the next four consecutive weekends racing there. Of those four weekends, he took home the class win at three of them. He was officially hooked on going fast and the sport of drag racing.
Nifong would spend the next 42 years racing primarily at Bunker Hill Dragstrip, and occasionally at Osceola Dragway. He would win a track championship in 1995 in the Pro Class at Bunker Hill Dragstrip. In 2020, at the track where he got his start in racing, he won his first Ironman trophy. That would be followed with another Ironman in 2022, when he won the King of the Hill race at Bunker Hill Dragstrip. The King of the Hill is a race where bracket race winners from the entire season race off in their respective classes. The class winners then race against each other. The last racer standing is crowned King of the Hill.
For Nifong, 2024 started off on an upswing with both his racing and in his personal life. He went several rounds over the first several races, banking a substantial amount of points for the points chase. Jennah, his daughter, who he shares with his wife Kim, graduated pharmacy school in May. With graduation behind them, wedding plans were the next family focus as Jennah was engaged and planning a fall wedding. In between farming and discussions of his daughter’s wedding plans, Nifong was going rounds pretty much every weekend and maintaining a great spot in the points chase. He was starting to realize that the chance of a track championship, 29 years after his last championship, was very much a possibility. Racing was good. His family was good. Life was good.
Things took a sudden change for the Nifong family on July 4th, 2024. A day where most people are celebrating Independence Day, enjoying time with family and friends, Nifong got a call that no parent should ever get. His 35 year old son, Johnathan, named after his father, had suddenly passed away. While mourning this tragic loss, Nifong did what he could to cope, which included continuing to race. His first round one loss of the season came during this time, which very well could have changed the trajectory of his season. Fortunately for Nifong this wasn’t the case. While this tragedy will forever change his life, it would also give him something to race for. Putting that first round loss behind him, Nifong chose not to let tragedy define his season. Though the emotional toll of losing his son was always with him, he did his best to stay focused and continued to go rounds keeping his hopes of a track championship alive.
With his son smiling down from above and his wife and daughter giving him the support that he needed, at the last points race of the 2024 season, in between trying to hand out ears of corn to other Bunker Hill racers and track staff, the likeable farmer from Plymouth, IN locked up the points chase. John Nifong found a way to overcome his struggles, and officially became the 2024 Bellman Oil Top class champion at Bunker Hill Dragstrip.


Submitted By: Cori McMillen

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