Devastating Blaze Claims Funny Car Racer John Lawson’s Operation

By Andrew Wolf February 06, 2020Photo credit: John Ferak/Patch

Longtime big-show and nostalgia nitro Funny Car racer John Lawson suffered the loss of his racing operation in a devastating blaze at his Joliet, Illinois home on Monday night.

According to a local report from Patch, a total of nine vehicles, including three race cars, were destroyed in the fire that consumed the large structure situated directly adjacent to Lawson’s home.

Joliet firefighters were called to a storage facility for John Lawson’s Auto Rebuilders in the 700 block of Algonquin St. around 7:45 p.m. and remained on the scene for more than 12 hours following what was a fully-involved blaze — at one point more than Joliet 40 firefighters were present. The Joliet Fire Department successfully contained the fire to the storage facility, in spite of its close proximity to both Lawson’s home and the neighbors garage, a mere 3-feet away.

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