Nitro and Lace
Smallwood stuns in Pro Fuel final at Martin Nitro Jam
Courtesy of IHRA
MARTIN, MI – It is one of the oldest sayings in the books, but its wisdom always rings true. If at first you don’t 
succeed, well, let Cherissa Smallwood tell the rest.
“You just can’t give up. Whenever you think you have reached your breaking point or things just won’t go your way you just have to keep working at it. We are living proof of that tonight,” Smallwood said.
Smallwood, who has struggled through a tough year with zero round wins and nothing to show for her team’s effort entering this weekend’s event, stunned the Pro Fuel field Friday night with her first career IHRA Nitro Jam victory on opening night at the Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
Smallwood, behind the wheel of the popular “Nitro and Lace” dragster, bested Pro Fuel veteran Robin Samsel in Friday’s final, joining Peter Gallen (Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car), Jay Turner (Nitro Harley) and Ron Maroney (Fuel Altered) in victory lane during opening night of Nitro Jam’s season finale.
Cherissa Smallwood Wins First Pro Fuel Iron Man At Northern Nitro Jam 2011
Courtesy Nitro and Lace
Martin, MI – It’s taken more than a decade of trial and error for Cherrisa Smallwood’s Nitro and Lace Pro Fuel family 
owned dragster to earn their first winner’s circle appearance. All of their efforts finally became a reality during Friday nights eliminations at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
“I have so many people to thank for everything they have done for us” said Smallwood, “my dad and my family are on top of the list. We’ve lived all of the highs and lows together and sometimes you just wonder if your ever going to get to experience a very hard earned win.
“The next group of people that we have to thank are all the teams within the Nitro Jam family. So many of the other teams, including Bill Evans and Robin Samsel have gone over and above to help us when we were in a bind, words cannot say how grateful we are.
Cherissa Smallwood Anticipates First Race at Pittsburgh Raceway Park
Courtesy of Nitro and Lace
Pittsburgh, PA – Cherissa Smallwood, pilot of The NitroandLace.com Pro Fuel Dragster Team, is elated to be racing her forth of five IHRA Nitro Jam Races slated on her teams schedule for the 2011 racing season. 
Smallwoods team, led by her father Ron Griffis, have had their hands full since the San Antonio Race earlier in the year.
“We had a gremlin that weekend that was really difficult to diagnose in two days of racing” said Smallwood, “we never got to really look at everything after Baton Rouge as Mike Manners was kind enough to allow us to leave the car and rig at his home in Houston so we could save on fuel and obvious wear and tear on the rig.
“This weekend, we have redone some things that we are very excited about and looking forward to turning our whole program around, for not only the great IHRA Fans in Pennsylvania, but all of our IHRA Family as well.”
Cherissa Smallwood Experiences Gremlins Both Days in Pro Fuel
Courtesy of Nitro and Lace
San Antonio, TX – Without a doubt, the IHRA Nitro Jam featured in San Antonio, Texas, had the largest sell out crowd ever in the history of the event. For the NitroandLace.com Pro Fuel Dragster Team, it was definitely a
weekend filled with odd gremlins.
The team started out the day as normal, however, things took a turn when it came up time to fire the 3200 horsepower nitro burning injected dragster.
“We experienced a crazy couple of days” noted Smallwood, “from a crack in the chassis, to a malfunctioning fuel system, holes going out and then an ignition problem where we changed magneto’s after isolating the issues.
“We wanted to put on the best show possible for all of the fans in attendance, so it’s always very important to us to put our best foot forward and make every pass. The issues we endured were pretty easy fixes, it was the diagnosis of every component that is the most time consuming.
Cherissa Smallwood Looking for First Iron Man Victory in The Alamo
Courtesy of Nitro and Lace
San Antonio, TX – The NitroandLace.com Pro Fuel Dragster Team is traveling more than 1200 miles this weekend 
from their Florida home to compete in one of the largest United States landmark cities, The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas.
In 11 years of competition within the injected nitro dragster class, this is the first time that Smallwood will pilot her dragster at an IHRA Sanctioned Event within the State of Texas.
“We are very fortunate to be on the IHRA Nitro Jam Tour and invited to so many great tracks” noted Smallwood, “we’ve been looking forward to coming to San Antonio all year. In addition to racing history, this city has an incredible place in US History that makes it even more exciting for us to be here.
