The Second Annual Night of Fire presented by A&A Auto Stores on Saturday at Maple Grove Raceway is sure to feature something for everyone:

• Jet dragsters, including Ernie Bogue’s Beast From the East, Jill Canuso’s Queen of Diamonds, Lou Pereira’s Terminator and Bob Van Sciver’s Jersey Thunder.

• Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars, including Phil Burkart Jr. in the U.S. Male and Jake Crimmins in Crazzzy Jake.

• Jet Funny Cars, including Ken Hall in the Top Secret along with the First Strike.

• The Danny O Day Wheelstander.

• Transauraus, the fire breathing, car crunching dinosaur, who will be on hand for dinner.

$5 off at the gate with any bottle of Vitaminwater. Buy a bottle, drink it, exchange it at the gate and receive $5 off your adult admission ticket. Promotion good for Night of Fire only and it cannot be used for junior admission. Admission to the event is $25 for adults; $10 for juniors ages 13-15; and children 12 and under are free. Spectator gates for the Night of Fire open at 2 p.m. and showtime is at 7 p.m.

Racers in the Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail will also compete Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and time trials start at 10 a.m.

If the event doesn’t run due to rain, the rain date is Sunday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and time trials begin at 10 a.m. Showtimes will be 1 and 3 p.m. There will also be the regularly scheduled Street Battles, along with test and tune and grudge racing.

Ken Hall can’t wait to pilot the Hanna Motorsports Top Secret Jet Funny Car down the quarter-mile at Maple Grove Raceway on Saturday night.

After all, it’s where the Trenton, N.J., native practically grew up and fell in love with the sport. Hall considers it his home track.

“Without a doubt,” Hall said. “They are like a family to me. I grew up with Mike and Kent Lewis and the Stauffers. Mike helped my father out for years and we love to come here. It’s my second home.”

He will be behind the wheel Saturday night at Maple Grove Raceway during the Second Annual Night of Fire presented by A&A Auto Stores.

When Harry Hall brought his car to Maple Grove, his son Ken was always mesmerized by the view when they arrived.

“The biggest thrill was coming over the hill, seeing the track and how beautiful it was,” Ken Hall said. “I also couldn’t wait for the hot dog truck that drove through the pits. Growing up in the city, coming out here was the greatest thing in the world and the Lewises took care of us.”

Hall, 38, went on to work for Maple Grove from 1992-96 and then joined the NHRA’s Safety Safari, of which he's still a member. He started racing in Top Secret for Hanna Motorsports in 2002 after spending two years on the team as a crew member.

“It’s quite a thrill, the speed is absolutely incredible,” said Hall, whose best pass has been 5.70 seconds at 281 mph. “Burnouts are fun, but you can’t match the speed. The fan base is incredible. I feel very fortunate.”

Hall takes part in about 20 to 30 events per season, while the team will do up to 90 for the year.

“We work every single weekend,” Hall said. “We’re booked pretty solid. We go to Puerto Rico in the winter, so it’s quite a bit of traveling.”

A big reason why Hall can compete so much is an understanding boss from his day job at D.G. March and Associates in Pottstown. During the week, Hall works with construction on theme park and indoor pool filtration systems.

“My boss is the biggest reason I can race,” Hall said. “We go over the schedule and he lets me travel. He’s lenient and I can’t thank him enough.”

And Hall sees the irony of working with water during the week, while blasting flames from a car during the weekends.

“It’s kind of confusing,” he said with a chuckle.

As for his future, Hall would love to someday have the chance to drive in the NHRA Full Throttle Series.

“Who wouldn’t?” Hall said. “If John Force gave me a ride, I’d be right there in it. I’m a huge nostalgia fan; I’d love to drive a front motor Top Fuel dragster or nostalgia Funny Car.

“I’d love to broadcast for ESPN. I’d go to school for that, but it’s hard to find time. I’d love to go on the air.”

A job as a TV interviewer would be up Hall’s alley, as he loves to interact with people at the track.

“Driving that car is secondary; I love meeting people, talking to people,” Hall sad. “My partner Rich (Hanna) is content with cars, but I love talking to people. I remember as kid getting autographs. After seven years, it’s still a kick having kids wanting to get autographs from me.”

Spectator gates for the Night of Fire open at 2 p.m. with showtime at 7 p.m. Admission to the event is $25 for adults; $10 for juniors ages 13-15; and children 12 and under are free. Anyone bringing a bottle of Vitaminwater (full or empty) will receive $5 off an adult ticket.

Rain date for the event is Sunday.

Racers in the Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail will also compete Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and time trials start at 10 a.m.

Growing up in Utica, N.Y., Phil Burkart Jr. was an avid follower of Funny Cars.

“My first love was Funny Car,” Burkart said. “I grew up in Utica where Custom Body was housed. It was only a few miles down the road from me and they won the championships in ’72 or ’73. They were the bigshots in town while I was growing up. “I took a liking to all of those cars.”

So when Burkart was given the opportunity to drive the U.S. Male nostalgia nitro Funny Car this year for “Nitro Nick” Boninfante, he was quick to say yes. He will be behind the wheel Saturday night at Maple Grove Raceway during the Second Annual Night of Fire presented by A&A Auto Stores.

As a boy, Burkart would avidly read his father’s copies of National Dragster, following the exploits of his Funny Car heroes.

“As a kid growing up you dream about driving those things,” he said. “Fast forward 30 years and you can remember watching that body style. Now you get the inside view of that. You get to relive your youth, so to speak.”

So far it has been a smooth ride. Since taking over the U.S. Male, Burkart has yet to lose a round of competition and has made it to the finish line under power during every pass.

He won this past Saturday at New England Dragway’s Funny Cars Under the Stars show, running a pass of 5.82 seconds at 247 mph to speed past Jake Crimmins’ Crazzzy Jake.

Runs like that shouldn’t be a surprise for Burkart, who has competed in drag racing’s highest level, the NHRA’s Full Throttle Series. A journeyman racer, Burkart has run cars for Del Worsham, Paul Smith and John Force.

The Team Force ride was in 2007, when he replaced the NHRA legend after he was seriously injured in a crash at Dallas. All Burkart did with Force’s dragster was drive it to the final round of the season-ending race at Pomona, Calif.

During his time with Worsham, Burkart won the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove in 2006.

A four-time NHRA event champion, Burkart certainly wouldn’t mind heading back up. But for now, he’s more than happy to pilot the U.S. Male for Boninfante.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m doing it for this season and as far as that goes, we’ll so how it goes. Nick is a great guy and he wouldn’t hold me back if I got one of the big show rides. “By the same token, the way our friendship is, he understands both sides of it. He’s glad I have the opportunity and time to do it right now. I’m having fun; I’m staying in a Funny Car and breathing in some nitro.”

Spectator gates for the Night of Fire open at 2 p.m. with showtime at 7 p.m. Admission to the event is $25 for adults; $10 for juniors ages 13-15; and children 12 and under are free. Anyone bringing a bottle of Vitaminwater (full or empty) will receive $5 off an adult ticket.

Racers in the Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail will also compete Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and time trials start at 10 a.m.

Phil Burkart Jr. will be returning to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs.

A former NHRA nitro Funny Car driver who has driven for Del Worsham, Paul Smith and John Force, Burkart will be piloting the Nostalgia nitro U.S. Male Funny Car at Maple Grove Raceway this Saturday during the Second Annual Night of Fire presented by A&A Auto Stores. Burkart was a winner at Maple Grove in 2006 at the Toyo Tires Nationals. In 2007, he was a substitute driver for Force after the NHRA legend was seriously injured in a racing accident.

Burkart was hired this spring to drive the U.S. Male by car owner Nick Boninfante and has yet to lose a round. He’s coming off a win this past weekend at New England Dragway, when he beat Jake Crimmins in Crazzzy Jake. The two cars will have a rematch at Maple Grove.

Jet Funny Cars will also be on hand for the show. Ken Hall will be piloting the Top Secret for Al Hanna Motorsports, which will also bring the First Strike car.

Also scheduled to appear:

• Jet dragsters, including Ernie Bogue’s Beast From the East, Jill Canuso’s Queen of Diamonds, Lou Pereira’s Terminator and Bob Van Sciver’s Jersey Thunder.

• The Danny O Day Wheelstander.

• Transauraus, the fire breathing, car crunching dinosaur, who will be on hand for dinner.

Spectator gates for the Night of Fire open at 2 p.m. and the feature show begins at 7 p.m. Admission to the event is $25 for adults; $10 for juniors ages 13-15; and children 12 and under are free. Anyone bringing a bottle of Vitaminwater (full or empty) will receive $5 off an adult ticket.

Racers in the Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail will also compete Saturday. Gates for racers open at 9 a.m. and time trials start at 10 a.m.

Also this weekend, Auto Locator Friday Night Grudge Racing returns for another round. Gates will open at 4 p.m. with racing beginning at 5 p.m.

The weekend concludes with a round of Street Battles on Sunday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and racing begins at 10 a.m.