The official name is The Holley National Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA Insurance at Beech Bend Raceway Park, produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. OK, that mouthful is the official name, but to real hot rodders everywhere it is simply and reverentially known as “The Hot Rod Reunion.” This vintage drag race/rod run remains at the top of our must-attend list.
The event is all about elapsed time, and that applies to every car and driver in attendance, because time is truly elapsing at an alarming rate of speed. Going to the Hot Rod Reunion is the perfect venue for serious bench racing with friends old and new. Every year, we manage to meet another legend of the sport and share great stories about the golden years of drag racing. While other racetracks incorporate the term park in their name, Beech Bend truly is a park-like setting, with a large campground and amusement park adjoining the dragstrip. Of course, for hot rodders the real source of amusement is a sticky stretch of asphalt running two lanes wide for a quarter of a mile.
The atmosphere is one of pure hot rodding. From the Circle of Legends to the nearly 1,500 show-and-shine cars, it’s the real deal. The racers aren’t here to win a big purse; they’re here for the love of vintage drag racing, and it shows.
But don’t think for one minute this is exhibition racing. The competition is hot and heavy, and the vintage racers are turning times that were unimaginable in the 1960s. For example, the top six Nostalgia Fuel Dragsters were all in the 5-second range, with speeds up to 260 mph. We love the Gassers, Super Stock, and ’09 groups, but the fuel cars (Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Fuel Altered) bring a different dimension to this weekend. Nothing compares to nitro cars, and we can honestly say when the fuel cars run, there isn’t a dry eye in the place. The racing was non-stop with practice and qualifying on Thursday and Friday, followed by eliminations on Saturday.
There is also a vintage swap meet filled with “all the right stuff,” ranging from a roller Funny Car to huffers to Model A bodies. Every year, while mining this area for parts, we seem to unearth large deposits of magnesium.
When the eliminations were complete (go to nhramuseum.org for all race results), it was time for the Cacklefest. If you have never seen a big Cacklefest, you have one more reason to attend the NHRA Museum Hot Rod Reunion. At Bowling Green, half of the cars are rolled into place and fired up with starter motors, while the other half are push-started and arrive rumbling and snorting fire. It is a sight and sound you won’t soon forget.
And then, one by one, the cackle cars shut down. And so, with tears streaming from my eyes, another NHRA Museum Hot Rod Reunion was in the books. We’ll be back again next year for the Sweet Sixteen celebration.
Fuelish Pleasure: Few things compare to a pair of short-wheelbase AA/FA cars making a side-by-side burnout. The Rat Trap is always a fan favorite and consistently runs in the low 6s at over 200 mph. In the far lane the name Havoc seems appropriate.Murphy’s Law: Jim Murphy and the WWII team lined up against top qualifier James Young in the Young Guns car for the final round. Murphy pulled strong on the top end to go around Young with a 5.713/257.33 mph over the 5.920/253.56 of Young.Glass Gasser: As always, the Gassers at the Reunion were a huge hit with the fans. Smoky burnouts, big wheelstands, and speed-shifting are all part of driving Dustin Corn’s wild ’57 Corvette gasser. A de-stroked 310-inch small-block and four-speed make this a real gasser.
Things Ida Never Known: East Coast drag racer and hot rod builder extraordinaire Bob Ida was on hand with two of his 1960s drag cars. The Willys originally ran B/GS with a blown 409, and later a blown Hemi. When Bob realized a Willys has about the same drag coefficient as a sheet of plywood, he decided to transplant the Hemi into a low profile ’56 Austin-Healey, allowing him to remain in B/GS with the 331-inch Hemi. After a couple years of devouring the competition, the car was crumpled in a wild wheelstand landing and subsequently scrapped. Miraculously, the car was discovered 40 years later and restored to its former glory by Bob and Rob Ida, complete with the Roto-Faze-huffed Hemi hiding under a hood scoop formed from a sliced and diced wheelbarrow. Tales such as this bring us back to the Hot Rod Reunion year after year.Earning His Stripes: The long-roof Chevrolets from 1955-1957 became drag race favorites in both Junior Stock and Modified Production classes of the 1960s. While we’re not sure who first striped the roof on these cars, today it is their signature paint scheme. The striped roof on this ’57 wagon with wheels high was a total time warp.True Blue Custom: Billy Jack and Gayle Ethridge of Meridian, Mississippi, have captured the look of a mid-1950s custom perfectly with this ’39 Mercury. From the Carson top to the one-piece louvered hood and smoothed doors, this car is period perfect. Add a custom grille, white running boards, and a set of ’57 Caddy caps to complete the look.The Prefect Cabbie: A big part of the fun at the Reunion is discovering obscure cars such as this former drag car dubbed the Tennessee Taxi. Based on an English Ford Prefect, this former race car was powered by a Ford inline-six that placed it in G/G. The offset hood scoop on the fiberglass tilt nose is an inline indicator.All Wrinkled Up: While big burnouts get the fans fired up, when it comes time to race, the smoke is replaced by wrinkled rear tires, wide open butterflies and front wheels ever-so-slightly airborne. That is exactly how Randy Bradford launches his AA/FA.Room at the Hilton: Members of the Hilton family were Honorees for 2017. While in recent years a lot of attention has been focused on a string of sinister Model A hot rods built by Hilton Hot Rods, there is also a long heritage of drag racing, including their current nostalgia NTF entry, with Tyler Hilton driving.Staging for Father’s Day: Ed Beaumont’s Orange Peel is a gennie split-window Corvette with a colorful race history. The straight-axle, blown big-block, and four-speed combination makes for exciting passes. Since the Reunion is held on Father’s Day weekend, it seems fitting to see a younger crew member in the staging lanes.Hot Rod from Woodstock: Well, OK, not the home of the famed rock festival. Long-time hot rodder Bob Knaack and his Model A coupe hail from Woodstock, Illinois. The dual-quad-fed Hemi is nestled between the Deuce rails, while a hard chop and lots-o-louvers continue the traditional theme.Daily Supplement: Dave Schultz had his Super Stock Plymouth Savoy, Vitamin C, on hand for the weekend. This is the best way we can think of to take your vitamins, and Mopar lovers know the hot orange paint, dubbed Vitamin C, as one of the High Impact Colors. Hey, it was the 1960s.Going for the Riddler: Holy Reunion Batman! Yeah, anything goes at the Hot Rod Reunion, including this version of the Batmobile. The details are a bit sketchy, but current owner Steve Anderson told us his car was on display in a casino for a while and went through a couple of owners before he purchased the car for his own Bat Cave. The car rides on a ’98 Corvette chassis with LS power. This makes “going after the Riddler” take on a whole new meaning. Yes, it was street-driven from Indiana.The British are Coming: And they seem to be in a hurry. Owner/driver Nick Davies raced against the famed Rat Trap during a European tour. After the race, Ron Hope discovered Havoc really didn’t have anyone to race against in England. The natural solution was to bring the car and crew to the U.S. for a 2017 tour and share shop space with the Rat Trap. Running a 6.460 at 223.84 proves they are ready to take on the Yanks.Trackside Again: The term “barn find” may be wearing thin, but this B/A Fiat qualifies. Originally built in the 1960s by Stan Radauskas, aka Stan Adams, the car sits on a Lakewood chassis. Stan raced it for several years with an injected small-block before selling the car to the Untouchables Car Club in 1969. The club promptly swapped in an injected L88. Stan bought the car back in the 1970s, but never realized his dream of restoring the car. It sat in Stan’s shop for 46 years until Curt Vogt purchased the car. Today the restored car is owned by the Shane Weckerly family. This is the first time the car has been to a dragstrip in 47 years.Period Paint: Endless line, flake, pearl, freak spots, and lace: Pure 1960s trick paint, and you could find all of those effects on this ’56 Chevy gasser. Redline front tires and a fenderwell filled with white headers complete the appropriate appearance package.
Cackle Cammer: Larry Coleman’s Super Ford is a rare Torino Funny Car. Making the car even more interesting is the SOHC engine and automatic transmission. The car was built in 1968 and was a great addition to the Cacklefest.Body in White: If you frequented any dragstrip in America in 1962, we guarantee there was a Sport Fury that looked just like this car in the staging lanes. Chances are it had a 413 Max Wedge under the hood, and it may have been street driven to the track.Blue Oval: We often marvel at how simple it can be to build a really cool hot rod hauler. Shave a little trim, pick a cool color, and find the absolute perfect stance. Finish it all off with a great set of contrasting wheels and the job is done. The only thing missing for this weekend is a big board bolted to the front bumper, as this Blue Oval hauler would make a great push truck.
Channeling the Past: Steve and Anne Gamache motored in from Ray, Michigan, in this deeply channeled ’33 Ford pickup. A dual-quad-fed nailhead Buick provides equal parts good looks and power. The white firewall, interior, and tonneau cover combine with wide whites and steelies to nail the early 1960s look.Flattie for the Record: In drag racing circles, the diminutive V8/60 was not a common sight. Harold and Jeanne Revis built this F/Dragster in their home garage in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. The rail was raced throughout the Southeast in the early 1960s, setting records at many tracks. The car was raced at the NHRA Nationals as late as 1968.Da Mob: The show-and-shine side of the grassy fields was filled with street-going gassers. Joey Bridges drove down from Louisville with Sweet Pea, a 1961 Falcon gasser. The metalflake roof is the perfect touch for this nose-high lightweight. Look closely and you will see Joey runs with the Straight Axle Mafia car club, a street and strip club.Scramblin’ Rambler: Let’s face it, you just don’t see many 1967 Rambler gassers. Michael Rados pilots this S/C-flavored Rambler aptly named American Scrambled in the Nostalgia Gasser ranks. Red, white, and blue paint with old-school velocity stacks complete the visual package.Innovation: Great race cars are built by innovators. Jim Mize of Harriman, Tennessee, built this 1950 Anglia with a Hilborn-injected Red Ram 260-inch Hemi under the hood. A set of rare D-500 heads was ported and installed. Up front, the stock Anglia wheels are still in use, but out back a set of Olds Toronado wheels bolt to the ’58 Olds rear, providing the negative offset required to put the big slicks partially under the rear fenders. The car was last raced in 1974.Quick-on-the-Draw: James Young and the Young Guns team began the weekend by capturing the number-one qualifier spot in NTF. But as we know, this is an intensely competitive class; while the team made it all the way to final round, in the end Jim Murphy snuck past them by 0.207 second. However, the Young Guns team effectively served notice, they are a force to be reckoned with.Fryin’ the Hides: After winning the big March Meet, the High Speed team rolled into Beech Bend with the points lead. When all the smoke cleared, Mendy Fry and the High Speed team had slipped to second place after a close loss in the semi-finals. The 2017 NTF points race is going to be interesting.International Cackle, Eh: The Alien II was born to cackle. John Chandler is semi-retired from his race car building business in Ontario, Canada. Over the years, John has built more than 30 rear-engine rails. Now that he has a bit more time, he decided to build a period-correct, front-engine T/F cackle car. This car is spot on, period-correct enough to fool most folks. The hot Canadian had the motor tuned and “firing” on all cylinders.Festival of Fuel: As the sun goes down on Saturday afternoon, the Cacklefest begins. Dozens of nitromethane-gulping race cars line the track and fill the night air with fire, fumes, and noise. It is a fitting close to a fantastic weekend.All Good Things: Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so it was time to jump in your channeled roadster and aim the old hot rod toward home.
