(Words and Photos by Doug Gregory) – I’ll leave my bias out of this one because when it comes to nostalgia racing….I can’t come up with something I don’t like.
2013 was our second Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion and since we had a car we could get in with, we did. We headed down on Thursday after a mad thrash to get things together. We hadn’t had the car more than a couple months and we were still clearing up issues previous owners hadn’t. One issue that we didn’t expect was the cooling problem on the way down to Bowling Green. The car runs about 3,400 rpm at 70mph and, though it has a BeCool radiator, the poor excuse for a fan shroud, old factory water pump, and super cheap thermostat (tiny opening) were not up to the task of keeping it cool. We made it though with varying our speed and taking breaks. Otherwise our first voyage of any real distance in the new ride wasn’t bad at all.
My son and I headed in Early Friday to get our creds and check things out. What a time we had. Its hard to take in all that was going on and the things to see. We met friends that came down the next day and made some new friends just walking the pits. On the big end, my 13 year-old and I were taking pics and these guy sitting under an awning off a car hauler asked if we wanted some ice cream. Well, duh. It’s hot. We headed over and they were trying to finish off a bucket of fantastic homemade ice cream. We sat with them and cooled off chatting for a half hour or so and it made for one of my most-memorable experiences ever at a dragstrip.
Not long after we caught the gassers being corralled for a group photo by the BS guys. How often do you get an opportunity to capture more than a dozen gassers posed together…? Almost never. We hung around through Saturday and decided to head home via a slower (keep the temps lower on the car) and more scenic route on Sunday. This event will go down as one of the best times the whole family enjoyed together. I can’t wait to go again. The cooling problem was solved once we got back. I fabbed a new shroud from a Classic Industries kit, got a hi-flow thermostat (meaning I spent more than $2.99 on one), and slapped on a hi-performance aluminum water pump for good measure. The car stays 180-190 all the time now….even when running 3,500rpm-plus in near 100deg, humid air to and from the NSRA Nationals that August. We didn’t stay – we commuted every day from home (90+ mile one-way trek).
As usual, BangShift will be back at Beech Bend to live broadcast the 2014 Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion this year!
