(Photos by Mike Burghardt and Darr Hawthorne) • For thirty years, the NHRA Museum has held its yearly California Hot Rod Reunion, the first couple of years this event was truly a Reunion for the legends, pioneers, and fans of our storied drag racing past. However, if you listen to the list of those honorees who have passed away over those three decades, you’ll better understand that the original luster and purpose of a “Reunion” has just about run its course. Those pioneers just aren’t around anymore.
The 30th Annual Reunion, held at Famoso Dragstrip near Bakersfield, has evolved into a true revival of the heralded U.S. Fuel & Gas Championship™ of the distant past. The pageantry of Cacklefest™ is now overshadowed by the incredible competition of this Hot Rod Heritage Series World Finals.
Car counts, as in nitro funny car, were a combination of supply chain issues, from rods and pistons being unavailable, to diesel fuel prices, even the event payouts were a concern in this recessionary time in which we live. We’ve seen as many as thirty-six entries in nitro funny car, but the 30th reunion attracted only eighteen floppers.
This 2022 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage season provided fans and racers with some of the tightest and quickest competition since the series began.
Billy Morris, who drives the Eddie Knox owned “Problem Child” has been one of the more consistent nitro funny car drivers in the ’22 season, qualifying third for this reunion. Morris, a former sand drag racer, defeated Tony Jurado in the final round running a 5.589 elapsed time at 251.49 miles per hour to Jurado’s 5.662 at 262.18 mph. Jurado sold off his Big Show funny car operation to return to a “more fun” racing series where he can BBQ at the end of the day. Both drivers were Legends of Nitro Rookie of the Year winners.
Notable is the continued performance of Geoff Monise in the “Quarter Pounder” Pontiac.
The resurgence of Top Fuel Dragster is coming along, with fifteen competitive front-motored dragsters making the trek. Bobby and Tyler Hilton purchased the Championship winning operation that was owned by Tony Bartone, with lots of extras, including the holy grail, Steve Boggs tuning book!
Hilton grabbed the number one Qualifying slot with event runner-up Pete Kaiser number two qualifier. For this event, Kaiser took over the seat in Dan Horan Jr’s dragster and had not driven a top fuel dragster since 2010, having won the Goodguys Championship way back in 1995.
Kaiser had lost nothing in his long layoff – tuning other owners fuel cars. In the final round, Californian Kaiser left on Tyler Hilton with an .069 reaction time to Hilton’s .118 RT. At the finish line it was Tyler Hilton at the stripe running a 5.645 et at 238.22 mph to Kaiser’s 5.704 with a 251.95 mile per hour charge. With his qualifying points and Reunion victory, Hilton took the Heritage Series Championship back home to Ohio.
Bobby Cottrell, in the green “Northwest Hitter” Victory Camaro bowed out in Round three to event runner-up Jurado but had already secured his fifth consecutive Heritage Series Nitro Funny Car Championship.
Unlike the Good Vibrations March Meet, AA/Fuel Altered is a 10-car invitational, with some very stout entries. The list included 2022 Legends of Nitro Rookie of the Year Dylan Winefsky driving the family’s “Nitro Moose” Bantam Altered. In class eliminations, veteran Johnny West in his beautiful “Plan A” fuel altered won the final round over Tom Padilla. Running on a 6.0 index, West led off the starting line running a near perfect 6.064 elapsed time at 217.39 mph to Padilla’s early shut off 6.705 et.
The “Nostalgia” Pro Mod winner was number one qualifier Justin Wake’s ’53 Corvette over Bret Williamson’s ’63 Vette after Williamson’s foul start. Wake set low ET in Pro Mod with his 5.758.
While the NHRA Museum derives much of the yearly income from this and the Bowling Green events, it has become a time to make a change.
If a Cacklefest™ was your reason for a trek to Famoso for the few cars that showed up, then you’ll find a much better and more refined nostalgia show at Steve Gibbs’ “Nitro Revival” on November 5 & 6 at Irwindale Dragstrip. The time has arrived for retiring the Museum Reunion format on the west coast. It was originally developed by Wally Parks and Steve Gibbs some thirty years ago and so many of our pioneer drag racing legends and tuners have left the planet.
We’ll have 30th California Hot Rod Reunion Galleries this week in BANGShift.
So long, NHRA. The curb you’ve been kicked to still has Goodguys’ bloodstains on it.