The weatherman’s report was not pretty: severe storms were guaranteed, it was just a matter of when. For most people, that’s a cue to unpack, shove the car into the garage, and stay at home for the weekend instead of bringing the hot rod out to Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky for some fun courtesy of the folks at Car Craft. To them I say: you missed out. Last year was the first Summer Nationals at Beech Bend and we were impressed with what we saw. This year, a lot of folks decided against risking the weather on Friday, but those that did show up who wanted to play with their cars instead of just sitting around basically found the equivalent of an open Disney park without the long lines for the rides. The autocross course was wide-open, the drag strip lanes were wide-open, the dyno trailer that showed up courtesy of Red Line Motorsports showed up, and as long as you had your participant sticker on the car, it was open season. I might not have had a lot of cars to shoot, but that’s ok…once I got what I came for I grabbed my helmet out of the trunk and threw the Chrysler onto the autocross course! Those that did stay, like Bryant Goldstone and his two wicked machines, the General Lee-painted Dodge Daytona (a real-deal Daytona, at that!) and others had a ball up until the skies went dark enough to warrant leaving. Then again, plenty others stuck around for the burnout contest and the Midnight Drags!

Here’s our first gallery from the event, which we were at both Friday and Saturday! Click on a photo below to view more…