(Words and photos by Bad Brad Klaassen) –Okay people, if you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know I’ve touted the greatness of nostalgia nitro racing at the March Meet, held annually at Famoso Raceway for the past fifty six years, just outside Bakersfield, California. But, if you’re a straight axle freak and love door cars know as gassers, the Meltdown Drags at Byron Dragway, just outside Bryon, Illinois, is the place to be! I made my first trek to this Gasser Garden of Eden and was blown away.
I’ve never seen so many bitchin bad ass vehicles assembled in one place in my life racing for the fun of it! No trophies, no prize money. Zero, Zip! And people towing thirty hours from as far away as Californian just to be a part of this event for the hell of it! Yep, it’s that damn cool. My Okie brother Tod Barker, owner and driver of “America’s Lil Bit” 1948 Angela gasser convinced me to put this July race on my busy schedule back in January of 2017 and I’m so glad he did. All I can say after my virgin experience at the Meltdown Drags is, I’ll be back for more next year.
So enough of my babbling about what an amazing deal the Meltdown Drags are. Go check out all my shots of the cool hot rods in this segment of the 8th Annual Meltdown Drags for yourself.
See you at the drags,
-Bad Brad
This was on my bucket list for many years.
So glad I had the chance this year to spend 2 days at this great event.
The scenery, the cars and above all, the people were awesome.
Please get someone to fix the size of the lighroom pics, they are banner sized, can\’t see the images.