The hand-drawn T-shirt said it all: “Boiling Green Heat Rod Reunion”. We’re talking every hour on the hour, a reminder over the P.A. system to drink water and hydrate. In fine Beech Bend tradition, the combination of unstable weather, sky-high humidity rates and, of course, the influence of the Barren River creates a sauna with sunshine. If it were any other day, you’d go become best friends with the air conditioner and wait until sunset, when the heat has dropped to more approachable levels. Not at the Hot Rod Reunion. I’ve gone every year since 2013 and every single year, it’s a sweat-fest, yet you’ll see people by the thousands underneath the covered grandstands sweating in harmony as clouds of tire smoke and nitromethane drifted through, or walking through the pits, hoping to hear a Top Fuel dragster come to life. Everything about the scene was perfect: the sticking noises that the slicks made as cars backed up after their burnouts, the heat waves radiating up from the surface of the strip, the volley of vapor being blasted out of zoomie pipes, and the lemonade being sold everywhere. It might have been hotter than hell, but nobody seemed bothered much about the heat so long as another set of cars were about ready to take the tree.

The sun would be setting soon and we’d start to get past the races themselves and into the show part of the Hot Rod Reunion. Be patient, those galleries are coming! Until then, click on a photo below to check out more from Beech Bend!