(Photos by Greg Rourke and Bob Chiluk) – Outside of a select few nostalgia drag races, they are mostly regional affairs. Events like the March Meet, California Hot Rod Reunion, HAMB Drags, and Holley National Hot Rod Reunion, draw from all over the country but there’s a new one to add onto that list and it is the Meltdown Drags held every summer at Byron Dragway in Illinois. This thing that started as a relatively small gathering of old school cars is proof positive that if you stick to what you are good at and keep at it, you can build a successful event from the ground up. Bob Chiluk and Greg Rourke were on hand blasting photos for BangShift. We know ace lensman Dom Damato was there as well cranking away so we have lots and lots of cool photos to show you from this race and the flood starts today.

The Meltdown Drags event is open to cars 1966 and older. The event is primarily about match racing and having fun for three days while being surrounded by 500+ completely killer cars from all over God’s green Earth. Within those three days there were gasser shootouts and a North VS South race which people really love as well. The MDA puts on the race and they keep to a pretty stringent set of rules as far as what’s legal and what isn’t. Obviously safety is enforced on the NHRA rules book as Byron is an NHRA track but the other stuff, specifically the types of equipment and look that are allowed are highly regulated. Some guy squawk at this idea but we don’t. If you don’t like the rules, don’t go to the event. It is a pretty simple concept, really. The group wants to maintain the type and look of cars that show up to race and that means no 1980s graphic paint jobs, no modern wheels, no nitrous, billet parts, etc. The result is what you will see by hitting the link below. The cars have stayed to what the organizers are looking for and if you don’t like what you see in this gallery, you’re hanging out in the wrong place.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO SEE OUR FIRST BLAST OF 2014 MELTDOWN DRAGS COVERAGE –

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