The Nitro Revival at Irwindale is what has been described as a museum of the Golden Age of Drag Racing come to life, and with all these amazing cars on site there is no doubt that it is all that and much more. We’re talking Fuel Altereds, Front Engine nitro burning dragsters, Gassers, Funny Cars, and so much more. But it isn’t just about the cars, it’s also about the people who drove them, tuned them, and built them. The number of iconic cars pales only to the number of iconic people that were on site talking to the fans and telling stories from the good old days. This event is rad, plain and simple and Steve Gibbs truly hit a home run when he decided to put this whole event together.
“Nitro Revival brings back the sights and sounds of the early days of hot rodding,” Gibbs enthused, “and it lets fans experience a drag racing museum come to life, not only through the vehicles themselves, but through the presence of many of those who built, maintained and drove those cars at tracks like the original Irwindale Raceway and two San Gabriel Drag Strips.”
For some, the assemblage of nitro powered race cars, such as “Pure Hell,” the name of the legendary fuel altered owned by Rich Guasco, the Fitzgerald Family “Pure Heaven,” Ron Hope’s “Rat Trap,” and Randy Bradfords’s Fiat, will rekindle an image of the golden era of drag racing. Throw in the Hough family’s “Nanook,” the “Winged Express” made famous by the late Willie Borsch and Troy Glenn’s “Over the Hill Gang” entry, and you might believe you’re back in the ‘60s.”
To bad “woke” NHRA screwed the whole thing up for these guys at CHRR and forced Gibbs to take them somewhere else
dunno how “woke” can be blamed for the fiasco at the 25th CHRR, it was just the corporate pinheads from headquarters coming in a blowing up what had been gloriously developing for all those years…kudos to Mr Gibbs for getting out when and why he did, and another, heapin’ dose of kudos for what he has built from those bitter ashes!!!
Really great pics BANGshift/Wes Allison…..!