Hotrod Hotline ~ Society Of Landspeed Racing Historians Newsletter






	SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS NEWSLETTER 63 - June 11, 2008 Editor: Richard Parks [email protected] President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)

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President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)
Not long ago I was reading some stuff written in the thirties by George Eyston. He made a statement that is as relevant today as when he said it.

He basically said that a land speed car is the ultimate race vehicle and is unlike any other form of race car. To be successful it has to be honed to perfection to do only one task and that is to go fast. If you look back at the late forties you'll note street cars used for daily transportation made up a large part of our participants. But that changed quickly as speeds began to climb. To be successful, the drive-in / grocery getter morphed into a real race car and today is even more true. I bring this up because in the last couple of years as our sport has grown you see a lot of cars built for some other form of racing showing up. Most of these cars were built to go around corners and as you know at the lakes there are no corners. With this said I present you two totally different kinds of cars that are/have been massaged to do the job. First up is of all things a Ferrari. At first glance it looks almost stock, but if you look close you'll see it is a pure race car. That fancy looking hunk of aluminum hanging out the back is the diff or rear end and was made to take lots of torque from its turbocharged motor. The chutes are another giveaway that Tim Taylor and the boys from Texas are serious. They want a record. Next up is a car I went to look at last Thursday in Redondo Beach, California that's hard to describe. It's not a Legends car but it is similar. If you look at it from a distance with the body on it, it looks like a Ford that ran at Bristol or Daytona. Get close and it's real small. After a couple of years work it's shaping up nicely. The power plant is a traditional looking flattie with Hilborn injection. Behind it is a T-5 tranny connected to a Speedway rear end. In another year or so it will be buzzing across the flats and might even go fast enough to get a record, if, yep, there's a catch. We're trying to figure out what class it will fit in. Real cup cars show up at the salt but don't fit any class, because the only thing that's somewhat stock is the top. Since this is nothing stock on the little glass bodied car, we're trying to see if it fits in the Streamliner Class. Time will tell. This last Saturday was the annual Bonneville 200 MPH Club get together. It was held at the Wally Parks NHRA Museum. If you haven't been there you should go, because a permanent land speed exhibit shares space with the drag stuff. It was a great party and a who's who of land speed jockeys. It was also special because Otto Ryssman, who got in the club in 1952, the first year that the club formed and began to honor people, with a speed of 222.57 mph was there telling stories. As I said earlier the club was formed in '52 and was officially known as the Hop Up Magazine 200 MPH club. When that magazine merged with Motor Life and then ceased to exist, up stepped Ed Iskenderian as Mr. Sponsor. Ed was also there telling stories. If you're lucky enough to be in the L. A. area next weekend, you must go to the L. A. Roadster show in Pomona, California. There will be a lot of land speed racers wandering around the grounds as well as the S.C.T.A. sales trailer and a display of fast cars. I've included shots of the Taylor built Ferrari and the mini Ford look-alike as well as Isky himself.

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Editorial: Caption, Caption, Caption. Never forget to Caption your photographs. Have a Kegger Caption Party.
I just spoke to our resident expert on photography, Roger Rohrdanz, who gave me some tips on captioning. Roger looks like he is having fun snapping the button to take all those pictures. Don't photographers look really cool with their hats on backwards, the Press vests that they wear with all those pockets to put things and those cameras that have a zoom lens as big as an elephant's trunk? What you don't know is that a photographer's life is fraught with hard work, peril, long hours and people who promise to buy their work and then refuse after the print has been made and expenses incurred. Being a photographer is nuts. They really do us a service and leave us a historical record and what do they get in return, but grief and more grief. One of the things that they don't look forward to is sorting and captioning. Oh, it may be fun to snap a thousand photos during the race, but afterwards they stay up all night sorting their photos and trying to remember who everybody is so that they can create accurate captions. We should ALL caption our photographs. It's a labor intensive job and one that we put off because we don't see why it needs to be done, since we remember who everyone is. That is we thought we remembered who was in the photographs until we developed dementia or died, then the photos are simply pictures of pretty cars and strange people. Uncaptioned photos are like asperagus without butter and salt, pretty bland and unappetizing. Someone asked me how much we should caption. Name and date they said? The rule is that you can never give ENOUGH captioning. If you use ten words, 20 words would be better. If you can do 20 words, forty words would have been more fitting. DON'T use a pen or pencil to write on the edges, middle or the back of a photo as it leaves raised marks and the ink can discolor the photographs or break the surface. Buy a sheet of those peel-off stickers and write your caption, in permanent ink, on the stickers, then peel them off and stick them to the BACK of the photograph. Another thing to do is make this a husband-wife, father-son, mother-daughter, etc, etc, kind of fun event. The person with the best PRINTING ability gets to do the writing and you can make it a team effort. Describe the scene on the photo. "Son, this photo was taken at Muroc in June, 1941. You can see Johnny Junkin on the right and that's me, Henry 'Slowpoke' Ford on the left, with what'sisname from the Road Runners in the middle. The car is a '31 Swiss Pumpernickle, with a Sherman 4-port carb. We went 39.12 mph and set the European Car Altered record. I think my buddy, Ricoh Canon took the photograph." Junior writes down the information and peels off the sticker and Senior puts the sticker on the back of the photo, then returns the photo to the album. This way you get your photographs captioned, Dad gets to relive the past and the Historians in our society will see pictures that we can identify someday. Be sure to also include the name and address of the owner of the photograph. Some prefer to use an email address or phone number, so that photographs can be returned to the rightful owner.

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Editor's notes: A special article on Chuck Daigh's Celebration of Life will be coming out soon and will be on www.hotrodhotline.com.

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Regarding Chuck Daigh, I had read in a book somewhere that Chuck was once a Road Runner but I could not verify it. Recently, I was contacted by a former Road Runner, Pat O'Hern, who was in the Club in the 1948-49 years. Pat remember's Chuck being in the Club then. Based on one piece of written documentation and one first hand, personal confirmation, I have removed the question mark from Chuck Daigh's name on our Road Runners Alumni roster. I don't know if I previously mentioned it but there was a nice Memorial Table for Chuck set up at the recent Fabulous 50's event at the new Riverside International Auto Museum. Jerry Cornelison Jerry: Chuck Daigh's Celebration of Life Story should be ready for publication in about 2 weeks.

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The 6th Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion will be held on June 13-15, 2008, Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The first 1000 spectators will receive a Mattel Hot Wheels collectible die-cast car to help celebrate Father's Day, according to Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, which produces and benefits from the event. Mattel is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Hot Wheels, and has long been a supporter of the Museum, located in Pomona, California. The company produces more "cars" than any other company and Hot Wheels was the major sponsor of drag racing legends Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen during their heyday on the track. The Reunion is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm. The Reunion is part of the museum's "living history" philosophy, which works to bring to life the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture. Unique among motorsports events, the Reunion honors some of the top names in hot rodding from the past and features a fabulous array of cool drag cars, street rods and customs of the historic and present-day hot rod eras. Call 800/884-NHRA or go to http://museum.nhra.com, for more information. Bill Groak Readers: I publish a lot of things on the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum because Bill Groak is the PR guy there and a good one. He inundates me with releases, updates, news and more. In fact, he doesn't leave me alone for a moment. Every day, yes, EVERY DAY, Bill sends me notices. He makes sure that I am told about the events that are happening at the museum. But what about YOUR museum or exhibit? Do you tell me what's happening in YOUR museums? Ed Justice Jr, I want you to send me something on the Justice Brothers Car Care Products Museum. You have a first class museum and I want you to send me notices just like Bill Groak does and let me know so that I can tell every-body else. And Don Garlits, what's happening at your place? If anyone has a first class motor racing museum, it just has to be Don Garlits and yet we never get any news from the East Coast. So, send in your announcements and news, because we know you are doing great things and we want to help pass the word along.

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Have you ever seen a Mini Ardun Flathead? Ron Bement of Denver, Colorado, has built an Offy, a Flathead, and is currently working on this Ardun. The engine measures about 7" long and all components have been made on his CNC machines. Ron is progressing very well on this miniature Ardun Ford flathead mill. He's finished the heads, water pumps, oil pump, and most of the other internal pieces. He expects to have the block finished in a few weeks. It's hard to imagine what is involved in building one of these engines from scratch. Ron thinks this will make 28 hp on methanol when it's finished! That's a lot of hp out of such a tiny engine. It will have a Hillborn injection on it, like the one on his miniature Offy. Ron machined copies of the famous Hillborn injectors. These are the smallest known copies in the world and have greatly increased throttle response on the Offy engine over the previous 4 carbs. These are exactly like the originals, only a whole lot smaller. To understand just how small these are, the pill (which is what the jet is called) was a real problem. Finding something to make the jet out of was very difficult. There wasn't any way he knew of to drill a hole small enough, he'd have to use something which already a hole and insert it in the tiny brass pill. At first he tried using a needle diabetics use, the size of the hole was 31 gauge, or less than 0.002" in diameter. It was way too big! He needed a hole less than half that size! He eventually found what he needed, in Sweden. The Ardun will run their own Hillborns since the Offy is a smaller scale. It's drilled for water and oil. One picture has one of the heads laying on top of the mill. Another has the deck of the block laying next to it, this holds and accurately locates the top of the cylinder liners. (Editor's notes: for additional information go to the following website at http://www.fordbarn.com/earlyv8/forum03/membersarticles/miniardun/ .) Sent to us by Bob Storck.

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Burly Burlile sent in three documents on the Volkswagen Challenge. I tried to make them conform to the newsletter, but couldn't, so they are in an attachment format, or displayed at www.landspeedracing.com.
Click Links Below:
2008 36hp Introduction National - NAL 36hp Land Speed - 2007 Record History 36hp

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Check out the new A2 Wind Tunnel website for information on affordable full scale wind tunnel testing to see if we can help benefit your program. www.A2WT.com. Sent in by Ron Main

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I was notified by a close hydro friend that someone was reproducing and distributing some of mother's copyrighted material. I have since resolved this problem with the offender. Please remember that all photos are copyright protected, although this situation did not involve photos. From this point forward, if anyone wants to copy or reproduce anything of Eileen Crimmin's personnal material, letters, cards, notes, etc., or draft articles, that person must get written permission from me (Ned Crimmin) and / or pay the appropriate fees to me for doing so, depending on the situation. All of the above material is copyright protected. Just because an article has been published does not mean it is free of copyright protection. All articles written by my mother had "First Rights" on them. First Rights means that the publishing periodical accepts the article with that stipulation. That stipulation being the following:
Once published, any re-publication/copying, or further distrubution of the article is to be negotiated with the owner of the article. In other words a fee paid to re-publish again and then permission is given to re-publish the article. To do so without permission is breaking the copyright laws. I am usually pretty easy about this, but what happened last week finally was the breaking point, with the flagrant disregard, for the years of hard work of others, it is inappropriate that anyone would feel free to expropriate from others.
All of you that are working with the promoting of the sport know that I am always willing to help, with little or no payment. Thank you for your time. Ned Crimmin (Owner of the Crimmin Project) Readers: Copyright and patent laws are very important, for without them the incentive to write, photograph, publish, invent, create, innovate and make the world a better and more enlightened place would be vastly curtailed. Ned Crimmin brings up a very valid point, that is, just when is it appropriate to use another person's work in your own creation and whether you need to pay the fees and royalties or not. In some cases a fee is required. Dale Earnhardt had a series of lawyers who demanded fees for his name, likeness and the numbers 99 and 3 on a car. In other cases people readily give up their photos, stories, journals, biographies and memorabilia to be added to stories, artwork and inventions. Some material must be paid for, while other material will often be lent to you to use for your projects without a request for royalties or fees. The proper way, before you borrow and use, is to talk to the owner and find out whether the material is pro-fee or non-fee and to have a release signed, telling the owner what you want to do, when you will return the artifacts and what the terms of usage is for. That way the borrower and lender are both protected. Some material has gone into the general domain and no one owns it, while other objects have owners, like Coca Cola, etc, that renew the patents and copyrights every so often to keep them current. Some lapsed material is picked up and copyrighted or patented by people long after there appears to be no interest in the subject. One magazine that fit this description was Hop-Up Magazine. The new owners went to the old owners and asked if there would be any objections if they brought back the magazine and the previous owners said for them to go ahead. However, when it comes to family names of famous people, there are laws that protect the heirs of an estate. That means that even if Priscilla Presley and her daughter let the name Elvis Presley, "The King," or any other Elvis attribute lapse, you cannot go and take the name and copyright it. That's why copyright and patent lawyers are so important if you have a big project in mind or want to start a business based on a celebrity or a lapsed name, product or project.

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Editor's notes: I received a notice to sign up for Reunion.com by request of Debbie Baker. Debbie is a special person and the normal response is to do exactly as the notice requests, go to the website and sign in. But we have heard so much about viruses and hackers and computer scams, so I took the time to send an email to her and ask about this Reunion.com link. She sent back a notice that she doesn't know anything about it and it is some sort of spam, spyware, hacker or worse. The point is, even if the email address looks good, do not respond until you check with the sender and double check everything. Otherwise your system could become infected and you could lose your computer.

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The Holley Performance Products facility will become a classroom for 30 Bowling Green Technical College students, as well as the public, on June 13, for the first Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion Education Day. Students will start the day at 10 am with a tour of Holley's production facilities and an engineering workshop. They will then be taken out to Beech Bend Raceway for an up-close lesson on vintage drag racing and a Hot Rod Basics workshop led by Ron Hope, driver of the famous Rat Trap fuel altered race car. "It was the dream of NHRA founder Wally Parks, who recently passed away, to bridge the gap between students and the motorsports industry," said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, producers of the Reunion, June 13-15, 2008 at Beech Bend Park, Bowling Green, Kentucky. "Education Day is a piece of that bridge and it's gratifying to see industry leaders come together for this common goal. It's also another way we can work closely with the Bowling Green community and our title sponsor Holley." As part of an on-going collaboration with Henry Astor, owner of Astor Motor Productions and former American Hot Rod Foundation Director, the workshops will focus on speed and safety, which are at the core of NHRA drag racing. Participants will learn about the industry's evolution, carburetor applications, speed and drivability theories, building horsepower, as well as evaluating fuel, ignition and brake systems. "This is the first of many in a series of industry-supported education days," said Astor. "Our goal is to expose high school students to the wealth of possibilities the automotive industry provides, destroy the stigma of shop as a 'last resort,' and re-establish auto shop within high schools." Bill Groak

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I am looking for a proper person to take project started by my mother, Eileen Crimmin. The sale will include all literary and creative works, plus the rights to publish her biography (80,000 words already transcribed), and her cook book that we worked on. A royalty agreement will be negotiated. The material is prolific and covers nearly three decades of unlimited hydroplane racing, coverage, articles and reviews. For more information call Ned Crimmin at 1-509-523-4213, or email Ned at [email protected]. See http://www.vintagehydroplanes.com/crimmin.html

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Editor's notes: The following was sent in by Bill Groak from the 6th Annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In the late '60s and early '70s, Ohio was a hot bed of dragster activity, and Jim Walther was consistently one of top performers of the nitro class. Walther gained national prominence in 1972 by driving his "Special Edition" machine to NHRA Top Fuel World Championship honors over the nation's best racers. In addition to racing, Walther an Honoree at the 6th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion, June 13-15, Beech Bend Raceway Park, dedicated more than 40 years to the production of top quality speed equipment.

Groak: How does it feel to be an Honoree for the 6th Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion? What does the Reunion mean to you?
Jim Walther: Any award you get at this stage of the game is humbling. I'd like to thank all who voted me the award. I'm honored and it will be great fun to be an Honoree at the Reunion. I drove Top Fuel for 18 years because I loved doing it. We all loved what we were doing back then. I was happy to be a part of it. To me, the Reunion is about reliving the past with your old racer buddies again. Unfortunately, we're losing too many of them. But it will be great seeing everyone in Bowling Green. We're like a brotherhood. Even if I haven't seen or spoken to some of the guys in years, the second we get together, it seems like yesterday.
Groak: When you started racing in the '60s, did you think you'd be honored years later? Are you surprised that people remember your racing exploits?

Walther: I don't think anybody racing in the '60s ever imagined they'd be remembered and honored years later. Darn near everyone back then did something else besides racing to keep them going. But it was fun, always trying to make the cars go faster and faster and beat your competitors. When I go to national events it's surprising how many younger people know who you are and what you've done. It's very gratifying and humbling. They know the history of the sport. I'm proud to have gone through it, from the short-shift clutch to the 134-inch wheel base. It's been an evolution.
Groak: What are some of your fondest and funniest memories about drag racing in the 1960s and '70s? What do you miss most about the "old days?"
Walther: We were a pretty raw group of racers back then. After a race we'd put the car in a box, pull it back to the hotel, take a shower and hit the bar until 2. We had to be up early to get in line to qualify. There was no set time back then - you just got in line. Sometimes I'd be strapped in the car with my fire suit on for 90 minutes. At Indy in 1970 there were 107 Top Fuel cars. You worked on your car while waiting in line. We didn't have the luxury of going back to the trailer. Today it's a lot different - more corporate-oriented. I'm not sure you could have the fun and camaraderie we had, but I understand it. When I think of the stuff I raced in the '60s, I thought I was invincible. Driving the front-motor cars, whew, that was a shot of adrenalin. I didn't need to do any dope: driving at night with the flames shooting out of the headers at you was about as high as I was going to get.
Groak: Are you surprised at the popularity of nostalgia drag racing? Why do you think people enjoy it so much?
Walther: I think it's great. It's bringing back memories from the past by bringing the history and evolution of the sport to modern spectators. I'm amazed the number of front-engine cars racing today. Nostalgia racing is also more affordable, no doubt about it. It still takes money to run, but I've found if you were a successful racer on the track, you were also successful in business and life, too. So now you have more cars running and more people watching. Younger kids appreciate seeing older cars. Most of the people who go the Reunions in Bowling Green and Bakersfield hang around the cars. They are in awe of the sling-shot cars. We thought they were state-of-the-art back then.
Groak: What do you think of drag racing today compared to when you were on the circuit?
Walther: On one hand it's great and on the other hand it's not so good. The average guy can't get into racing like he once could. Now you have to have the money. Today's tracks are so much better than what we ran on. It's funny: a lot of drivers today bitch about getting 'a good lane or the bad lane.' In my day it was just asphalt; like driving on a two-lane street. We also had only 60 minutes between rounds in a 32-car show and no air tools! The drivers today deserve respect - they are very good. In a 300 mph car, anything can happen. Expect the unexpected. Anyone who straps in is grabbing a tiger by the tail. They deserve respect. I take my hat off to Tim Wilkerson. He's a throwback to the old days. He's been so good for so long. He's as good as there is - a true racer. I pull for him every damn week

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NASCAR, trophy queens, vintage motorcycles and the 75th anniversary of the Model 40 Ford are all part of the excitement coming to the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, the second half of 2008. New exhibit: NASCAR: A Salute to 60 Years of Racing opens August 6 and runs through March 1, 2009. Authorized by NASCAR, exhibit will feature racing memorabilia and photos, along with a selection of race cars, including one of the most famous, Dale Earnhardt's 1998 #3 Chevy Monte Carlo courtesy of Schroeder Racing Products.

New exhibit: Trophy Queens, a photo exhibit honoring the glamour girls of racing, runs August 27 through August 2009. Included in the dozens of rare shots of models presenting racing trophies from the '50s through the '70s are images of a 19-year-old Raquel Tejada, later to become Raquel Welch and Barbara Huffman, i.e., Barbara Eden star of the long-running "I Dream of Jeanie." Also highlighted is the most famous trophy queen of all, Linda Vaughn, known as the "First Lady of Motorsports."

Special event: Indian Day, honoring the 100th anniversary of Harley-Davidson racing, October 25, 10am-2pm. Presented by Duke Video USA, this annual event features scores of vintage motorcycles, especially Indians. Plus, Sam Wheeler, owner/driver of the 355-mph E-Z-Hook motorcycle, will host a special seminar. Attendance free to those who bring a pre-1965 motorcycle. New exhibit: The 75th Anniversary of the Ford Model 40 goes from December 3 to spring 2009. Exhibit, sponsored by Steve's Auto Restorations, highlights one of the most popular hot rod platforms around, the 1933-'34 Ford. Among the cars in the exhibit will be three of the most famous: the Billy F Gibbons' ZZ Top Eliminator, the Pierson Brother's Coupe and the Pete & Jake's California Kid. Also on display will be the Super Bell Coupe, Big Al and the Mooneyham & Sharp 554 car. Bill Groak Bill: The photo of Raquel Welch will certainly stir up a lot of memories from the old guys who read the newsletter.

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Currently on display at the Parks Museum: "A Tribute to American Ingenuity," honoring the 60th anniversary of Honest Charley Speed Shop as well as the 50th anniversary of Coker Tire: through November 16. Celebrating 60 Years of Hot Rod Magazine: through October 2008. Bakersfield: A Salute to the March Meet - 50 years of Racing: through August 2008. 70th anniversary of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California: A retrospective of the historic association which continues to sanction land speed record racing. Through June 2008. Bill Groak

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Would you please resend me the questions. Thanks. Readers: I will be glad to resend the questionaire and hope that you will all sit down and write your biographies and leave them to your families and to the land speed racing fraternity.
Readers: Sample survey of questions. You may change and alter the questions as you like.
a) Where did your family come from; your parents and grandparents and what did they do for a living?
b) Where were you born and where did you grow up? What elementary, junior high and high school did you attend?
c) Did you take any shop classes, while you were in school? Name your friends, especially those interested in racing.
d) Did you join any car clubs or work on or own a car, or a race car, or work as a crewman on a race car while in school?
e) What kind of jobs did you have as a young person while growing up? What kinds of hobbies and interests did you have?
f) What did you do after graduation? Did you join the military? Were you drafted? Did you fight in the war?
g) What kind of racing did you get involved in? Did you own a racecar, drive a racecar or work as a crewman?
h) Who were some of your friends that were involved in racing with you? Name and describe them.
i) Tell us about your family, your wife and children. Were they involved in racing?
j) What kind of work did you find after you left school? Was it racing related employment?
k) Are you retired from racing? What are you doing today?

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Celebrating its 10th anniversary and named for the founder of the National Hot Rod Association, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California houses the very roots of hot rodding. Scores of famous vehicles spanning American motorsports history are on display, including winning cars representing 50 years of drag racing, dry lakes and salt-flat racers, oval track challengers and exhibits describing their colorful backgrounds. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., PST. Current NHRA members are admitted free and Auto Club members enjoy a $2 discount. Admission for non-members is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 60 and older, $5 for juniors six through 15, and free for children under the age of five. The Museum is also available for special group tours. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at Fairplex Gate 1, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona. For further information on special exhibits, museum events or directions, call 909-622-2133 or visit http://museum.nhra.com. Bill Groak

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Hope to see you at the show. Will be there Saturday morning parked at the Hop Up area. Driving a '34 chopped top full fendered coupe with 16 B/FC on the doors. Bud Meyer won't make it this year but Doug Clem will be there with the B400 in the same area. Also look for the T bathtub with the Drake DT160 V-8 in the front seat. Spent the better part of a year building that motor. Later. Vic Enyart Vic and the Readers: This Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the L. A. Roadsters Show, held on Father's Day at the L. A. County Fairplex, in Pomona, California. It's an event that you can't miss. I'll be there on Friday to do a story for www.hotrodhotline.com and will be at another event on Saturday and Sunday. The L. A. Roadsters Show is one of those hot rodding events that has become famous over the years, like the Smoker's race, now the March Meet, and the Grand National Roadster Show. A true hot rodder can't miss one of these events

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (June 9, 2008) - The three-day funfest known as the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, returns to Beech Bend Raceway on Father's Day Weekend, June 13-15.

While the hot rodding / nostalgia drag racing spectacular offers a cornucopia of things to do, here are 10 family-fun events to consider.
1. Holley Performance Products Tour, Thurs., June 12, 10 a.m.: The 250,000-sq.-ft. Holley plant (1801 Russellville Road) will be open to the public for a free, pre-event tour. See how Holley, in business for 105 years, makes its world famous carburetors and other products, including Weiand intake manifolds, water pumps and superchargers. Tour goes through the engineering vehicle and engine lab where they house their chassis and engine dynos. A hot dog lunch and special drawing for Holley apparel and speed parts is also part of the tour.

2. Heacock Classic Cruise, Thurs., June 12, 2 p.m.: The Heacock Classic Cruise starts at Holley and takes the form of a scavenger hunt organized by the American Red Cross to benefit their Vettetastic 2008 program. The scavenger hunt ends at the Holiday Inn University Plaza's Sloan Convention Center (1021 Wilkinson Trace) at 5 pm for the official Reunion ribbon-cutting ceremony.
3. Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion Education Day, Fri., June 13, 10 a.m.: Call it Hot Rod U. as the Holley Performance Products facility becomes a classroom for Bowling Green Technical College students, as well as the public. A tour of Holley's production facilities and an engineering workshop is followed by a trip to Beech Bend Raceway for a lesson on vintage drag racing and a Hot Rod Basics workshop led by Ron Hope, driver of the famous Rat Trap fuel altered race car. Participants will learn about the industry's evolution, carburetor applications, speed and drivability theories, building horsepower, as well as evaluating fuel, ignition and brake systems.
4. Honoree Reception, Fri., June 13, Holiday Inn University Plaza Hotel and Sloan Convention Center Ballroom, 7 p.m.: Open to the public, this free event is what the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion is all about: honoring hot rod heroes of the past. This year's Honorees are Arnie Beswick, Gabby Bleeker, Charles "Boogie" Scott, Bob Stange and Jim Walther, along with Justice Brothers Reunion Spotlight Award winners, the Ramchargers, The Grand Marshal of the Reunion is Dick LaHaie. Event is sponsored by the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bowling Green Area Lodging Association and South Central Chapter of the Kentucky Restaurant Association.
5. Nostalgia Drag Racing, Fri-Sun, June 13-15: This looks to be the biggest and most competitive National Hot Rod Reunion when it comes to racing. Showcased on the track will be Hot Heads Eliminator NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers, competing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others, plus and a variety of exhibition entries. A record 460 cars are registered. All the top names in nostalgia racing will be competing, including Brad Thompson, Adam Sorokin, Brendan Murray, Roger Lechtenberg, Howard Haight and Troy Green.
6. SoffSeal Show 'n Shine, Fri-Sun, June 13-15: The weekend Reunion program also features a giant hot rod festival with more than 1,200 pre-1972 street rods, customs, classics and muscle cars competing in the SoffSeal Show 'n Shine. The top 50 winners will be announced Sat., June 14 at 6:30 p.m., receive awards and parade down the track. All winners and entries will be invited to the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals (Aug. 27-Sept. 1) at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. There the vehicles will be displayed in a special area presented by Hot Hues Custom Finishes by DuPont, receive a special memento of the occasion vie for the inaugural Bob Daniels Award of Excellence courtesy of SoffSeal.
7. Street Rodder Tour and Display: Speaking of rods, the 2008 PPG Street Rodder Road Tour is traveling from San Antonio, Texas to the Reunion, bringing more than 50 super-cool cars as part of the Vintage Air-sponsored tour. Street Rodder also has a display at the Reunion featuring famous hot rod cartoonist Tom Medley, who will be signing autographs and drawing pictures of his iconic 'toon character, Stroker McGurk.
8. Cacklefest, Sat., June 12, 8:35 p.m.: This is the highlight of the Reunion. To car folks, Cacklefest is the sweetest sight and sound in the world: 30 or more vintage front-engine dragsters and funny cars fire up and "cackle" 10 gallons of nitromethane fuel in less than five minutes. The sound of that exploding nitro will be music to the ears of thousands of fans at Beech Bend. Among the legendary cars cackling will be John Peters' Fright Train, Larry Reyes' The Hawaiian, Bruce Larson's USA-1 Camaro and one of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits' Swamp Rat fuelers.
9. ZZ Top Eliminator: Straight from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the iconic Billy F Gibbons' ZZ Top Eliminator '33 Ford Coupe will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the Reunion. Made famous during its namesake's '80s music videos, its appearance at the 3-day hot rod festival also commemorates the 75th anniversary of the legendary '33 Ford, a favorite car platform for rodders. Built for ZZ Top guitarist and hot rodder Billy F Gibbons in 1983 by Don Thelan, it was featured on the cover of the group's aptly titled Eliminator album in the same year. The car, permanently displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, became famous by appearing in three MTV award-winning rock music videos. The car appears courtesy of Gibbons, the Museum, Intercity Lines and Hot Hues Custom Finishes by DuPont.
10. JCB GT Backhoe: Ever see a backhoe do wheelies or go 150 mph? Now you can. The JCB GT, the world's fastest backhoe loader dragster, with driver Neil Smith behind the wheel, will be speeding down the track at the Reunion. A crowd favorite, the "backhoe on steroids" is powered by a 1,300-horsepower engine, is capable of speeds more than 150 mph and lights up the sky with its flame-shooting exhaust.
The 6th annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, June 13-15 at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Ky., is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm. Produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, the Reunion is part of the museum's "living history" philosophy, which works to bring to life the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture. Unique among motorsports events, the Reunion honors some of the top names in hot rodding from the past and features a fabulous array of cool drag cars, street rods and customs of the historic and present-day hot rod eras.
Individual tickets are available at the gate. Cost per person: Friday, $20; Saturday, $20; Sunday, $15. Children 15 and under are free when accompanied by an adult.
The Reunion features a wide variety of activities and events, including:
** Hot Heads Eliminator NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers, racing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Fuel Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others.
** Street rod "show 'n shine," presented by SoffSeal, with thousands of gleaming pre-1972 hot rods, custom cars, classics and muscle cars. "Memory Lane" will have a display of nostalgic race cars.
** Open house at Holley, Thurs., June 12, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., followed by the Heacock Classic Insurance Show 'n Shine cruise (featuring the 2008 Vettetastic Treasure Hunt) to the Holiday Inn University Plaza, the host hotel. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 5 p.m.
** National Hot Rod Reunion Reception, held at the Holiday Inn University Plaza's Sloan Convention Center ballroom on Friday evening, June 13, 2008. Open to everyone at no charge, it's a tribute to the Reunion's Grand Marshal and Honorees and a chance for fans to meet some of drag racing's heroes.
** Cacklefest on Saturday evening, where nitro-burning historic, front-engine top-fuel dragsters and other classic race cars are push-started just like in the "old days."
** The Swap Meet and Reunion Midway filled with manufacturer exhibits and demonstrations
** A separate amusement park with rides and games for all ages adjacent to the park.
Information, including a full activities schedule, is available through the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at http://museum.nhra.com.

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Links to other land speed and hotrodding websites:
www.landspeedproductions.biz, http://www.landracing.com, www.speedrecordclub.com,
http://www.ahrf.com/video.php, www.hotrodhotline.com,
www.landspeedracing.com, www.Autobooks-Aerobooks.com

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Members:

Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, Burly Burlile, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Backus, John Chambard, Jerry Cornelison, G. Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Bob Falcon, Rich Fox, Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt James, Wendy Jeffries, Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred Lobello, Eric Loe, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth, Frank Oddo, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally Parks (in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed Safarik, Frank Salzberg, Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach Suhr, Maggie Summers, Gary Svoboda, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza.

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