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CHRR

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Down in the Grove at Bakersfield

A week has past since we drove into the drizzle with a 207 thousand plus miles econobox to get to Bakerfield for a drag race that also happened to be a swap meet and car show. The roots of the California Hot Rod Reunion run deeper into history than a modern drag racing event. Behind the bleachers at Famoso Raceway is the Grove, in the ground of which trees are planted in honor of those drag racing heavyweights that have passed on. The Grove at the CHRR is packed with those who feel a strong enough connection to the action on the track to fork over a few extra sawbucks to show off their rides - with some spots conspicuously vacant after the call to the staging lanes crackled over the loudspeakers.

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Super Nova Melt Down at CHRR

The bad news is the Randy Walls Super Nova exploded in a horrific fireball at half track during Chicago style first round action at the California Hot Rod Reunion. The good news is Randy walked away with only minor burns and smoke inhalation. The MaxChevy crew were down at the top end and captured the full destructive power of nitro in photo sequence. [Walls Goes 'Super Nova' at CHRR via MaxChevy.com]

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Monday! Monday! Monday! CHRR Funny Cars!

The mayhem that was the Chicago-style Nostalgia Funny Car battle at the California Hot Rod Reunion wrapped yesterday with Bucky Austin driving his 1977 Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste Plymouth Arrow-bodied Funny Car to the king of the hill spot. The struggle to the finish was as heavy in the pits as it was on the track, as crews blew apart what was left of engines to repair damage from the horrors of nitro in time for the next round. Out of nineteen cars entered only one could trip the win light in the end. Vegas, Mustangs, and Firebirds all eventually fell victim to the power of Plymouth.

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Nitromethane Illuminates a Cacklefest Dusk

The good stuff kept burning long after the last pair of race cars lit up the clocks at the California Hot Rod Reunion. With dusk came the return of Cacklefest to the hallowed track surface of Famoso Raceway. Over 50 restored fuel machines of the slingshot and funny car variety first ran parade in front of the capacity crowd, then put fire into the holes until thousands of eyeballs either watered up the acrid power of nitro, emotion, or a mix of both.

Round one of CHRR Chicago Style Funny Car action is a wrap. Randy Walls is OK after his Super Nova went fireball at half track. Terry Capp holds the number one spot with a 6.031 ET at 239.93 mile per hour assault. Full rundown of all the flopper action at Drag Race Central. [CHRR FC Action]

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Fire and Rain and The Ridge Route Blues

In a vain attempt to join Jalopnik stringer Bumbeck at Famoso Raceway yesterday morning for Day 2 of the California Hot Rod Reunion, yours truly loaded up the Chrysler with camera gear, sundry recording devices, the Fall box set, and a hot thermos of 80 weight Cafe Bustello. Ahhh.... the Cali Hot Rod Reunion, where period-perfect dragsters of antediluvian design and origins get up on the tire and blister the hides down the length of the quarter-mile.
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Smirnoff Vodka and the Spirit(s) of the Sixties

I barely remember the days when Smirnoff vodka sponsored a AA/Fuel Dragster, and how gorgeous the car was in its original incarnation. But I do recall the car and that it was at one time shoed by the legendary dragster driver, Larry Dixon. What I really remember most is the stuff of family legend. Back in the day, my Uncle Phil drove a small-block Chevy Junior gas dragster ("Connelly & Coonce") at various strips in Southern California. In 1967 or '68, at one of Lions Drag Strip's "Professional Dragster Association" meets, my Uncle was suited up and strapped in the car in the staging lanes, waiting his turn to make a qualifying pass.
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Saturday Racing Action from Bakersfield

Skies are clear here at Famoso Raceway and the staging lanes are packed. Yesterday brought qualifying along with voluminous amounts of nitromethane, alcohol, and even a bit of race gas burned up for what was the largest single day crowd the CHRR has seen to date. Sunday will bring elimination rounds and the Funny Cars to the tarmac. The first pair of nitro cars are set to light off as the last note of the National Anthem crackles through the PA. Brad Thompson holds the number one Top Fuel qualifying spot with a 5.74 second at 255.89 mile per hour blast. Check the gallery for some of yesterday's racing action today.

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Mopowered Shopping Cart

Taking the big box philosophy one step too far are these drag race fans. It's always a good idea to bring a shopping cart to the California Hot Rod Reunion. Just make sure the cart is large enough to seat many, and make absolutely sure to stuff a Mopar V8 and TorqueFlite into it. Wing optional.

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Swap Meet Stroll: We'll Give You Eight Bucks

Half the fun in referencing the past is collecting the bits and pieces of an era that still survive. We would like to spend our vast earnings on a corroded set of Mickey Thompson wheels, a Hilborn injector stack, or even a set of Cragar five-spokes with Wide Oval bias ply tires cracked into patina with age. What we could afford was this 1958 copy of Motorspeed magazine with a very jet-age looking turbine-powered Firebird of the future gracing the cover. We paid five bucks, not even eight. Maybe we'll luck out and stuff a Honda 550 Super Sport in orange metalflake into the Starlet for the trip back home. The squirrel is another story entirely.