“Movin’ On Up”
by Vic Cooke
After a four year incubation at the nostalgic Beech
Bend Raceway facility at Bowling Green, KY, the NHRA National Hot Rod
Reunion has matured to a major attraction demanding a more spacious arena
for its presentation. NHRR-V marked a transplantation of the event to what
may become a new permanent home at National Trails Raceway near Columbus,
Ohio.
For thirty five years the National Trails facility
was home to the NHRA “Springnationals,” (later becoming the “Pontiac
Performance Nationals”), so the
place has quite a history of its own and
is fully capable of staging national-caliber meets.
The upgrades necessary
to handle the needs of contemporary major league racing have purged the
place of much of its historic ambience, however, so there was something
decidedly anachronistic about all the vintage NHRR machinery running at
this rather modern facility. At previous NHRR’s, the quaint and parklike
Beech Bend track afforded the illusion of returning to a large divisional
meet in the late 1960's or early 1970's timeframe. National Trails, on the
other hand, offers few “deja-vu” moments of being briefly transported to
another time and place. The vast open
spaces and set back grandstands
remove much of the intimacy associated with the previous events. Such is
the price of success, we suppose, and the thought occurs
that it’s not
unlike the early uprootings experienced by the U.S. Nationals before
finding a permanent home at Indianapolis. As its name implies, NHRR really
has become “the Nationals” as far as vintage drag racing is concerned.
Without belaboring the issue, the relocation of NHRR
distills to a mix of positive and negative aspects with opinions divided
about the net result. Unqualified positives are the improved access to the
track, ample space for further growth, and plenty of elbow room in both
the pits and stands. Negatives include the modern ambience, lack of shade,
and distance from the hotel-based reunion activities in Columbus.
Unchanged though is kind of enthusiasm and good spirits brought to the
event by spectator and participant alike, and all the social aspects of so
many like-minded folks spending as weekend together, renewing
acquaintances and doing what they all enjoy the most!
The
first sampler of nitro-excitement, NHRR-style, was a fire up of “Jade
Grenade” at the Marriott in Columbus on Thursday. Owner Don Trasin is in
the seat as builder/tuner Pat Foster keeps a watchful eye on engine
operation.
Early arrivers on Thursday had a choice of pre-race
activities for some diversion.
At the host Marriott Airport hotel in
Columbus, a collection of the street rods participating in the customary
rod run were assembled as were a number of the
event honorees and
dignitaries. We enjoyed the first of many nitro-experiences at NHRR as Don Trasin and Pat Foster fired up the “Jade Grenade” dragster. The
warm up cacklerun served as an orientation for local media representatives that
were invited to attend and provided a sampler of the kind of excitement
awaiting
them at the track over the weekend. Meanwhile, at the track
itself, anyone bearing
a full-event credential was welcome to enter and
tour the pit area, which was
already filling with arriving race entries.
We took the opportunity to look over some
of the first-time entries, take
some pit site photos and visit old friends we
encountered. The wide
traffic aisles through the sprawling pit area were quite a contrast to the
cramped conditions at Bowling Green. In fact, it looked like the golf
cart
concessionaires would probably have a bonanza weekend serving those with
the desire but not the endurance to visit it all on foot!
Friday could hardly be a finer day for the schedule
of time trials and qualifying that
was planned, with postcard-perfect
skies, warm temperatures and tolerable humidity. Most of the entrants had
found their way to the track by mid-day, and what a scene it was! We don’t
have a hard count on the number of entries at this years event, but it
looked like half again as many as NHRR-IV! The increased count meant many
cars were making a first appearance. Our attention always gravitates
towards these cars, especially the restorations or recreations of the
historically significant nitro cars. (We are “Nitrogeezers” after all!)
The first debuting entry of interest we came across
was at Al Bergler’s site. In
addition to bringing along his stunning
“More Aggravation” Comp Coupe
introduced last year, and the
Smith, Goulet and DiNoble Probe” dragster now owned by
Ed Golden, Al was
introducing his latest project, the “Gang Green” TF dragster run
by Larry
Payne in the mid 1960's around the Detroit area. As usual, Al’s handiwork
in recreating this car can only be described as flawless, and it was fully
operational
for participation in the Cacklefest later in the event.
Nitrogeezer
Don Ross’ reproduction of the “Scorpion V” was completed
on the eve of NHRR-V, just in time for public introduction at the event.
Around midday on Friday, Don Ross arrived towing
“Scorpion V” on open trailer all
the way from Texas. Nitrogeezers have
been following the build on this car chapter
by chapter on this website,
and are familiar with Don’s attention to making this an authentic
replication. The car was finished just in the nick of time for
introduction at NHRR, and even Nitrogeezers was in the dark about the
final appearance of the car
as time didn’t permit Don to post preview
photos of the completed project. It came
out beautifully, received a lot
of deserved attention, and its unique sculpted “flame” embellishments were
quite the conversation piece.
All the way from Arizona, Red Greth towed the famous
original “Speed Sport” fuel roadster for introduction to the NHRR crowd.
Although a longtime fixture at CHRR gatherings, this was the car’s debut
appearance at NHRR and the eastern fans got
to find out what “Old Noisy”
was all about.
Jerry Baltes’ reproduction of his gorgeous
Croshier-Baltes-Lovato dragster was
not a newcomer to NHRR, but earlier
this year the “original” of this car was found i
n storage in northern
Ohio. Despite years of searching for it (including the area
where it was
ultimately found), it had failed to surface before Jerry gave up the
hunt
and commissioned the recreation. Jerry had Jim Urbanek, present owner of
the original chassis/body, bring it to NHRR for display next to his
reproduction.
This made for a very unique and interesting display,
requiring close study to
distinguish the subtle differences. As Jerry’s
present car was constructed with reference only to old photos, the close
similarities showed how well this technique actually works. Plans and
measurements are usually non-existent for many of the
cars being
reconstructed from scratch , and this is the only method available for
as
much authenticity as possible.
Original car and full-dress reproduction of the Croshier-Baltes-Lovato
dragster of Jerry Baltes made for a very unusual and interesting display
at NHRR-V.
By virtue of sheer numbers, it was Tommy Ivo that
stole the lion’s share of attention
at NHRR-V, however. No less than three
of Ivo’s historic dragsters were on display
at the track, and “TV Tom”
himself was around for the entire event meeting his legion
of fans,
signing autographs, and sharing recollections of all these cars.
Representing the oldest of the lot was a reproduction of Ivo’s first Top
Fuel car as recreated by
Ron Johnson in San Diego. Featuring a chassis
that was the prototype for the Ivo-Pepmuller design series and equipped
with Chrysler power rather than the
“nailhead” Buicks used in all of Tom’s
earlier cars, this dragster toured the country
in countless match racing
engagements over the 1962-64 timeframe, earning it
the nickname
“Barnstormer.” Completed just a week before NHRR, there wasn’t time
to
paint it, and Ron opted to display it in bare-sheetmetal form just as it
appeared at
its first 1962 engagement. The car will be finished in
“Ivo-red” in the near future, but Jack Hagemann’s craftsmanship in
forming the bodywork was so impeccable that it was a stunner even “au
naturel.”
At the other end of the time spectrum was Bruce
Larson’s restoration of Ivo’s 1974/1975 rear-engined dragster, his final top
fuel ride. With streamlined shrouding around its
front wheels and small
rear spoiler as used in those days, it reminds how the earlier rear-engined
car didn’t lack for character, individuality and style. We hate to keep
using the word “stunning,” but there’s no better way to describe Bruce’s
outstanding job in restoring the car than that. Considering that Ivo’s
last ride in the car ended
with a flaming, upside-down and airborne trip
across the finish line at the 1975 Winternationals, Bruce’s work in
restoring the car is all the more remarkable!
Guy
Boucher’s restoration of Tommy Ivo’s 1970 Top Fuel tour car,
complete with it’s glass-sided display travel/display trailer, was
simply breathtaking! An unfortunate push-start incident (see article)
during Cacklefest inflicted some minor damage however.
In between these timeline bookends was Guy Boucher’s
phenomenal restoration of TV Tom’s 1970 top fueler, Ivo’s last front-engined
car. With paint and polish taken to astonishing levels, Boucher’s car
would easily win any straw vote for the most beautiful entry at NHRR-V.
What put Boucher’s display “over the top” was his equally beautiful
restoration of the glass-sided trailer that Ivo used to haul the car
around the country. The combination was simply “dynamite” (to coin a
phrase). Check out the additional photos in the event album and see for
yourself. Wow!
Larson’s Ivo-car was the lobby centerpiece at the
host hotel for Friday evening’s reception, and “Barnstormer” was out front
ready for Ivo to climb aboard for the ceremonial fire-up that concludes
the formal reception program. Ivo’s long movie
and TV career surely taught
him a bit about stealing the limelight, and at times he seemed to be
succeeding at doing just that during NHRR-V. Considering all his
legendary accomplishments and continued active support of the NHRA
Reunions
and Museum programs, no one could fault him in any way for that.
The nitro-newbies at NHRR didn’t stop with just the
above dragsters. Ted Guth was displaying his outstanding restoration of
the Dodge Charger “Hawaiian” Funny Car originally driven for Roland Leong
by Larry Reyes. Introduced at CHRR last fall, this was it’s first exposure
to NHRR fans. Also sighted was the classic “Jungle Jim” Liberman 1972
Camaro Funny Car owned and driven by Henry Gutierrez. Two of
the long
series of “Chi-Town Hustler” Funny Cars were also in attendance. The first
was Troy Martin’s restoration of the 1973 mini Dodge Charger edition that
made a
few exhibition passes. Frank Hawley himself climbed aboard and
performed one of
the patented Chi-Town Hustler half-track burnouts in the
car that prompted a lot of cheers and grins from the fans lucky enough to
be in the stands at the time, and it
was truly one of those “deja-vu”
moments we mentioned earlier. Another, later,
Dodge Omni version of
“Chi-Town Hustler” escaped our detection until it appeared
on Sunday
during the event, but we have only a photo and no particulars on that car.
It’s
the early 1970's all over again as Troy Martin’s “Chi-Town Hustler”
Charger performs one of the car’s classic half-track burnouts in front
of a packed grandstand.
The list of significant other cars making a first
appearance at NHRR could fill a page, and we couldn’t possibly visit them
all. Highlights include a display of some of the
“Rod Shop” cars that were
prominent in NHRA competition through the 1970's. We
also spotted an
excellent reproduction of the original, Olds-powered Stone, Woods
and Cook
“Swindler” Willys A/GS car, and a reproduction of Gene Altizer’s S&S
Racing Team Anglia Gasser. Countless others caught our eye and many are
included in the photo album section that accompanies this event review, so
we
hope
you will have a look.
Each year there has been a few “tweaks” in
organization of the event in terms of eliminator categories and this year
was no exception. The previous “Open Fuel” category was divided this year
into “Nostalgia Dragster” and “Nostalgia Super” to separate dragster and
blown alky altered competitors into their own divisions. The
east and midwest is still a stronghold for gasser-class racing, and over 100
entries
of this type participated at NHRR-V. They were subdivided into
“Geezer Gasser” for
the cars complying with early-rulebook standards or
“Nostalgia Gasser” for those
built to contemporary class requirements.
Additionally the “East Coast Gasser”
group included NHRR as an event in
their racing series and competed in their own, separate eliminator group.
A few other gassers opted to compete in either the
“Quick 64" or the
catchall “Other Guys” eliminator that was a new addition for 2007. With so
many cars, it was a bit confusing at times determining where a particular
gasser was competing! But if you love the gassers, there was sure an
ample supply
to entertain you! A major new addition this year was
inclusion of “Nostalgia Funny
Car Eliminator” for competition among the
growing population of early-style nitro
cars. Always a spectator favorite,
interest in building and competing with these
cars has been on the rise,
despite being confined to running on an “exhibition-only” match-race basis
at most events. This eliminator was introduced at last year’s
CHRR, where
it was a great success. Everyone was very pleased to see this
happen at
NHRR as well.
After a full day of racing action, Nitrogeezers
repaired to the Event Reception
gathering at the Marriott Airport Hotel in
Columbus. It was the usual enjoyable
evening of stories and anecdotes from
the various event honorees , which this
year included a number of Ohio
natives with ties to the history at National Trails Raceway including
Grand Marshall Jeg Coughlin, Sr. as well as Fred Hurst and
the team of
Gary Rupp and Pat Dakin. Other honorees included John Abbott, Don Cain,
and longtime Studebaker racer (“Chicken Hawk”) Ted Harbitt. The Reunion
Spotlight Award was presented to Frank Hawley this year, and a “Lifetime
Achievement” Wally was awarded to the ailing and absent Bob Daniels, who
played
an integral role in the organization and presentation of NHRR since
its inception.
Sadly we learned that Bob passed away shortly after the
event, and he will be
sorely missed by his many friends in the racing
community. Bob and wife Eileen
had worked tirelessly for NHRA for
approaching 50 years.
Absent this year was the usual “parking lot car show”
of street rods at the host
hotel during and after the reception, so the
post-reception warm-up cacklerun of
the Ivo “Barnstormer” car in the
entryway played to a smaller crowd than customary
at previous Reunions.
This is not to say it wasn’t enthusiastically enjoyed by all attending. It
was just a much more subdued evening than events past, and wound down much
earlier.
Saturday was a bit less comfortable, with higher
humidity and temperatures getting
into the 90's, but still fine weather
for all the racing that transpired. Veteran
announcers Dave “Big Mac”
McClelland and John “Thunderlungs” Lundberg
shared stints at the
microphone throughout the weekend, keeping fans both
informed and
entertained on all that was transpiring with their inimitable
commentary
and polished style. Final qualifying in all categories set the fields for
the first round of eliminations. In Nostalgia Funny Car, a pair of
California cars
led the qualified field of six entries: Bob Godfrey at #1
with a 6.205/221,96 and
Dennis LaCharite at #2 with a 6.226/231.04. Six
cars also qualified in Nostalgia
Top Fuel, It was Adam Sorokin in Jim
McLennan’s “Champion Speed Shop/RB Entertainment” dragster who was clearly
the car to beat with a consistent string
of deep 5-second passes and a
best of 5.789/232.67 carded in the final Saturday evening session. His
nearest competitor and #2 qualifier was Howard Haight in
Butch Blair’s
“Fugowie”with a 6.036/243.55. Past “Open Fuel” winner Jim
Swedberg headed
the “Nostalgia Dragster” field with a 6.694/209.75 in his A/FD.
Adam
Sorokin was the man to beat in Top Fuel with a quarter-second
cushion over the rest of the field. He qualified #1 with an NHRR-record
5.789/232.67
Twilight is a lengthy affair in Ohio around the time
of the summer solstice when
the Reunion is held, and the skies aren’t
completely dark until nearly 10 p.m.
Rather than wait that long, it was
decided to start the Cacklefest parade at around
8:15 p.m. and Cacklefest
itself began just as the sun was setting at around 9 p.m. Conditions were
too bright for much header flame visibility, which was a shame
since this
is such a compelling facet of most Cacklefests. On the other hand, the
participating cars were much more visible and identifiable through the
exhibition. Another major change involved subdividing the Cacklefest
presentation into two sections. The parade was run along the return road
on the right lane side of the
track in a downtrack direction. The Funny
Cars, Altereds, Gassers and other “self-start” participants (about a dozen
cars) returned up the track after the parade and parked nose-first in a
parallel formation along the right lane barrier. Bruce
Larson’s dragster,
which was not push-startable, was included in this grouping.
On signal,
all these cars as a group were simultaneously started. The remaining
cars
(about 16 vehicles, mostly dragsters) were then push-started in serial
fashion
from behind the finish line, proceeded up the track in the open
lane then made a
180 degree turn behind the starting line to then drive
back down the return road
and line up in front of the main right lane
grandstand. Every Cacklefest of this size
has an element of “organized
chaos” to it, and from the above description you can
see that this year’s
event was no exception. Things were happening everywhere.
“TV
Tom” Ivo responds to appreciative fans as he passes in review
aboard Ron Johnson’s reproduction of his “Barnstormer” dragster during
the Cacklefest parade. Ivo transferred to Boucher’s restored dragster
down track after the parade.
Unfortunately some communication miscues led to small
incident at the end of the event that is a bit complicated to explain here
but resulted in Tommy Ivo, driving
Guy Boucher’s Ivo-restoration, bumping
into the rear of Don Garlits in Swamp Rat
VIII during the pushdown. The
result was some fiberglass damage to the rear of
SR-VIII and a bent
nosepiece, axle, torsion tube and radius rods on the
Ivo-dragster. Harm
was limited to the hardware, fortunately, and of course some emotional
anguish on the part of all involved.....all repairable.
When it was all over, spent nitro hung in the summer
evening air and a lot of
ringing ears and wide smiles bore testament to
another well-appreciated NHRR Cacklefest.
Sunday morning arrived with weather conditions the
hottest and most humid of the weekend and clouds hinting that thunderstorm
conditions were in the making. More than 400 cars had qualified and were
waiting for the beginning of elimination runs. Fortunately precipitation
was no factor until after the conclusion of a very busy day
of
eliminations. Following the presentation of some event awards and
introduction
of all the honorees, racing began with the first round of Top
Fuel.
The lead-off pair was Adam Sorokin against Kevin
Lennon, with Sorokin’s full
two-second advantage in qualifying time making
the outcome seem all but
inevitable. After performing their burnouts,
electronic gremlins in the starting
tree prevented the staging lights from
working, and both cars were shut down. Following a lengthy downtime to
repair the electronics, other eliminations
proceeded before Sorokin and
Lennon returned to face off after having more than
hour to refuel, cool
down and prepare for the rematch. Sorokin’s clutch was not
happy being
called on again so soon, and he went up in smoke shortly after the launch,
handing the win to Lennon. Precisely that quickly “the car to beat” was
out of the race!
Troy Green and Brendan Murry advanced in their first
round races. Howard Haight
was re-inserted into the field for Round #2 to
provide an even number of
competitors, but handed Lennon another freebie
when he bumped a cone on the centerline downtrack. The Murry/Green matchup
in Round #2 saw Murry take the
win, but his engine exploded in a fireball
crossing the finsh line in one of the most violent incidents ever seen
involving a NTF car. Murry’s chutes burned off from
the continuing
fuel/oil fire and he rolled the car over in the sandtrap to avoid
running
head-on into the catchnet. Murry suffered non-critical burns to his face,
hands and arms as a result of the incident but required hospitalization
for
treatment. The entire top of his engine disintegrated in the
explosion.
This mishap set up the final round which would
involve Kevin Lennon against a reinstated Troy Green driving the same
“High Speed Motorsports” dragster that
Sean Bellemeur drove to three
previous consecutive wins at NHRR-II, III, and IV. Lennon’s lucky day ran
out as Green handily won the race with a 6.40 clocking to Lennon’s
event-best 7.28. Phew, what a day in NTF!
Things were comparatively much tamer and pro-forma in
the Nostalgia Funny Car eliminations, which proceeded to a final round
involving two of the western cars: Dennis LaCharite driving the “Back in
Black” Pontiac GTO FC and Mike Savage in
the “Speed Sport” Plymouth
Barracuda FC. LaCharite took it with a holeshot start
in a close race,
winning with a 6.38 to Savage’s quicker 6.34.
Dennis
LaCharite (far lane) got the starting line advantage over
Mike Savage for a 6.38/6.34 holeshot victory in the tight
Nostalgia Funny Car final.
We extend a hearty Nitrogeezers congratulations to
these and all the other
Eliminator Champions at NHRR-V, who are listed at
the conclusion of this report.
It was certainly an exciting and entertaining weekend
of racing, and as always,
a particularly enjoyable event because of all
the camaraderie that is involved with others attending. At this point
pictures can best tell the “rest” of the story about
NHRR-V, and we invite
you peruse the album of images we have selected for your enjoyment. This
being the “biggest” NHRR yet, our album also reflects that fact
and is the
biggest one we have yet presented covering this Reunion. We hope
the
quantity isn’t overwhelming, and that you find it time well spent to view
this
pictorial in entirety. To begin, simply
“CLICK HERE.”
We extend our thanks to Tony Thacker, Steve Gibbs,
and the entire NHRA
Museum staff involved in the production and execution
of NHRR, as well as Bill
Groak and Mike Hollander for granting us the
privilege of trackside access to
produce the photos used in our report. As
always, we look forward to another
edition of NHRR in 2008, as it is
without question the most comprehensive
spectacle going in vintage drag
racing!
NHHR-V SUMMARY EVENT RESULTS:
Event Low Elapsed Time: 5.789, Troy Green, NTF
Event Top Speed: 243.55 mph, Howard Haight, NTF
Top Fuel Eliminator:
Troy Green, Purcell, OK, 6.408/190.65 def. Kevin
Lennon, Salem, WI,
7.285/188.65
Funny Car Eliminator:
Dennis LaCharite, Torrance, CA, 6.386/230.72 def.
Mike Savage,
Tucson, AZ, 6.345/227.96 (on reaction time)
Junior Fuel-A Eliminator:
Scott Parks, Burlingame, KS, 6.960/190.35 def. Brian
Darcy,
Newburgh, NH, 6.980/188.41
Junior Fuel-B Eliminator:
Odie Coker, Dallas, TX, 7.724/171.47 def. Mike
Millsap, Sachse, TX, (foul)
Nostalgia Dragster Eliminator:
Jim Swedberg, Grand Forks, ND, 6.795/207.30 def.
Domenic Paris,
Loves Park, IL, 7.117/214.55
Nostalgia Super Eliminator:
Darren Russell, Englewood, OH, 6.937/147.54 def.
Kurt Neighbor,
Twinsburg, OH, 7.772/156.26
Nostalgia Comp Eliminator:
Mike Nickerson Salem, NJ 9.529/130.77 def. Ron
Beall Browntown,
VA 9.016/144.32
Top Super Stock Eliminator:
Jim Pancake, Delaware, OH, 9.133/146.62 def. Bucky
Hess,
Bunker Hill, WV, 9.483/139.13
Classic Super Stock Eliminator:
Chris Schneider, Jefferson City, MO, 10.523/125.31
def. Travis Hess,
Martinsburg, WV, 10.556/ 127.47
Quick 64 Eliminator:
Dennis Breeden, Plainville, IN, 10.439/126.44 def.
Joe Furiani,
San Gabriel, CA, (foul)
Nostalgia Gas Eliminator:
Bob Mermuys, Fenton, MI, 7.572/157.23 def. Tony
Feil 8.643/159.02
East Coast Gassers:
Jim Kelley, Okeana,OH 10.133/129.92 def. Tom
Nowicki,
Goshen, IN 10.698/123.98
Geezer Gasser Eliminator:
Steve Cregut, Tecumseh, KS, 9.781/137.74 def.
Harvey Nayman,
Gasport, NY, (foul)
Oldies:
Charles Overfelt Roanoke, VA 10.21/128.71 def. Bob
Gauley
Belleville, ON (foul)
The Other Guys:
Jerry Barnes, Rockford, IL, 11.927/109.57 def.
Kevin Anderson,
Garden City, MI, (foul)
