CHRR-XIII : The 2004 NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion

by Vic Cooke

They call it a reunion, but after several visits it assumes more the proportions of a homecoming. Early each Fall the event known as The NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion takes place at historic Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, and this year the weekend of Oct. 1-3 marked its thirteenth running.

The Famoso site itself is so steeped in drag racing history and legend that it is almost a tangible presence during any visit. Several nostalgia-type racing events are held here each year, capitalizing on the track’s reputation and special atmosphere. What makes the CHRR such a compelling proposition (especially for those with longtime roots in drag racing) is that it involves so many of the same cars and people that played a role in establishing "Bakersfield" as a legend. History and the present merge. It is not so much a trip back in time as it is a return to a timeless "home." One does not "attend" a CHRR so much as becoming absorbed into it, a part of it all. A satisfying sense of "belonging" to a very special community of kindred spirits is the best way to describe it, and this bonding only strengthens with each CHRR.

If all this sounds a little improbable, and if you are one who has a strong interest in racing history and the "nostalgic" drag racing scene, come see for yourself sometime! At the very least you will witness a spectacle of automotive art, color and beauty, together with more of the sweet scents and sounds of nitro racing engines than just about any event going! Throw in a festival atmosphere and a close and exciting on-track competition program, and tell me this isn’t a Nitrogeezer’s paradise!

 Red Greth in the "Speed Sport" Fuel Modified Roadster takes the flag start for the
 ceremonial start of final eliminations at CHRR-XIII.

If all this isn’t enough, CHRR has one other thing going for itself: an uncanny ability to keep improving! Just when you think it has reached a state of perfection, the next event raises the bar even further. It’s a testimony to the event organizers that refuse to rest on their laurels and are flexible in trying new ideas. It is also a testimony to the impact that CHRR itself has on those who experience it, with many catching "the bug" to return in a more participatory fashion. It’s become a self-fueling phenomenon!

While the intent is to provide an event report, not an event promotional, the above introduction puts in context the level of anticipation that accompanies each visit to the California Hot Rod Reunion. Happily, CHRR-XIII lived up to every expectation and then some! The quality and quantity of historic cars participating reached new levels, and numerous records were set in the on-track racing activities which we will describe in a moment. The signature "Cacklefest" event that has become the traditional zenith of the event on Saturday night continued it’s incredible growth path with more than 40 cars participating in this year’s staging. Once again every hotel room in Bakersfield was sold out to house those attending the event from all over the country, an indication of just how much more than a "California" reunion this event has become.

With so many attendees returning each year, the "people" part of the Reunion assumes a rightful prominence as far-flung friends and acquaintances gather together once again to share the enjoyment of social contact and all the event has to offer. One rallying feature is all the historic cars on display. No other event of its kind has as extensive a collection of historic cars on display to attract the hordes of admiring inspectors. While many of these cars are perennially a part of CHRR, there are always "fresh" additions to discover, whether newly restored or re-created cars or those just happening to be making a first-time appearance at the event. The "debut appearance" cars this year included a number of cars familiar to Nitrogeezer members, including Dennis Fenstermaker with his restoration of the Roger Gates AA/FD and Don Ross with the fabulous "Scorpion 1." Bobby Langley himself attended his first CHRR and drove the Scorpion during the Cacklefest event. Ralph Kitron and David Hoyh brought the beautiful "Swamp Fox" AA/FD all the way from the east for the first time as well. Ron Johnson unveiled his beautifully crafted and just-completed recreation of the "Shubert-Herbert" Chevy AA/FD. Both Chet Herbert and Zane Shubert were present when this car was one of the mini-cackle features at Friday’s Event Reception at the Doubletree in Bakersfield, and Zane drove the car for Cacklefest. Bob Painton brought the restoration of "Kansas John" Wiebe’s AA/FD to the event, and John Ewald introduced the "Mastercar" AA/FD, a companion cackler to his restored "Bankamericar" AA/FD. With so many beautiful resto’s on hand it’s impossible to crown a "belle of the ball," but everyone’s short-list included Dennis Prater’s just-completed restoration of the drop-dead-gorgeous Stellings & Hampshire "S&H Red Stamp" AA/FD. This car has appeared for several years at CHRR in semi-restored form, but Dennis has just completed the job with paint/chrome, etc. and it’s a stunner! This car was the second of the featured cars at the Doubletree Reception mini-cackle. A couple of these are shown below and refer to the album section for more photos of these wonderful additions to the show.

 Dennis Prater introduced the just-completed "S&H Red Stamp" restoration and cacklecar
 to an enthusiastic reception at CHRR. Simply dazzling!

Additionally, a number of "in progress" restorations made their first appearance at CHRR-XIII. This included Bill Turney with the Pomona Valley Timing Association "Starlite III" AA/FD, Larry Smith with Benny "The Wizard" Osborne’s World Championship winning AA/FD, and Mike Demarest with the "15oz Fuel Coupe." Eric Bowman showed the RCS "Funnydigger." Don Green had an interesting kit-car homebuilt on hand also.

Among the other cars were Ed Lenarth’s recently completed "Holy Toledo" Jeep Funny Car restoration and Peter Broadribb with his great restoration of the Gene Moody ‘55 Chev D/Gasser. The list could go on with other lesser-known or "modified from original" cars, but this suffices to illustrate the level of interest in "preserving" drag racing history and the many introductions that gives the attendees at each year’s CHRR plenty of new and exciting gems to search out and enjoy.

 Bobby Langley and "Scorpion 1" had a "reunion" of their own at CHRR.

When the feet grow weary of touring the exhibits, watching some cacklecar warmup runs, touring the pits and visiting, there’s plenty of action on the track to enjoy from the grandstands. Friday and Saturday are dedicated to qualifying runs for Sunday’s eliminations. With so much space dedicated to the "showcar" activities, there’s only room for an abbreviated field of cars in the higher classes for the competition program at CHRR; but it’s a quality field of "cherrypicked" cars with a heavy weighting toward dragster types, and the action is continuous. The classes in contention included Top Fuel (22 entries) , A/Fuel (18 cars - two divisions), Junior Fuel ( 16 cars -two divisions) AA/Gas (14 entries), A/Gas (17 entries) NE-1 (44 entries), A/FX (20 entries) and an "exhibition" class (35 entries) for cars like Fuel Altereds, Comp Coupes, etc.

Indicative of the quality of cars in competition, consider the following. Seven of the 16 TF qualifiers posted five-second e.t.’s, and the top 12 ran 6.10 or better. The eight-qualifier AA/Gas field ran 7.00 or better with a range of 6.77-7.00. On Saturday, JD Zink ran a 6.972/190.71 to head the Junior Fuel A-field and post Bakersfield’s first six-second pass by a Junior Fueler. Also on Saturday, Mendy Fry in the Mastercam TF car became the "first woman in the fives" with a great 5.874/251.32 run. Wow! As the saying goes, "the hits just kept on coming!"

 JD Zink launches on what will be the first six-second time ever recorded at Bakersfield 
for a Junior Fuel car on this Saturday pass.

A couple of "new ideas" tried at this year’s event included splitting the A/Fuel field along blown-alky/unblown-nitro lines, and running a sixteen car TF field with the first round of eliminations on Saturday night, rather than an A/B split of the field with all elim’s on Sunday. Both ideas seemed to work well, especially the latter as it added to the "Night of Nitro" spectacle for which CHRR is becoming increasingly known.

Of course the hallmark of the event has become "Cacklefest" itself on Saturday night, with the number of cars capable of participating and doing so growing by leaps and bounds each year. This year the spectacle grew to over 40 participants, a record (but one that already promises to be surpassed next year with all the restoration activity going on). A change in the format this year had all the participants push (or tow) down the track in single file parade before the Top Fuel round, affording an opportunity to provide background info on each car and driver. Trying to do this during the noise and hectic pace of Cacklefest itself hasn’t been very effective, and this seemed a good solution. The cars then congregated backlot for the later pushstarts down the fire-up road and idling around to formation on the track.

Forty cars already on the track during Cacklefest and still they come!

It’s too long a list to name all the participants here, but what an incredible performance it was! The photos we have for you barely begin to capture the excitement of it all, and the days of a "64 car Top Fuel show at Bakersfield" seemed destined for resurrection in Cacklefest form before too much time transpires. It’s the "moment of truth" for the whole event, even exceeding the final run of elimination’s on Sunday.

While the "zenith" of CHRR is Cacklefest, this doesn’t diminish the exciting eliminations, where the action was tight and exciting. As always, plenty of upsets marked the day and among the No. 1 qualifiers only Don Enriquez in Junior Fuel-B and Kin Bates in A/Fuel (unblown) emerged with the trophy at the end of the day. The list of final round contestants and outcomes reads like this:

Top Fuel:

R. McGee (6.134, 227.15) def. S. Bellemeur (6.279, 207.27)

A/Fuel (blown):

M. Austin (6.516, 215.25) def. B. Wayne (foul)

A/Fuel (unblown):

K. Bates (6.687, 198.54) def. J. Meissinger (9.821, 75.89)

Junior Fuel -A:

J. Haire (7.038, 189.99) def. W. Ramay (7.117, 187.57)

Junior Fuel - B:

D. Enriquez (7.323, 182.07) def. J. Rasmussen (7.401, 182.92

AA/Gas:

H. Anderson (6.927, 199.60) def. S. Wood (6.897, 199.64)

Nostalgia Elim:

K. Specht (7.612, 166.45) def. D. Gruzen (7.524, 174.08)

A/Gas:

S. Renteria (7.665) def. A. Herrera (7.655)

AFX:

J. Miner (10.167, 128.02) def. P. Featherston (10.352, 126.76)

 The popular win in Top Fuel by Rick McGee, shown here preparing for the final against 
Bellemeur, was the first major-event title for the team of Tedford & McGee.

What more could there be? Well, for one thing, the entire south half of "The Grove" is dedicated to a show of drive-in street rods where quality seems just as much a point of pride as with the historical restorations on exhibition. "Eye candy" to suit every taste and fancy! There’s a huge "swap meet" run in conjunction with the event. and vendors for every sort of race-related product and collectible imaginable. The traditional Saturday afternoon barbecue in the "big tent" at Race-Central, together with the Racing Photo Contest conducted there each year is another popular attraction. With over 100 nitro-dragsters on the premises, you’re never more than a few moments from another firing, whether to warm a competition car or just for fun and entertainment with one of the cacklecars. So many of the prominent names from the ranks of car builders, equipment suppliers, present and former racers, etc., etc., are all here for the same good time, and seem genuinely pleased to engage even total strangers in conversation. There’s no such thing as leaving CHRR without new friends to make the next "reunion" even more-so!

And that’s the bottom line....for both CHRR and this report. If you couldn’t attend, make CHRR-XIV a must, and enjoy the album collection for a look at some of what you missed. And if you were there, we hope this review helps keep the memories alive till next time.

As usual, our thanks to the NHRA Museum Staff for another stellar event, and for the help provided by Bill Groak and Mike Hollander in facilitating our bringing this view of it to you. The event slogan "Lucky 13" said it all as far as Nitrogeezers is concerned!

CLICK HERE for access to the huge album of images we’ve assembled for you representing a sampler of the sights and action at CHRR-XIII.

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