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The 16^th annual edition of the Hot Rod Reunion was another barnstormer despite being interrupted by rain on a couple of occasions during the weekend.

Prior to the event there were predictions that at least 20 cars would contest both Top Fuel and Funny Car and while the flopper contingent fell short of that number with 16 cars actually making runs during qualifying there were 21 Dragsters on hand to put on a spectacular show.

Brad Thompson led the pack after each of Saturday’s sessions and then steamrollered the opposition on Sunday. His opening round win over Rick Rogers was his slowest pass of eliminations at 5.902. He then stepped up with a best of the round 5.768 to take out Rick White, running a stout 212 mph at half-track to advance to the semifinal. Here the Agent Orange car got a freebie when Jason Richey could not make the call in Dave Smith’s Sacramento-based entry. Even with a final round berth in the bag Thompson wowed the fans with a 5.706 to further lower his best-of-the-event elapsed time.

On the other side of the ladder, No. 2 qualifier Jim Murphy beat Mike McLennan in the opening stanza and then put away Denver Schutz’ Raisin Express in the second round, running a stout 5.789 to overcome a holeshot. In the semi Murphy was again late off the line in the WW11 car but went to the final when Pete Kaiser’s ride stumbled after leaving with a great .035 reaction time.

With Murphy unable to make the call for the final round Kaiser was back in the action but it was no contest as Thompson left first and drove away to a 5.721 at 261.62 mph victory over Kaiser’s 5.924. That gave Thompson a total sweep of the event with the No. 1 qualifying spot, low elapsed time, top speed and the victory.

The Funny Cars rolled into the event over the first couple of days but did not see any track time until Sunday where the 8 quickest winners from the qualifying round advanced. Early favorite Steve Romanazzi was shut down at the line with an oil leak and Jeff Diehl suffered the same fate behind the line when the Holy Toledo Jeep did not sound right. The rest of the drama happened down track with Sean Dale going into the sand following a 6.07 lap that had him second at the time, while Randy Walls lit up his Nova at half-track and skated through the traps with the car engulfed in flames. He was quickly out of the car when he finally got it stopped but the car was literally toast.

Ron Capps was making his first lap in Gary Messenger’s Charger in the other lane and was quick enough to make the 8-car cut with a 6.145. Bucky Austin had the fans cheering with a 5.952 while Jeff Utterback was carding a 6.133 in the other lane driving the Pisano Vega.  Rian Konno went bowling for cones in George Doty’s Eddie Flournoy-tuned Mustang while running against Bob Godfrey, who was bumped from the field just one run later when Mike Savage took the No. 4 spot with a 6.124.

Savage was on fire as he crossed the stripe in the first race of the opening round, trailing Dennis LaCharite’s 6.147. Utterback improved with a 6.124 as Dale’s day went further down hill when he banged the blower and Terry Capp ran a 6.114 to move into the final round. Austin clinched the other final round spot with another 5.95 lap while Godfrey fell way off the pace.

In the final round both drivers had poor reaction times but Austin was off the line first in Steve Plueger’s Arrow and was never headed on his way to a stout 5.915 at 242.98 mph to match Brad Thompson’s event sweep.

Although the injected nitro burners have been dominating the A/Fuel category the story was a little different this weekend with Claude and Lisa Lavoie struggling in qualifying. Claude eventually made the cut although Lisa did not. Her brother Kin Bates headed the pack with a 6.284 and took an easy round one victory when Bill Wayne could not make the call. Darrell Waters also got a freebie when Jerry Kumre Jr. was a no-show and he advanced to the final when Shawn Corbani bulbed in the semi.

Lavoie left on Bates and pulled away to take the other final round spot but in that race Waters cut a stout .013 at the tree and was consistent with his third straight 6.40 run to take the win.

Junior Fuel A was all Scott Parks as the Burlingame, Kansas, car builder totally dominated the category with a string of six-second runs. Parks qualified with a 6.933, ahead of final round opponent J. D. Zink’s 6.946 as the top five cars were all in the sixes.

Parks took out Mike Chrisman and Jon Haire on his way to the final while Zink eliminated Wayne Ramay and Brian Darcy.  Off the line Parks had half a tenth on Zink in that clash and pulled away with a best of the event 6.881 as Zink slowed to a 7.32.

Similarly, Junior Fuel B was all John Rasmussen although number No. 2 qualifier Fred Notkza gave the Colorado-based team a run for their money with a 7.199 in the final to Rasmussen’s 7.177 after a nearly even leave.

AA/Gas Supercharged saw Chris Abbey lead Sean Renteria by just .001 in qualifying with a 6.632 but the 63 ‘Vette was late off the line in the final and Renteria’s unlikely looking four door Valiant took yet another victory with a 6.789 to Abbey’s 6.806. Renteria’s 6.633 qualifying shot came with a strong 212.11 speed clocking.