Championships on the Line at California Hot Rod Reunion, Oct. 10-12 Finale of NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series highlights racing action

Champions in several NHRA nostalgia drag racing categories, including Top Fuel and Funny Car, will be crowned at the 17th
annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, Oct 10-12 at historic Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield). All told, nearly 300 racers will burn down the quarter-mile during the 3-day
speedfest which is the final race of the NHRA’s inaugural Hot Rod Heritage Series.

Championships on the Line at California Hot Rod Reunion, Oct. 10-12 Finale of NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series highlights racing action

Champions in several NHRA nostalgia drag racing categories, including Top Fuel and Funny Car, will be crowned at the 17th
annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, Oct 10-12 at historic Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield). All told, nearly 300 racers will burn down the quarter-mile during the 3-day
speedfest which is the final race of the NHRA’s inaugural Hot Rod Heritage Series.

According to Steve Gibbs, former NHRA VP and current board member of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum (producers of the Reunion), the field is “overflowing,” including  more than 20 cars in both Nostalgia Top Fuel and  Nostalgia Funny Car categories. “This will be one of the most competitive, hard-fought events in Reunion history,” Gibbs said. “Fans are in for a real treat.”

All the top names in Nostalgia Top Fuel will be competing, including Adam Sorokin, Denver Schultz, Brett Harris, Rick White, Jack “the Sherriff” Harris and Troy Green, who is leading the Hot Rod Heritage Series by three points over Jim Murphy. Unfortunately, local favorite Brad Thompson (Visalia, Calif.), who won last year’s California Reunion will not race due to injuries from a crash in Boise, Idaho. Thompson was leading the Hot Rod Heritage Series before the
accident.

In Nostalgia Funny Car, which will run in the “Chicago style,” defending Reunion champ Bucky Austin will battle against the likes of Hot Rod Heritage Series leader Steve Romanazzi, along with Mendy Fry, Kris Krabill, Nate Bugg and
Canadian Terry Capp. In Chicago-style racing, only the top eight qualifiers advance to eliminations.  At Bakersfield, all entered cars will run for time, sending all but eight home after just one qualifying run.  The eight-fastest will run again, with the two quickest winners, advancing to the final. 

The 17th annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, Oct. 10-12 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm.  It’s also the season finale of the inaugural NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage nostalgia drag racing series.

Produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, and located in Pomona, Calif., 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.