EVENT NOTEBOOK EVENT RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY EVENT BROADCAST

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - WINNERS ARE CROWNED AND ANOTHER SEASON IS COMPLETE

Mike Lewis will face uncharted waters on Monday afternoon.

For the first time in his life, he will head into the office on Monday as the winning driver on Sunday.

The Sr. Vice President for Don Schumacher Racing scored the Funny car title at the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield, Ca, driving Henry Gutierrez’s Brand-X tribute Mustang. There were 33 AA/FC entries for this event.

Lewis ran a 5.785-second elapsed time at 244.38 miles per hour to out react and outrun Steven Densham in the final round.

Lewis opened the event by leading qualifying on the first day and even though he was able to beat hitters such as Will Martin, Rian Konno and low qualifier Chad Head to reach the final, he managed to keep his emotions in check thanks to a company motto at DSR.

“When you work for Don Schumacher you learn to take this one day at a time, one win at a time,” said Lewis. “It started off good for us Friday with the good run and then we didn’t go into Saturday behind the eight ball trying to do stuff we’re not used to.”

As great as his equipment performed, a trio of seasoned tuners led by Funny Car tuning icon Paul Smith proved to be Lewis’ secret weapon.  Joining Smith was his son John Smith and former nitro team owner Virgil Hartman.

“I just had so much confidence in Paul Smith, Bodie [John] Smith and Virgil Hartman and the whole Texas Jungle team. These guys are perfect and the car is perfect every time.

“We may not have had the seven crew chiefs Chad and Del [Worsham] had but we had three awfully good ones; these guys we have here gave me an incredible amount of confidence.”

Even though the temptation was there to celebrate a semi-final victory over the seemingly unbeatable Head, Lewis remained focused on the big picture.

“To put things in perspective, God makes all things possible,” said Lewis. “Today, God gave me the opportunity … the opportunity to bring my beautiful wife here to share this with her and my family.”

The fact Lewis was driving the car dates back to a situation best described as opportunity crossing a path with divine intervention.

Lewis was introduced to Gutierrez in June by Maple Grove Raceway’s Lex Dudas. At the time, Lewis was driving Justin Grant’s Stardust Funny Car but when he sold the car it left Lewis without a ride and the track one Funny Car short for its 50th anniversary event.

Gutierrez had two Funny Cars but only one was entered for the event.

“He already had the Jungle Jim car committed and as it turned out he also had the Brand X car,” Lewis explained. “We did okay at the event and later in Cordova. We got our act together in Dallas which was our test to come here. I owe Lex for the introduction and Henry for having the faith and giving me a chance. Obviously driving for a team headed up by Paul Smith and his son Bodie is great. Then we had Virgil here as an extra set of eyes.”

Keeping an edge is a challenge for many Nostalgia Funny Car drivers due to the limited number of events offered as compared to the big show of NHRA Full Throttle competition.

“We don’t race very often,” Lewis admitted. “My whole career, I might only have 50 or 60 runs. This may sound like a lot but when you run only a dozen or fourteen times a year and then you put the car away. It means a lot to have a car capable of going out and winning a race which is the nostalgia equivalent to the U.S. Nationals.”

On Sunday, reaction time was not always Lewis’ greatest ally.

“I couldn’t cut a light and even beside Chad, I tried to get myself psyched but he nailed me on the tree,” said Lewis. “We got lucky to win that round. Somehow we got it all together. Schumacher always kids me and after he watched me run in Dallas, he made the comment, ‘Nice run, but I need to put a spark plug under your seat.”

“He did today and it must have gone off at the right time in the final.”

Sunday afternoon, at the conclusion of a day and weekend marred with numerous oildowns, Lewis could only smile and thank anyone who remotely had a hand in making the Texas Jungle operation successful. In the big picture of life, Lewis admits this was a needed win if only to serve as motivation as he prepares for off-season surgery to remove a slightly malignant tumor on his prostate, a tumor found in a random check-up.

“We’ll roll into the winner’s circle and take our pictures and tomorrow I will get on a plane and fly back home and go into the office in Brownsburg and realize this dream really did happen,” Lewis admits. “I’ve been hooked on this for a really long time. I’m putting this all in perspective. I’m 63 years old and I have a prostate operation scheduled in a month, then a recovery which will follow. The timing couldn’t be better and the incentive will be to get better to come out and attempt this again.

“I’m a blessed man to be associated with this Texas Jungle team and everyone Henry put together to help as well as my associates at Don Schumacher Racing.”

WON THE BATTLE, LOST THE WAR - Rick Williamson might have lost the championship war to Adam Sorokin, but on Sunday, he won the battle for Bakersfield.

Williamson drove to a 5.809, 253.23, to secure the Nostalgia Top Fuel win over Sorokin’s blower-exploding dragster which slowed to a 6.020.

Wiiliamson entered the event as the No. 1 qualifier and beat Dan Horan in the first round, singled in the second and Tony Bartone in the semis.

Meadors soloed for the Nostalgia Pro Modified crown when Scott Bailey broke on the burnout.

Other winners included Bud Hammer [Junior Fuel], Les Davenport   [A/Fuel], Ronnie Lennon [7.0 PRO], Rob Patten [A/Gas] Don Taros  [NE-1]   Doug Hampton [A/FX].

This event concludes the 2012 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series.

SOLO PRIZE - Marc Meadors soloed for the Nostalgia Pro Modified crown when Scott Bailey broke on the burnout.

JUMP AROUND - Dan Horan Jr.’s Mustang flopper gets airborne following his loss to Gary Eickman. (Gary Nastase Photo)

LOOKS LIKE A WINNER - If looks made for a winning race car, there are some who would suggest Cruz Pedregon’s remake of the Keeling and Clayton California Charger Pontiac Trans-Am would never lose a race.

“It was an honor to get permission from one of the original owners to be able to build this car,” Pedregon said. “It was one of the cars I grew up as a kid watching and loved. It’s immaculate, shiny and has all of the characteristics of a show car. The fact we can run some of these cars at some of the nostalgia events makes it worthwhile for me. I couldn’t imagine spending the money it takes to build one of these cars just for it to sit. To race it, is just an honor.”

Jerry Clayton, the living member of the famous nitro team of the sixties and seventies, gave his blessings largely due to the fact he knew of the contributions the Pedregon family had made to the sport dating back to Frank Pedregon Sr.

“I was extremely proud he called,” said Clayton, who was in attendance at the California Hot Rod Reunion for the car’s race debut. “I have known Cruz for a long time. I knew of his father’s racing and how they raced. It was not a corporate billboard thing. It was a Pedregon family thing. It made me proud that he did that and I was more than willing to give my blessings.”

Pedregon, having previously done a Joe Pisano tribute car as well as having involvement with other nostalgia endeavors, knew the Bakersfield event wouldn’t be a simple walk in the park outing.

“Oh it’s a bit of work, for sure,” Pedregon said. “I have some of my crew out here helping with the car. It’s our off weekend with two races coming up. Unfortunately it’s our first rodeo with this car and we missed the cut.”

Pedregon’s new 1977 Pontiac ran a 5.972 which came up short of the 5.954 bubble.

“We’ll be back, but we’re not going to race it much and will limit it to a few races per year,” said Pedregon. “We definitely want to come back here and make the show.

For Clayton, the California Charger entry Pedregon brought out was as pretty as any of the entries he and deceased partner John Keeling fielded.

“Yes it is,” said Clayton. “He’s got a few details he’s going to change around. We had an extremely difficult time meeting or exceeding the level of the previous car with each new one. This car was our fifth or sixth one. We pushed the envelope a lot on them. It was always difficult to come up with something new and different each time. We always had to work within the ever-changing rules. There were several innovations we wanted to do but were denied.”

Pedregon said he wasn’t particularly looking to do a nostalgia flopper at the time but the more he looked at the California Charger entry, the more he became convinced the California Charger was a worthy reproduction.

“I said to myself many times if there was a car which should be done, it is this one,” Pedregon explained. “He [Clayton] was all excited and encouraged me to go forward with the project. Every detail in this car was done with total accuracy in mind.”

JR. FUEL WINNER - Bud Hammer captured the Jr. Fuel title by stopping Bud Hammer in the final round.

NOTHING SAYS GAS LIKE A VETTE - Rob Patten's Corvette was the top runner in the A/Gas division.

7.0 PRO WINNER - Ronnie Lennon drove his supercharged roadster to the 7.0 Pro crown.

THAT’S GONNA LEAVE A MARK - Mendy Fry’s loss to Jim Murphy was a costly one. (Gary Nastase Photo)

NEAT ’56 - John Overholser made the eight-car Nostalgia Pro Modified field but unfortunately fell in the first round to eventual runner-up Scott Bailey.

FAN FAVORITE - - The Tiki Warrior Monza is always a hit amongst the race fans.
STILL TALKING - All day Sunday, the Bakersfield crowd was bragging on Saturday’s impressive Cacklefest. If you missed it, here’s a full length video – CACKLEFEST 2012 CHRR

JUST LIKE YESTERDAY - Scenes like this are uncommon in today’s modern world, but in Bakersfield they are expected.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - BAKERSFIELD HEATS UP FOR HOT SATURDAY

Turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds of the CHRR

RESUME BUILDER - Chad Head is doing a terrible job of looking like a rookie driver, especially at AAA Famosa Raceway in Bakersfield. In two races in his freshman season, the son of famed NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car driver Jim Head has won a race and is now qualified No. 1 at the California Hot Rod Reunion.

“It’s a pretty awesome feeling just to be able to race and to be No. 1 makes it even better,” said Head of his first career pole position. “You go up there knowing the No. 16 guy is gunning for you and when you get someone like I did the caliber of James Day, just makes the challenge even greater. You just have to go up there and do the best you can and never take anyone lightly.”

Consistency, as Head put it, was his foremost objective headed into this event in Bakersfield. With consistency he felt every accolade would just fall into place.

“Repeat is the name of the game,” Head said. “Repetition everywhere from staging to shifting … consistency is the name of the game. I didn’t do such a game shifting on Friday but made up for it on Saturday. I think I shifted on time … must have … I didn’t get yelled at. If that didn’t happen, means I did halfway right.”

NOT PRETTY, BUT EFFECTIVE -In clinching his second consecutive NHRA Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Car championship, Jason Rupert didn’t exactly follow the script he had in mind.

Rupert, instead of collecting the series title with a round win or event victory, simply outlasted championship foe John Hale. Both Hale and Rupert failed to qualify for the California Hot Rod Reunion event. Rupert was ahead on points going into the event and therefore with no one else mathematically able to catch either, secured the crown in a season which Rupert described as one of consistency prevailing.

“I have a bunch of hardworking guys who like to have a lot of fun,” said Rupert, who drives the Mert Littlefield tribute Funny Car. “We won the war by a lot of runner-ups and using consistency in our favor. It’s unfortunate we didn’t qualify because the car was on one of the best passes it’s ever made. All of a sudden I saw fuel spraying all over the windshield. I had to click it off.”

Safety wise, Rupert didn’t want to shut-off when the line came loose but ultimately his instincts as a good driver made the decision for him.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to click it off,” admitted Rupert. “My foot just came off of the throttle … it was an instinctive thing. I was kind of bummed about that.”

Rupert was waiting to run when the deciding factor in the championship battle went down and admitted this wasn’t exactly the way he envisioned the epic battle between he and Hale would be decided.

“I already knew I was the champion, but had nothing to do with the reason I lifted,” Rupert said. “We were sitting in line waiting to make our run when we heard John Hale had smoked the tires ahead of us and didn’t make it. I had mixed emotions because I felt bad for John because I thought we were going to battle it out until the end. I never envisioned neither one of us qualifying.”

This season has been good for Rupert at every stop on the tour except for one – Bakersfield.

“We made it to just about every final, just not the two races in Bakersfield,” Rupert said.

Rupert’s scorecard showed a win at the Boise, Idaho-based Nightfire Nationals and runner-ups at the Las Vegas, Sacramento, and the second Boise event later in the season.

“Drag racing is like that sometimes,” Rupert said.

A DREAM COME TRUE - Terry Housley knew early in his drag racing career, his success would take him places. The two-time IHRA Top Sportsman and Pro Modified pioneer never envisioned one of his destinations would be an iconic drag strip located north of Los Angeles.

Housley, from London, Tenn., was one of a group of doorslammer drivers associated with the West Coast Outlaw Pro Modified Association invited to participate in an exhibition event during the California Hot Rod Reunion hosted by AAA Famosa Raceway in Bakersfield, Ca.

As storied of a driving career as Housley has enjoyed, he never envisioned writing a chapter of his life featuring the weekend he competed at one of drag racing’s more iconic facilities. Even tougher to imagine was leading qualifying for the first day.

Housley eventually dropped to third but the demotion didn’t faze him in the least. He was racing at the facility he grew up reading about before he could even drive.

Housley drove Irv Ballance’s nitrous-injected 1953 Corvette to a best elapsed time of 6.167-second pass at 233.80 miles per hour.

“I never dreamed of coming to Bakersfield much less qualifying No. 1, even if it was momentarily” said Housley. “This is an exciting place. I’ve never witnessed anything like it. Being No. 1 is an extra bonus. This is unbelievable.”

His best run came on a pass, by his assessment, was far from optimal.

“It shook bad in second and really moved around a lot,” explained Housley. “It really made a bad run. I really was surprised it was as good as it was.”

Housley meets veteran doorslammer racer Joe Lepone Jr. in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.

“This is pretty overwhelming,” Housley said. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin in explaining this to my friends. All I have to say is they need to come out here and see this. See this … tells the story the best.”

BACK AGAIN – Jeff Arend wasn’t shy about letting Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car team owner/driver Dale Pulde know if the opportunity presented itself he’d love to drive his famed War Eagle Pontiac again.

For Arend, the bold approach was the best.

This boldness enabled Arend his second shot at driving the classic Funny Car since last March when he filled for Pulde, who was and continues to recover from a severe case of Valley Fever, a respiratory ailment.

“I let Dale know that I had so much fun doing this last year that if the opportunity presented itself again, and I had an open weekend, I’d like to do it again,” Arend said.

The opportunity presented itself when regular driver James Day left the team to drive Gary Turner’s Pedaler Plymouth Arrow.

The team staged a test in the days prior to Bakersfield for Arend to become re-acclimated with the car. Success in the test was limited with no runs making it to the finish line under power.

Arend’s first run at Bakersfield was exactly the opposite. Not only did the car reach the finish line under power but also as the second quickest run in qualifying with a 5.82 elapsed time.

“It was kind of funny because the first time I made a run in the car last year, it went a 5.82,” said Arend.

Though he’s made hundreds of laps in big show Funny Cars, driving a nostalgia Funny Car is a delightful and educational experience wrapped up into one.

“There’s not that much difference except the fuel shutoff is backwards,” Arend explained. “Every other car I’ve ever driven, you pull them back to turn them off. This car has two of them and they have to be pushed forward. You just have to think a bit and put it back in high gear before you run. After the burnout, I always take it out of high gear. There’s not a lot of stuff you can goof up too much.

“They are a lot of fun to drive. Maybe its not as fast as my DHL Toyota but it still runs some impressive numbers. You have a shifter between your legs. There’s no tach or shift life, and it’s usually screaming about 9,000 rpm. There’s no side window; it sounds loud. Plus, there’s no downforce and the car is all over the place. I really love doing this.”

Arend said he’s still gaining the feel of the seat in the Nostalgia Funny Car.

“I haven’t driven these cars enough to know what is a really good run,” admitted Arend. “It could go a 5.80 or a 6.20 and I wouldn’t know.”

One thing he does know is he’s found a stress reliever for off weekends.

IT’S A GAS, GAS, GAS - Nothing says A/Gas quite like a supercharged Henry J. Chris Beenes drove his neat entry to the No. 1 qualifying position with a 7.601 elapsed time.

GAINT KILLER - Ronny Young, driving the Blue Max tribute Funny Car, qualified No. 9 and beat defending NHRA Top Fuel series champion Del Worsham, who is driving the Worsham Family Plymouth Arrow this weekend.

CONTINUES TO IMPRESS - - Rian Kunno continues to do a superb job as driver of the Kazanjian-Lemon-Konno Mustang. Despite qualifying No. 12, ran a 5.885 in the first round to take out Garrett Bateman.

A GOLDEN GOAT - The 1965 Pontiac GTO was neaver really considered the prototypical gasser. Al White has bucked the trend with a No. 3 qualifying effort and 7.606 best elapsed time.

DISAPPOINTING - Past DRO AA/Funny Car series champion John Hale had a chance to battle for a second major crown but fell short when he missed the combination and failed to qualify.

IT’S JOE COOL - Driving an nitrous-injected, Pat Musi EFI-equipped Duster, past NHRA Pro Stock driver Joe Lepone has found a comfort zone in racing the Nostalgia Pro Modified division. He qualified No. 6 with a 6.384 and races Terry Housley in Sunday’s first round.

HOLY TOLEDO! - There were 33 nostalgia flops in attendance this weekend and out of those entries the Holy Toledo tribute Jeep scored the most unusual status. However, the radical Jeep Funny Car only did burnouts in both qualifying sessions but never made a run after twice being shut off for breakage.

HANG ON SLOOPY - Will Martin got all kinds of crossed up during Saturday's final qualifying session at the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield, Ca. He manged to remain in the field as the No. 13 qualifier.

 

 FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - IT'S REUNION TIME; TIME FOR NITRO

HANGING ON - Mike Lewis smiles at the irony of the moment.

Lewis smiles when he remembers announcing NHRA races a little over three decades ago when Paul Smith was a regular Funny Car driver on the tour.

Friday afternoon they did a different kind of role play.

Lewis, now a Sr. Vice President at Don Schumacher Racing, drove Henry Gutierrez’s Brand-X themed, Paul Smith-tuned Funny Car to the top of the qualifying order during Friday’s qualifying at the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield, Ca.

Lewis covered the Auto Club Famosa quarter-mile in 5.820 seconds at 243.15 miles per hour to edge out Jeff Arend's 5.825.

“You know it’s almost funny that when I made the first five second run in Justin Grant’s Funny Car Bruce Larson was announcing,” said Lewis. “Then, we laughed at the role reversals. I would have never imagined driving a Funny Car tuned by Paul Smith.”

Hours after his impressive run, Lewis still found putting the run in perspective a difficult proposition. The run came as a pleasant surprise.

“I’m totally blown away,” said Lewis. “We made a couple of runs under similar conditions and made the same exact run. I would have never guessed an .92 would stay low. We are blown away and happy to be in this position headed into Saturday with one session left.”

Lewis wasn’t blown away because the run was a fluke. Instead he was more impressed the run came on a Friday.

“I knew the Brand-X car was capable of making a good run,” Lewis said. “I’ve just never made a good run on Friday in Bakersfield before. It’s just such a great way to start the event and we can go out there on Saturday knowing we can get after it because we have a .72 to fall back on.”

If the run holds through Saturday afternoon’s final session, it will mark his first No. 1 qualifying effort. He’s come close and dominated provisionally before but in the end came up short.

Lewis once was the quickest in a Top Alcohol Dragster as a driver for Tom Conway.

“For a session,” Lewis proudly proclaimed.

The run wasn’t enough to hold dropping him to a career best No. 3 qualifying.

He hopes tomorrow doesn’t provide a déjà vu moment.

“I believe there will be lots of cars in the .70s tomorrow, I hope we are one of them,” said Lewis.

CUTE RUNNER? - He’s certainly no “Jungle Pam” Hardy but he’ll do in a pinch.

He is Ron Capps, a decent spectator and marginal back up … person.

Friday afternoon, during Funny Car qualifying at the California Hot Rod Reunion, Del Worsham received a surprise. Worsham had performed a long smoky burnout and as he came to a stop, put the car in reverse and backed up, he expected tuner Tommy Delago to pick him up [as a back-up guide] somewhere around the 100 foot mark.

Instead there was Capps, smiling and running forward to guide him back, all the while signaling his longtime friend was No. 1.

“A last minute deal … they asked me to surprise Del by backing him up from the burnout,” Capps said with a smile. “His eyes were as big as silver dollars. It was pretty funny. You could see him shaking his head inside the car. Besides, I’m a cute runner.”

Worsham was taken aback at the prank.

“I thought it was going to be Tommy D, I just figured they were afraid he might fall down or something,” Worsham said laughing. “It was cool and really fun.”

Capps gained a new found respect for the back-up person.

“Now I know, it’s really sticky out there,” Capps said. “It was trying to pull my shoes off. It’s really fun and the coolest part for me was in seeing the cars lined all the way up for as far as I could see, waiting to run, once I got back to the starting line.”

This weekend represents the second weekend off for the NHRA Full Throttle racers and joining Capps in the Worsham pits were members of Don Schumacher Racing, Al-Anabi Racing, Bob Tasca Racing, Jim Head Racing and Kalitta Motorsports. They all had a chore to do in the maintenance of the car, except Capps, he had to find something to do.

“I packed Del’s parachutes,” he added.

One might draw the conclusion Capps makes a terrible spectator.

“Not a good one, that’s for sure,” Capps admitted.

This is the first time in nearly ten years Capps hasn’t driven at the fall Bakersfield event.

It was also the first time he backed someone up.

HAPPILY RETIRED - When Del Worsham won the 2011 NHRA Top Fuel championship and then promptly retired, he was through driving. Nearly a year later, he’s still happy in retirement. However, he still likes to take the old nitro spin.

This weekend Worsham is taking a spin in the family’s Plymouth Arrow AA/FC during the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield, Ca.

Some feelings never go away for the kid who graduated from being a BMX racer directly into nitro competition.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Worsham. “I’m not in a position where I really want to go back to full time racing. I like coming out here racing with my dad and my friends. It’s local, exciting and everyone is here. It’s fun. This makes for a fun time.”

Worsham left big show nitro driving in November to settle into a new role as crew chief for Alexis DeJoria. Since then, he’s driven sparingly, in nostalgia competition, and this suits him just fine.

“I never thought I’d miss driving and I don’t,” admitted Worsham. “I like driving here and there. I like my new job and the challenges that come with it.”

Worsham wasn’t just signed as a tuner but also as a mentor for DeJoria. Prior to his hiring, Worsham was involved in showing her the ropes of nitro racing. Today the lessons are two-fold for them.

“We’re gaining on it,” said Worsham. “I’ve made a lot more mistakes than she has. She’s doing well and from the get go, we had the understanding this was going to take a couple of years to work through the process … both her learning her end and me learning mine to reach the level we both want to be at.”

Worsham is working towards becoming a championship tuner and the challenge has provided both success and tribulation. Admittedly he’s had to work harder to learn the ropes of crew chief and tuner than becoming a competitive nitro racer at 20. Worsham throughout his career had only raced nitro.

“I was with my dad for a lot of years and we licensed a lot of drivers,” said Worsham. “I watched the process go down for many years from the time I turned 15 years old. When I got older, I applied the lessons I had studied over the years. I was comfortable from the get-go, getting in the car and going down the track. I never lifted off of the throttle in my first run. I went to the finish line on my first run.”

Worsham did the same thing on Friday at Bakersfield.

IMPRESSIVE – Who said nitro racing was on the decline? This weekend’s California Hot Rod Reunion attracted 34 entries in the AA/FC category. The Nostalgia Top Fuel cars had 16 dragsters entered.

LENGTHY PROPOSTION – The downside to large car counts is the amount of time it takes to run a qualifying session. On Friday, race officials said 32 Funny Cars took 97 minutes to complete while the 14 dragsters consumed 65 minutes.

WINNER'S CIRCLE - Seven months after the fact, Chad Head finally received his March Meet winner's circle moment.THE WINNER RETURNS - The last time Chad Head raced at Bakersfield he finished runner-up, yet in his return he’s a champion. Head finished runner-up to Tim Boychuk during the March Meet earlier this season but was declared the winner when the latter failed to pass post-race tear down.

Head has a chance to clean sweep Bakersfield with a win on Sunday, even if he doesn’t feel like much of a winner from the earlier event.

“Hopefully the driver will do better this time,” said Head, son of veteran nitro racer Jim Head. “I don’t feel any regrets in not being able to celebrate the win. The bottom line is I didn’t do a good enough job driving. We didn’t do a good enough job to win.”

This weekend provides a measure of redemption for the Al Anabi racing operations manager.

Head has raced twice since the March Meet, competing in the 50th Anniversary event at Maple Grove Racing in Reading, Pa., and the Olympics of Drag Racing in Cordova, Ill.

Though he’s quickly attaining experience, Head believes he still has a long way to go.

“I’m still a rookie,” admitted Head. “Still have a long way to go to catch up to these guys. When you line up alongside of drivers like Del Worsham and some of the other guys, you see quickly how much you have to learn.”

The second-generation Funny car driver will have plenty of experience in his corner to draw upon. His father is in attendance.

“It’s kind of different,” admitted Head. “He’s good with me in a mentoring capacity. He is supportive and doesn’t put a lot of pressure on me.”

The only pressure, which isn’t overwhelming, Jim puts on his son is one simple request.

“Just don’t hit anything and so far today, I am perfect in this category,” Head said with a smile. “But, it doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen at any time.”

SW-E-E-E-E-E-E-T ! Cruz Pedregon's beautiful new California Charger ran impressive 5.972.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT - Driving the Jungle Jim Vegas this weekend is John Smith and not Jon Capps. Right now Smith is 20th quickest with a 6.05.

DINGED UP - Rich Roberts dinged up his ’37 Chevy during first day Nostalgia Pro Modified qualifying. He was uninjured and the car suffered some cosmetic damage.

RAMBLING ON - Frank Herenda’s 1959 Rambler Wagon was a fan favorite and ran quick too. He was 17th with a 7.693 after two sessions.

OHHHHHH BARRACUDA - Darrien Roberts only made one run Friday in his A/Gas Barracuda and most the most of it with a 7.658 with his 810-inch engine.

EXHIBITIONISTS - Some vehicles don't exactly fit into the regular classes. These vehicles are put into the Exhibition category.

SHE'S FINE MY 409, KINDA SORTA - Dean Hall's '62 Impala has way more cubes than 409, and as a result drove to the fifth quickest run in A/Gas, carding a 7.640 elapsed time with his 615-inch powerplant.

FORGET THE JUDGE - Here comes the Lawyer! Ernie "The Attorney" Algorri was tops in early A/FX qualifying with a 9.626 with his ageless 1967 Fairlane.

COMMON GROUND - Regardless of age, the California Hot Rod Reunion has thrills for all ages.

EARLY LEADER - Ray Padget, of Santa Paula, Ca., was the earley A/Gas qualifying leader with a 7.613 elapsed time. His run was third quickest after the second session.

HEAD TO CHUY'S - Bakersfield would be the same without the annual Thursday evening gathering at Chuys. The car show was a mix of new and old.

BATTLE DOWN TO THE WIRE - Adam Sorokin takes direction from Champion Speed Shop owner Bob McLennan.With NHRA’s Heritage Series Points Title on the line, Top Fuel drivers Adam Sorokin and Rick Williamson will lead a field of 15 AA/Fuel Dragsters into battle this weekend at the 21st California Hot Rod Reunion in Famoso.

Sorokin, driving the Champion Speed Shop Chevrolet, is leading the series by 61 points -- less than three round of racing. Number 2 in points, Williamson, manning the Team Craig machine, will be gunning for the Champion Speed Shop dragster in hopes of upending Sorokin’s title quest. All of which matters little to East Coast and Midwest drag racers towing to Bakersfield looking to prove to Left Coast racers and fans that the baddest fuelers aren’t from California. Of those, strongman Tony Bartone and the Bartone Brothers car from New York is the fastest of them all, clocking a 274-mph top end speed earlier this year. Similarly, Midwest racer Paul Romine, taking the place of Jimi Young in Frank Ousley’s “Crop Duster” dragster out of Illinois, will attempt to post more 5.50-second elapsed times like those that his team recorded en route to winning this year’s Bakersfield March Meet. Moreover, for the first time this year accomplished journeyman Howard Haight will be racing the “Mr. Boston”car out west.

As always, consistently-fierce competitors Jim Murphy, Rick White and Rick McGee will all play a major role in setting the pace for the 21st Reunion in their Chrysler 392-type powered dragsters. In contrast to their approach, among entries sporting the 426-hemi powerplant are young gun Terry Cox, Brendan Murry and Dan Horan Jr.

Also competing will be “the World’s Fastest CPA,” Mendy Fry, the lone female of the group, piloting Mike Fuller’s explosive “Forever Young” car. Rounding out the field is respected wheelman Bill Dunlap in the “High Speed Motorsports” entry, as well as John Rasmussen driving for Bob Richardson’s “Circuit Breaker” machine and El Segundo peacenik beach-bum Jim Boyd and his vintage-perfect "Red Turkey."