GeorgiaDragRacing.com - Information about Georgia drag racing history, personalities, activities and events.
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NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion 2003NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion 2003 by David Dilbeck, Editor (See, also, NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion Photos. Sorry, photo album is no longer available.) WOW! Where do I begin? The Reunion staff (Bob Daniels, Eileen Daniels, Steve Gibbs, Ryan Ono, George Phillips, and Yvonne Wagner) put together an amazing event! Friday morning Hubert Platt, Fred Simmons, Marvin T. Smith, Mr. Ed (Miles), and I left Atlanta and headed toward Bowling Green, KY. During the trip, it was quite an experience listening to the Georgia Shaker tell us about his drag racing (and other) adventures all over the country during the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. Anyone that has ever talked to Hubert will know what I'm referring to! None of us really knew what to expect at the National Hot Rod Reunion, but upon our arrival in Bowling Green around noon, we were blown away by the wild street rods and custom cars everywhere! After a quick check-in at the Holiday Inn, and a smooth and easy media credential pick-up, we were off to the track! Well, not quite, Broadway Bob Metzler drove up as we were in the parking lot. Bob graciously signed autographs for us while he and Hubert told some great stories! What a start! Upon arrival at Beech Bend Raceway Park, we were even more astounded! There were hundreds of street rods and we hadn't even been inside the gate! As we entered the track I'm sure that my mouth fell open at the sight of all the old drag cars on display. In addition to all of the great cars, I saw Arnie Beswick (Farmer), Bruce Larson, Al Marcellus (Mousie), Don Garlits (Big Daddy), Ohio George Montgomery, Hubert Platt (Georgia Shaker), Raymond Godman, Roger Lindamood, the Freight Train gang ... the list goes on and on. A virtual who's who of drag racing legends! After a few hours of looking over some of the cars, catching up with old friends, and meeting new friends, it was time to head back to the hotel for the Media/VIP Reception. Living legends Bob Glidden and Don Garlits were at the reception and we also enjoyed the much needed refreshments that were served! I'd like to specifically thank Bill Groak and Michael Hollander of Pacific Communications Group for their assistance in obtaining our media credentials and their hospitality and assistance during the event. Next on the agenda was the National Hot Rod Reunion Reception. Displayed in front of the Holiday Inn University Plaza Hotel was the Jade Grenade AA/FD and one of Connie Kalitta's early Bounty Hunter dragsters. Word soon spread through the crowd that the Jade Grenade would be fired up after the ceremony! Before the ceremony started, I had the pleasure to meet several people and visit with several others that I knew. Gary Cochran, Mike Couch (Buster's son), Dave McClelland, Nancy Wilson (Nancy is the organizer of the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame & Reunion held annually in Henderson, NC. -- see Reunions: East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame Reunion), and Bob Wilberger were some of the people I visited with. To meet Mr. McClelland was special, indeed! What a nice guy, he even 'presented' us with Wallys! I really miss seeing him (and Steve Evans) on television. Mr. McClelland was the MC for the ceremony that honored Jack Chisenhall, Robert Frakes & Dale Funk, Angelo Giampetroni, Raymond Godman, and Ken Hirata. Don Garlits was the recipient of the Justice Brothers Spotlight Award and Bob Glidden was honored as the Grand Marshal of the reunion. Several funny, and sometimes emotional, stories were told by the award recipients. If you ever talk to Dale Funk, ask him about the world's fastest turtle! Outside, after the ceremony, you could feel the electricity in the air as a huge crowd buzzed with anticipation of the Jade Grenade being fired up in downtown Bowling Green! I had rushed out as soon as the ceremony was over, hoping to get a photo of the gorgeous green machine with fire belching from the headers, but I couldn't even see the car due to the crowd that surrounded it. I don't think anyone was disappointed when the cackling started and nitro fumes filled the air - It was a magical moment that I'll never forget! After this mini cacklefest, I had the opportunity to talk to Pat Foster and praise him for his workmanship on the Jade Grenade and discuss his days as the driver of the Barry Setzer Vega funny car. I also got to speak with Steve Gibbs and, much to my surprise, Dick LaHaie. Dick had won the first fuel dragster race that I attended (the 1970 Atlanta $10,000 held at Atlanta Speed Shop Dragway). Tommy T.C. Lemons and Connie Swingle were also spotted during the night's activities. From riding in an elevator with my (and a lot of other people's) drag racing hero, Don Garlits, to eating a very late dinner at Steak N Shake (and looking up and spotting Don and Pat Garlits & Tommy Lemons at one booth and Mr. and Mrs. Dave McClelland at another), the first day of the National Hot Rod Reunion was quite a thrill! Saturday morning brought an early ride to the track with hopes of the second day being as much fun as the first. With displays of cars such as Brent Hajek's collection of Fords, it was sure to be great! Platt's Thunderbolt and Mustang, Nicholson's Comet, Bonner's Mustang, Jenkins' Vega, Gapp and Roush's Pinto, Lindamood's Mopars, fuel altereds, front engine dragsters, gassers of all shapes and sizes.... I could go on and on about the cars on display! Soon after arriving at the track, I went by to say hello to Bob Rosetty. Bob is a fellow fuelcoupes (Yahoo! group) member and I wanted to give him a photo I had taken of him match racing his funny car at the Classic Thunder event in Atlanta earlier this year. Bob has done an incredible job restoring the Joe Jacono Rollin' Stoned Cuda funny and he isn't afraid to race it! I even got to meet Joe Jacono and have a photo made with him in front of Bob's car. Boy, this event was getting better and better! Pitted across from Bob was Bruce Larson's USA-1 Camaro funny car. I had talked to Bruce Friday evening at Arnie Beswick's trailer and Mr. Larson was nice enough to autograph a photo for me. After a walk through 'California' (many of the beautiful AA/FD restorations and replicas were pitted together), I met Randy Walls and had a nice chat with him. Randy told me that Jungle Jim and Jungle Pam didn't have anything on him and his wife during the early days (when lovely ladies often directed the funny cars back from their burnouts)! I've seen photos and I have to agree. I had made plans to meet up with FE Bob Fermier near the starting line at a specified time, but Bob and his son were tied up in traffic. I then went back over to the Winged Express pit area and met the man behind NitroGeezer.com -- George Crittenden. Thanks for the NitroGeezer name tag, George! Larry Reyes and his wife were spotted and we had a short visit. I had met them last September at Sol and Anne Stewart's Old Drag Racer's Reunion in Panama City Beach, FL. It was good to see them again. Next, I stopped by Bob Gibson's American Racing Equipment trailer and met Tom Clary and Maurice Wiggs. They had brought Tom's restored Dick Harrell Camaro funny car to the reunion. Another fun time talking racing and restorations! While talking to Bob Gibson, I learned that Dan Storey had purchased the Hubert Platt Mustang funny from Georgian Donnie Reeves. Dan and his sons are the owners of Tennessee Thunder Motorsports (an amazing collection of Ford drag cars). I met Dan and later took Hubert Platt by to meet him and his sons. Photos were taken and Hubert was soon 'on stage' with his tales of drag racing. Being close by, I went by and said hello to Gary Peters and Dale Thierer (owner and driver of the Hemi Hunter AA/FD). Nancy Wilson, Bob Wilberger, and I later spent some time checking out the cars and talking to several people about her upcoming reunion. I finally decided to give up on trying to see all of the cars in the pits and headed for the starting line to shoot photos. The afternoon session of fuel dragsters was a highlight, but several things stole the show (at least for me). A moment of silence was held for the late Buster Couch. Cannonball Johnson made a strong pass in his AA/FA (this was only the fourth AA/FA that I had seen race), Arnie Beswick made a super burnout and then laid down a 7.24 @ 193 in his Tameless Tiger Pontiac, and Bruce Larson made a wild 1/8 pass in his Camaro. Another highlight for me was the funny car race between Bob Rosetty and Randy Walls. After a nice burnout by Rosetty, Walls made a wild, out of shape, super smokey burnout. Randy then proceeded to make an extremely crossed up run (in and out to the throttle at least twice!) losing to Bob's beautiful 'Cuda. Fuel altereds don't have anything on Randy and his Nova funny car! WOW, again! While waiting for the night session, I visited with FE Bob Fermier. I also bumped into Tom Long, a neighbor of mine from Georgia, talking to Dave McClelland. Tom is the President of GMP Diecast and he had brought a display trailer showcasing his high quality diecast collectibles. From Swamp Rats to Sprint cars, GMP has some great items! Later, I ran into another Georgia friend, Tom Whitfield, cruising on his golfcart. Man, I wish that I had reserved one of those things! Next up was the night fuel qualifying to be followed by Cacklefest. This is what everyone had been waiting for! Several fuel dragsters made passes, but again, other cars stole the show! Arnie Beswick came to the line and burned through the water, but compared to most of Arnie's burnouts, it was a little weak. I guess he felt the same way because he backed into the water again and proceeded to lay down a burnout that rivaled the funny car burnouts of the 60's and 70's! Arnie then made a mid-seven second run that thrilled the crowd. The car that I (and apparently, most of the crowd) had been waiting for was coming up. Al Marcellus's famed Winged Express AA/FA driven by Mike Boyd was next in line! I had wanted to see this car make a pass since the 1960's and I could hardly wait! A strong burnout and then it was time. The header flames lit up the night and Mike drove the infamous altered into the darkness, running a straight as a string low 7 at 200 mph! As Bob Frey would say, the crowd went wild! Mousie, thanks for bringing the car and making a long-time dream come true! The last thing on the schedule was Cacklefest. This is something you have to see and hear -- words don't do this event justice! Seeing all of the cars being pushed down the track, hearing all of the noise, seeing the header flames in the darkness... WOW! Larry Dixon, Sr. drove the Howard Cams Rattler and the smile on his face had to hurt! He was still grinning as Larry Dixon, Jr (and his son) greeted him after he got out of the digger. Another magical moment! The crowd's response to Cacklefest was overwhelming -- what a night! The Georgia gang had to leave Sunday morning without going to the track, but thanks to FE Bob Fermier (see Fermier Bros) and Bill Groak, GeorgiaDragRacing.com had a photographer at the track Sunday. Thanks, Bob! Driving back to Atlanta, we could hardly believe what a great time we had at the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion presented by DuPont Automotive Finishes. Thanks to Holley (and congratulations on their 100th anniversary), NHRA, DuPont, Beech Bend Raceway Park, the city of Bowling Green, and all of the other people and companies involved. I didn't know where to begin this article and I don't really know how to end it. The only way that I can think of is the same way I started -- WOW! (Also, see Photos by David Dilbeck in our Photo Gallery.) (Also, see, David Dilbeck's article, 2003 National Hot Rod Reunion Video Review.)
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