Hot Rod Reunion
Written by Keith Fudge

Hello, and welcome to another great season of My Classic Car!  Dennis Gage made the trip to Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Fourth Annual National Hot Rod Reunion.  This event featured some really cool cars and retro racing!  In addition, there was a Show-n-Shine, Swap Meet, and something for just about everyone!  Dennis spoke with Tony Thacker, Executive Director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motor Sports Museum.  Tony told Dennis that this event was one of two that serve as the main fundraising efforts for the museum.  Tony said that for this fourth year of the show, attendance was up 20% to 30% from last year.  Beech Bend Raceway is a perfect place for this event, Tony added, saying that the track here started in 1951 during the early days of drag racing.

As I said, there were lots of cool classics, especially rat rods.  Dennis ran into Mike Nance who had a pair of sweet trucks that are prime examples of this style.  Sporting the logo of “Jake’s Rakes-Hotrods and Harleys,” these two trucks are a combination of several blasts from the past.  The first featured a mixture of a 1938 Chevy cab with a 1931 Dodge Sedan for the rear.  The bed is finished out in Black Poplar wood, and the truck sports 1935 Ford wire wheels and custom hubcaps made by Mike!  Oh yeah, it also had the power to get Mike around in a hurry featuring a 350 Chevy that was bored .040 over to a 357.  The next rat-rod delivery vehicle was a combination of 24 different vehicles!  Trust us, the list is long, but a few of the key components are a 1946 International cab, a 1950 Dodge bed, a 1934 Olds grille, and a 1939 Mercury frame!  Also powered by a Chevy small block (featuring Olds valve covers), this is the perfect parts truck in more ways than one!  Next, Dennis found David Orr and his cool 1961 Chevy Nomad!  One of the last of the four-door Nomads made from 1958-1961, Dave said that he purchased the car in an eBay auction and it was 98% rust free!  The car features power steering, power brakes and factory air conditioning, and it even came equipped with the Chevy 348 cubic-inch engine!  David has done a lot of work to the car, yet has kept it stock in appearance.  He said that when people get inside, he wants them to think they have just gotten into a 1961 bubble-top Chevy!  Way to go, David!  Another classic old-school design was found in the form of Jeff Davis’s retro Ford.  This “Lil Stinker” is a 1931 Ford loaded up on ’32 Ford frame.  Featuring air conditioning and a 350 Chevy with three deuces coupled to a TH 350 tranny, this retro ride is road worthy as it has passed the standard “Safety 23” inspection and has the decal to prove it!  Painted in a creative color of green and accented with old-school pinstriping, this great ride is the “cat’s meow!”  Finally, Dennis found a true piece of racing history in Brent Hajek’s Mercury Marauder.  Winner of the Pike’s Peak run in 1963 and 1964, this Parnelli Jones driven racer is basically stock featuring the legendary 427 Marauder engine.  Brent said he had even taken the car to England to race it and that he has even had Parnelli Jones drive it in a race!  How cool is that?  Thanks Brent!

What a way to start a new season of My Classic Car!  The National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway Park is a great event, and we had a great time!  In addition, due to the growth and success of this event, the 2007 reunion will move to another historic raceway and will be held in Columbus, Ohio at the National Trail Raceway.  If you would like more information, give a visit on the web at http://museum.nhra.com/.  That’s it from Bowling Green, Kentucky.  So until our next visit, “Honor the timeless classics.  Happy Motoring!”