Your Most Memorable Hot Rod Event

In the spring of 2007, I was captivated by an advertisement in Northern Rodder magazine. The one-page ad featured a wheelstanding Anglia named “Obsession” and a small snippet of information about an upcoming event unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I had been to the Street Rod Nationals and I had explored the Detroit Autorama, but in my 13-year-old mind, this event—dubbed the National Hot Rod Reunion—looked like it had a life of its own. Motion! I thought. Not only will there be old cars there, they’ll be racing them too!

 I shared my findings with my dad who, although not a hot rodder himself, was always happy to take me to car shows all over the Midwest. We had been to a contemporary NHRA race a few years prior, but we were both enticed by the historic cars that would be competing at the Hot Rod Reunion over Father’s Day weekend.

As luck would have it, the 2007 Reunion took place at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, conveniently located a few hours south of our metro Detroit home. My dad made sure we got the full Hot Rod Reunion experience—including the pit pass luncheon, a room at the host hotel, the works. Even with our credentials in check, I remember showing up at the track feeling excited, anxious, and a little bit scared.

Then I saw the cars—the craziest mix of Gassers, Altereds, Funny Cars and Fuelers that I’d ever laid eyes on. There were barnfinds and restorations, local favorites and contemporary interpretations of cars past. We talked to owners, picked up flyers and soaked up every morsel of information that we possibly could.

And then we shifted our attention to the track. The Funny Cars turned the clear sky foggy, and the Fuelers ripped down the quarter mile at what seemed like the speed of sound. Every car had a name: “Pandemonium,” “Rat Trap,” “Ron Bizio,” and so on and so forth. I told my dad about a hundred times that I had a new favorite Gasser, a black and orange ’33 Willys  known as “Boss Hydro.” After its run, we followed it back to the pits to get a better look at the blown Hemi lurking beneath the fiberglass frontend. I was hooked.

When the sun went down, the historic cars started to cackle. Flames belched from headers and motors rumbled liked thunder in the early summer night. My eyes stung as I fought to keep them open. More trucks pushed more dragsters, blowers whined and Hemis crackled. One dragster crashed into another but the show went on. My vision blurred. I didn’t know what to do. I looked around and soon realized that the grownups around me were crying too—and at that point I knew that I really was in the right place.

***

Picking favorites can be difficult, especially when it comes to hot rod and custom car events. Through the years, I’m fortunate to have atteneded a whole lot of good ones as a spectator, reporter, participant and vendor from the East Coast to the West. Although some come close, the 2007 Hot Rod Reunion at National Trail stands out in mind.

So I’ll ask you this: What’s the most memorable car event you’ve ever been to?

—Joey Ukrop

Lead photo found online. Although it’s been 10 years now, I believe that’s the exact shot from the NR ad…