Well, the volume of replies to this post pretty much sums up the CHRR for '21. Small fields of AA/FD, N/FC and AA/S, small CackleFest, light showing of cars in the Grove show area, about half of a swap meet. No entries in Nitro Pro Comp (Funny cars vs altereds vs dragsters on a 6.0 index). The area by the finish line grandstands previously packed with the Choppers, Shifters and similar cars was mostly golf carts and a beat up roundy-round car. There was a decent '35 3w, a '32, and an interesting '55 Chevy with a BBC set way back. Once again the fuel altereds stole the show with many strong passes, Pure Hell running 237 mph and Kyle Hough muscling Nanook on a typical old style fuel altered run (sideways on two wheels). Dan Horan dropped some jaws with a 267 mph pass trying to catch Drew Austin in the Funny Car final. The first car I saw when I got there Friday was the '32 with Mummert on the door sitting in the staging lanes - still no Y block in it though.... What is it with California hot rodders?? A car show, with drag races, at a legendary track, and no one goes?? Our small local shows seem to be well attended but give me the choice between sitting in a lawn chair at the VFW or sitting in the grandstands at Famoso and.... well, you know what I choose. A 3-day pass for one was only $60 with the AAA discount. I won't be surprised if CHRR #30 is the last one and they make the October final event just another Heritage Series points race and drop all the Reunion features. Is the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green having the same problem?
Hey, I was there, with the 50, in the grove, just relaxin, watching, listening to racing. it was abit small, but that's okay. I hauled a family friends mobility chair there, so he could see the sights. He drove his 41 ford, with a 427 SOHC there, he just couldn't walk very far without getting winded. It was quite a sight seeing him cruise the grounds in that chair. Grinning ear to ear. BigMike
^^^^ Great! I ran into several friends out there, so there are some die-hards that go regardless. I'm 71 and the wife and I still go for the weekend and sleep in our van. I started doing that because in the past if you didn't get to the track by dawn the parking lots were full and you had to park out on Hwy 46! (those days seem to be gone) Besides, there's nothing like waking up at the track to the sound of race engines and track scrubbers. Not to mention eating that breakfast burrito and coffee in the stands while watching the first few cars making passes.
I went every year for decades. Lived in B'field so just down the road. Retired and got out of the People's Republik Jan 2019 and moved to Texas. Lots of folks following me plus the g'b'mnt there is discuraging anything motorized. Handwriting is on the wall sadly.
There was eight of us that went, had a fine time, weather was great, not much down time and a lot of nice race cars. Sure, it was not as big as a couple years ago, but if you remember last year, they made it so hard to attend with the advanced sale... and only for the whole event. AND then $80 for some absurd parking deal; that may have discouraged a few. The swap meet there has always sucked, same dozen guys with the same overpriced stuff fighting over a nickel. Good event , and certainly beats going to Pomona for the NHRA shit show.
Sure missed seeing that Willys out there, it's always been a fixture. I think I only saw 3 or 4 street Willys out there this year. Don Waldron didn't put an entourage of gassers in the midway like he used to. And yeah, the atmosphere in this state is anti-cars if you believe the mainstream media but to see the racers out there running hard and thrashing sorta counteracts the 6 o'clock news blues, at least for a while.
Didn't go viewed some pics on FB, attendance looked lite. Viewed some YouTube of the Dragstrip stuff looked just OK. I viewed the Saturday Nite Push Start Cackle Show. Whom ever set up the Cameras and Microphones need to be Fired! Compared to Previous years, pathetic!!!! Think Nitro Revival is the place to be, and it's coming up!
Travel expenses are limiting some of the teams, and with the Cackle Fest cars, you have another event for those cars in 2 weeks over at Irwindale Racetrack, Figure at least 60 cars and this year its a 2 day event.
Yeah, racers I talked to said fuel and lodging was tough this year. Good to hear about Irwindale. I guess I can understand folks being loyal to Gibbs, especially if it's closer to home but the Bowsers deserve some too. They have the responsibility to try to keep one of California's last racetracks alive I left my camera and phone at home, right next to the front door so I wouldn't forget them.....oops.
I wore out my legs and feet at least a dozen times over the years, was worth it, nothing will erase the memories. The CHRR had no match in my opinion in its heyday, then it went sideways. We would go to the little shindig at the Doubletree with the same enthusiasm and then one year after sitting out a few years went back down but when we arrived at the hotel it was nearly a ghost town. Bob I can't imagine how many of those chorizo burritos I've consumed, miss them!
I get chorizo, coffee and two cups of salsa on Saturday morning and bacon, coffee and two cups of salsa on Sunday morning, it’s a ritual that’s carved in stone for me. I saw that red roadster from a distance and meant to go back to check it out but I got distracted and forgot. So much to look at, so short an attention span. I wish I had gone back to see it, it looks like a roadster that I had in my shop for custom headers years ago. Partsheimer’s, that’s pretty good. Me, I’m not too bad at finding parts that I’ve stashed in my shop (eventually) but I can find a million strange places to leave my phone.
I'll be going to Irwindale this year. Smaller/tighter space than Bakersfield, but MUCH closer to home ! 60 cars...great. Plus the general population showing up to bracket race. Should be some nice cars making laps on the track too. It didn't happen last year, but the year before was a good event. I'll go Saturday, and depending on what's going on, maybe I'll go back Sunday. Mike
yes, the breakfast burritos were pretty good. We walked from end to end, side to side, and all in between, never once pulled my phone out to take pics. I did spend a minute talking with HAMB member fiveoh108 (Mike Thomas). It was good seeing him out there. His falcon was running strong as ever. BigMike
The CHRR is still one of the premier go to events, no matter what your feelings. If you understand the entire point of these type of events. With these old racing heros leaving us in rapid order-- may be the last time you get to see them
Every year that list is a stunner. It's hard to stand there each year and hear the names of friends and legends who are no longer with us. I saw Phil Hobbs walking around at the reunion a few years ago. I stopped and asked if he was the Phil Hobbs of the Hirata and Hobbs team from years ago, he said yes. I told him I was a young fan back then - all the way across the country in L.A. He said that he was truly surprised how many people remembered him and their team. He said they were just racing and having fun, never thought about recognition, especially all these years later. I got the same reaction from George Montgomery when I met him. It's great that, through events like this, they get to know just how big their fan base is.
Had a Buick straight eight with a Weiand supercharger. Maybe someone else has more details... Car got a lot of attention.
Thanks MCjim would love to see a sound bite on that one, I sadly recall in the mid 50's a group of local rod guys put a 48 or so straight 8 buick bound for the salvage yard on blocks & ran it wide open attempting to blow it up, turned the exhaust manifolds cherry red, could never get it to blow, drained the coolant & ran till it seized. Crazy to say the least !
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