Located in the small South Central Kentucky city of Bowling Green sits a drag strip that has been thrilling drivers and spectators with hair raising races since the early ’60s. However, about eleven years ago Dallas Jones, the owner of Beech Bend Raceway Park decided to throttle up the excitement to a whole new level by partnering up with the NHRA Motorsports Museum to host the annual National Holley Hot Rod Reunion. Since that first nostalgic conversion of all things rods and racing, this event has been one that has become a must attend for any automotive enthusiast.

For the past five years we have been going to the Holley Hot Rod Reunion; however this is only the second year that we’ve shared the excitement. Every year we have seen hundreds more cars show up as well as thousands of spectators year after year almost doubling the attendance. In fact there was an estimated 30,000 people, almost 2,000 hot rods, and over 600 race cars to come through the gates this year.

Ready For Action

If you are wondering why you would want to go to one of greatest combinations of racing and cool hot rods, just ask yourself a couple of questions. Are you someone who gets chills when you hear the loud crackle of a front engine dragster or see an old school gasser pull the front wheels three feet off the track? Or how about when you walk up on a mid-’50s lead sled to see it is all built with period correct parts or when you hear the hard hitting cam of a 60s musclecar? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you better start making plans to hit the road for the next Hot Rod Reunion – now!

Show cars, drag cars, gassers, jalopies, street rods – you name it and it’s more than welcome at the Hot Rod Reunion.

Here in Bowling Green we automatically know that the Thursday through Saturday of Father’s Day weekend will be spent at the track taking in all the sights and sounds and this year proved to be one of the best Reunions we have attended to date.

It’s almost as much a tradition as the reunion itself that it might rain at least one of the three days. However, this year we were blessed with a calm and fairly cool weekend, and not a drop in the sky. The change in weather was evident by the number of people at the track early in the weekend.

Rolling In

As soon as we made our way through down the winding tree lined road and to the gate of Beech Bend Raceway Park early Thursday morning there were already hundreds of Show n’ Shine cars finding their places along the grass and throughout the park. We could also hear the scream of the fuelies and nitro cars getting warmed up in the pits. After we found our parking spot we started walking around to get a feel for the layout and where all the excitement would be happening.

We soon found our way over to the top fuel trailers to watch them diagnosing the cars to get ready for qualifying.  There is one thing that these nitro cars have to do in order to be sure they are race ready and that is warming up the engine and making sure the clutch is seated correctly. The only way they can do this is buy starting the car right there in the pits. If you have never stood next to a nitro car while this is happening, then in our minds you haven’t quite lived a full life.

The Roar

The sound is almost deafening and vibrates throughout your whole body. You can see the raw fuel blasting from the headers, making your eyes water, your nose run and your throat burn. It’s an awesome feeling, almost like going through the gas chamber in Army basic training. It is extremely intense as you try to cover your eyes and plug your nose, yet you don’t want to walk away. It’s an experience you will definitely never forget.

One of those cars that we watched the crew tear the motor apart and reassemble its components in a blink of an eye was the historically famous Jungle Jim Funny Car. This year it was being driven by Rick Krafft (who has also driven the Brand X car). Rick told us he had been racing funny cars since he was 19 years old and absolutely loves it. “There is no greater honor than being able to drive this car,” Rick shared with us.

Back in the day Jungle Jim would thrill crowds all over the country with his long burnouts and if you remember the backup girls; Jungle Pam could get the crowd even more excited than just watching Jim race. Back in the early days of racing not only was it about winning that race, it was also about who could be the biggest showman. And Jungle Jim and Pam had the routine mastered.

Show ‘N’ Shine

Throughout the weekend we watched a steady flow of Show ‘N’ Shine cars roll through the gates. The grounds were loaded with everything from bone stock Edsel wagons to over the top jaw rattling Camaros with what seemed like supersonic horsepower. This is the kind of show where the purists, musclecar enthusiasts, traditional sled drivers, and the rusty rat guys all get together and have a great time without prejudice. Some of them swap stories about how it was when hot rodding began all those years ago and would share tips they have learned over the years to gain better performance out of their rods.

The sights and sounds coming from every direction are amazing down here. At one moment you could hear the roar of the cars running the quarter mile at breakneck speeds, such as when Roger Lechtenburg ran 259.66 mph during one of his qualifying runs. Or when you’re walking through the show cars and hear that loud thump of a hard cam running with short zoomies, like Kenny Shain’s 1933 Austin Bantam.

If you happened to accidently make a wrong turn and ended up down here, hopefully you were someone who loved this stuff or you were in big trouble because you couldn’t escape it. One of the classes of cars that are truly nostalgic are the “Geezer Gassers.” There may be cars running around down here with air ride systems to get them as low as they can go, but these Gassers are all about riding high.

Gassers & Wheelies

This was thought to give it better weight distribution when racing. We stopped to check out Jerry North’s all steel body 1941 Willys Coupe and Jerry told us he has completely gone over this car from bumper to bumper. This car looks more like a show car than it does a car he actually runs the quarter mile with. After running a quick 7 second car for years, his family asked if he could slow it down a little. Now he’s in the low 10s at roughly 135 mph and still loves every minute of it.

Every year here at the National Hot Rod Reunion they always bring in some amazing exhibition cars that bring the crowd to their feet at every run. To heat things up and blow off some smoke, the jet cars driven by Elaine Larson and Marisha Falk have the capability to run speeds over 300 mph. When they hit the afterburners to take off down the track everyone from young to old stands up to see them run. Afterwards these two ladies are always available to their fans to sign autographs and get kids excited about racing.

There is another kind of car that has been thrilling crowds for decades; the wheel standers. This year there were two of them two wheeling it down the track at over 100 mph. Probably one of the more nostalgic of the two was the Hemi Under Glass, which was being driven by Bob Riggle, the original driver from the 70s. Once the crowd found out this could be the last time anyone would see him or the car on a track, it made it that much more memorable.

The other car was the Superwinch ’34 Ford, driven and developed by Danny O’day. This car is an absolute marvel of engineering. From the placement of the engine to the live drive shaft running directly to the gear box, it’s completely backwards to the conventional thinking. “One thing I couldn’t figure out at first was how straight this car is going down the track. Then I realized that because the engine is turning one way and the transmission is turning the other way it actually cancels out the torque to be perfectly balanced,” Danny said.

People always ask how he sees; having the car up so high he is able to see the track through the plexiglass grille. Even though he has run this car as fast as 169 mph, this weekend he was running about 155 mph. Yea, but remember that’s only on two wheels!

Wrapping Up

The weekend always comes to an end with the parade of nostalgic nitro and alcohol cars being pushed down to the top end of the track. Once all the honorees and drivers have made their way, the thunderous sound of popping and crackling heads back towards the grandstands to begin the Cacklefest. Dozens of cars line up in front of the stands revving their engines and blowing fire from the exhaust. The air begins to fill with the smell of raw fuel. The crowds go crazy and scream for more. It’s an explosive ending to one of the best National Hot Rod Reunions so far.

But there’s no need to worry, if you missed this one there is now a total of three reunions every year. The next one is the inaugural New England Hot Rod Reunion at the historic New England Dragway in Epping, NH in September. If you can make it there, it will definitely be worth your time and guaranteed you will never forget the experience.

For more Hot Rod Reunion action, check out our EXCLUSIVE gallery below: