This week-end the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield was awash in color as 1,852 of the finest cars you will see anywhere were parked side-by-side and nose to tail. It seems that since NSRA changed to add younger cars to the line-up, the age of the participants has also become younger. This is a good sign for the hobby and we hope this trend continues.
Meet Stevielee – she brought this awesome ’57 Chevy Bel Air to the show although she let her dad Rick Slape drive
Registration started on Thursday and on Friday morning the cars started filling the Fairgrounds — and they just kept on coming.
This is a show with something for everyone starting with the Thursday night welcome back BBQ hosted by the Bakersfield Visitors and Convention Bureau. Then — the men’s golf tournament, women’s golf tournament, games for the kids, shopping at Women’s World, ladies’ tea with a novelty hat contest, vehicle safety inspections, three tech seminars including those by RideTech on suspension and by FAST on carburetors versus fuel injection, Streets of Rods which included Drop Top Blvd. (open to all ’37 and newer ragtops), A Bone Alley (open to all Model A Fords), Prime Time Place (open to all cars in primer), a continental breakfast which served 69 dozen donuts, church service on Sunday morning with the Pacesetters Quartet singing gospel, Saturday afternoon and evening music by the Cruise Knights, food, ice cream and beer vendors, campgrounds from bus-size RV’s to teardrop trailers both restored and repops, a whole lot of vendors in two buildings and a long vendors’ row, and, of course, crusin’ all day and into the night. All the above doesn’t include the beautiful blue sunny skies provided by Mother Nature or the welcome shade trees scattered throughout the Fairgrounds. This show runs seamlessly from start to finish and we have event director Mike Chrispyn, NSRA and a host of volunteers to thank for a terrific week-end.
Below are a few of the nice cars at the show.
Friday and Saturday found the safety inspectors in the barn under cars. These guys give up their “fun” to look over every car brought to them. The inspections are free and the inspectors look at everything from the windshield wipers to the throttle linkage. This year 138 cars were inspected, 118 passed and 113 received the safety 23 sticker. Last year nationwide the NSRA safety inspectors inspected 14,856 cars and since 1980 when NSRA started keeping records, 366,000 cars have been inspected. This program demonstrates NSRAs commitment to safety and all the hours that these volunteers give to keep the rest of us safe and on the road is very much appreciated.
This year the 1940 Willys Coupe of Dan Semchuk was picked to receive the timingtower.com award. This car raced in the early 1960’s but nearly met its end in 1966 when a clutch explosion ripped it apart. Dan bought it in 1966 and brought it back to life. You can see a feature on this car by clicking the tab “Featured Cars” above.
All day, every day, Wings Callahan played the tunes and called the raffle numbers. Thousands of dollars of merchandise was given away throughout the week-end to those lucky enough to have their entry number called. Sunday morning starting at 10:00 a.m. all the award winners gathered in the winners’ circle. This provided a good opportunity to look over the cars and talk to the car owners.
Some of the cars that were in the winners circle are shown here.
At 2:00 p.m. the awards ceremony started. One by one the 38 trophy winners paraded past the grandstand to be presented with a trophy plaque. Another raffle followed the award presentation which culminated with the award of three $3,000 cash prizes.
Below are three of the award winners. All award winners can be seen by clicking this SmugMug link http://timingtower.smugmug.com/
And by 3:15 p.m. it was all over. Another great week-end. The Western Nats will be back at the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield on April 25, 26, and 27, 2014.
UPDATE: SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013
The NSRA Western Nats kicked off on Friday, April 26, 2013 in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, California. 1,850 cars were on display.
Below are a few of the nice cars we found. Look here on Monday evening for a complete article and photos of the event.
CHECK HERE MONDAY EVENING TO SEE THE GREAT CARS AND READ ABOUT THE NSRA WESTERN NATS.
Once again the NSRA Western Street Rod Nationals+ will be held at the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA. The event starts Friday April 26 and runs through Sunday April 28, 2013. Over 2000 specialty vehicles, 30 years and older, are expected to arrive from all over the U.S. and Canada and will be on display. Expect to see street rods, customs, classics, rat rods, muscle cars, pick-up trucks — just about everything. Show hours are: Friday 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Spectators can walk-in at the Fairgrounds. Registration for event participants will be held at the Doubletree Hotel, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, Bakersfield on Thursday 1:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.; Friday 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; and Saturday 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
More than 80 vendors will be selling all those things you need to keep your hot rod on the road and looking good. Vendors will be in the two huge exhibit buildings and in the outdoor midway. Women’s World will again be set up and offering arts, crafts and antiques and a couple of pinstripers will be on hand. And of course Wings Callahan will be providing tunes and drawing prize-winning tickets throughout each day. This year more than $72,000 in prizes will be given away in the Super Prize Program plus three $3,000 cash prizes. But you have to enter your car to win.
Sunday morning all the award winners will be on display in the Circle of Winners. These cars will be on display until the awards ceremony starts in the mid-afternoon. This is a good chance not only to see the winners up close but to talk to the owners.
Sunday afternoon the award winners will parade in front of the grandstand to receive their trophies and Super Prize tickets will be drawn. Once the last prize is given away, it’s over – until next year. For more information go to NSRA.
