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45th NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS, April 29 – May 1, 2022

admin — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 00:10:10 +0000

45th WESTERN NATS, KERN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, BAKERSFIELD, CA Sunday was the last day of the event. In the morning the award winners gathered in the winners’ circle at 10:00 am and were on view until the award ceremony which started at 1:00 pm. (All the award winners have been posted and can be seen below). As usual a lot of future hot rodders came to the show with their families. Below is a young fellow named Ford – but it does look like he’s a Chevy man Also having fun were (from left to right) Adrian, Michael, Julian, Adalize, and Mariana. And this is Victoria – we predict someday she’ll trade that Radio Flyer in for a Ford. Not to be outdone by the kids, there were some very beautiful cars in the fairgrounds: And there were unusual cars – a stretched ’55 Chevy. – a Model A towing a trailer with a buffalo. The Safety inspectors worked Friday and Saturday providing free inspections looking at 23 different pieces of equipment on each vehicle. Among other things the fuel system, steering, exhaust system, tires and brakes are inspected. This year 64 vehicles were inspected, 47 passed and 46 of those received a Safety 23 sticker. After the awards were given on Sunday, numbers were drawn and the Super prizes were given away. Addison drew the numbers: At the end of the awards ceremony, Addison made three individuals very happy when she drew their numbers and they left with an extra $2,000. Alfred Paredez, Karl Russell and Carolyn Raidor, received their checks from Mike Adams, the NSRA Western Nats program director. This year the attendance was 1,135 – not quite back to pre-pandemic standards. Next year this event will be held on April 28, 29 and 30. As always the Western Nats was a great week-end but it did have to end. Following below are photos of the award winners. This 1967 Corvette owned my Mike and Diane Ferola is the timingtower.com pick. We’ll have a feature on this beautiful Stingray posted soon. More to come Monday evening. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SATURDAY, APRIL 30 Saturday was a busy day at the Western Nats. First thing this morning the safety inspectors got busy going over the cars that lined up for this free and very important service provided by NSRA. This is also the time when the kids games were set up. The kids put together puzzles, colored, and played ring toss. It was a fun time. The adults had some fun too connecting with old friends, meeting new ones and looking at all the fine cars at the show. There were some pretty unique cars at the fairgrounds. In 1958 this ’32 was the first roadster to travel at 200 mph at Bonneville. The car was owned by Chuck Edwards, driven by Tony Waters and is now owned by Doug Edwards. This car not only had FLAMES but the color scheme was outstanding. This early Vette has a custom front end. The highlight of tomorrow will be the awards ceremony and the super prize giveaway. Over $54,000 worth of prizes will be given way this week-end. We’ll have an article with photos of all the award winners posted on Monday evening. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FRIDAY, APRIL 29 This was the first day of the show. So far 1,050 cars are registered for the event. Since Saturday is always the “big” day, more are expected. If today is any indication, the fairgrounds is going to be filled with a whole lot of nice vehicles. It’s hard to beat the classic lines of a tri-five Chevy. We saw everything from fins .. to “in the weeds”. There were trucks and … panels. Also on hand were depot hacks … and a customized Giha. There will be plenty of cars to see tomorrow as well as other activities such as a swap meet, the Streets of Rods, commercial exhibits, a crafts fair, kids games, and the safety inspectors will be hard at work again. We’ll be back at the fairgrounds tomorrow and will post again tomorrow night. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ An anticipated 1,700 street rods, hot rods, muscle cars, customs, rat rods, and classics will be on hand on April 29-May 1 for the 45th NSRA Western Street Rod Nationals in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA. This will be the 35th time the event has been held at Bakersfield. An all time high number of spectators are expected to attend over the week-end. Additionally, many vendors will fill the buildings in the fairgrounds in addition to those that will set up throughout the grounds. Like past years, this will be an event you do not want to miss. Event registration will be held in the Doubletree Hotel, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, Bakersfield. Hours: Thursday, April 28 at 12 noon to 6:00 pm, Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Timingtower.com will be at the event all week-end and will post coverage on Friday and Saturday nights. In addition, we will post an article and photos on Monday evening, including photos of the award winners. Check back here throughout the week-end.

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NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS, October 29, 30,31, 2021

admin — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 01:22:49 +0000

THE 44th ANNUAL NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS were held in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA on October 29, 30, and 31, 2021. Five words perfectly describe the week-end: IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK. After lock downs, masks and mandates it was obvious that people were glad to return to normal. The Western Nats provided normal in abundance. There were 1,234 vehicles in the Fairgrounds as well as a crowd of spectators. The show opened on Friday morning and by about 3:00 on Sunday it was over. Between Friday and Sunday though there were so many cars to look at: This is Grant standing next to a tricked out 1957 Chevy. This year the timingtower.com award went to Tony Davidson and his ’34 Ford 5-window high boy coupe. We’ll have more photos and a feature article on this car. Since this was Halloween week-end there were plenty of reminders of the holiday: There were witches: Pumpkins – also known as Halloweenie Trick or Treaters – Spider-man is really Braden. Skeletons – Gabrielle and Mikey. Herman Munster was there. If you use your imagination the rear of this nice, black 1959 Chevy resembles a bat. While Halloween did add some fun, the week-end was all about the cars. Also, as in past years, the NSRA safety inspectors were hard at work. They inspected 72 cars with 59 receiving the Safety 23 pin. These inspectors give up their week-end to make sure others get home safely. Their work is greatly appreciated. Photos of the award winners are shown below. Following the award ceremony, many great prizes were given away. Bradley made some very happy folks by drawing all the winning tickets. In addition to merchandise prizes, NSRA gave away three $2,000 checks. The winners were Dan Hayes of Bakersfield, Ernie Lowe of Wasco, and Charles Ray Shannon of Bakersfield. Standing with the winners is Tom Wilkerson, the event director. After the award ceremony and prize giveaways, it was over. For awhile it seemed the 44th Western Nats wouldn’t get off the ground, but it did, and now the 45th Western Nats is in the planning stage. It will be held April 29, 30 and May 1, 2022 in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA. NSRA 2021 SUNDAY AWARD CEREMONY – this year 43 awards were given. We know everyone is interested in the award winners and we wanted to get those photos up as soon as possible. More photos and an article will be posted this evening. Below are the NSRA 2021 award winners. There were 43 awards given. Photos of the winners are divided into three galleries. The photos are in the same order as the awards were given – if you are looking for a particular car and know it was one of the first to received an award, look in the first gallery. NOTE: We no longer sell photos through Smug Mug despite indications above. If you are interested in photos or digital downloads please contact us at timingtower@gmail.com. AWARD GALLERY NO. 1 AWARD GALLERY #2 AWARD GALLERY NO. 3 SATURDAY OCTOBER 30 UPDATE; There were more cars in the Fairgrounds today, but it doesn’t look like we’ll make the 1,500+that attended in 2019. We’ll get the final attendance numbers tomorrow. No matter how many cars attended, it was terrific to be outside at a car show again. Here are photos of some of the great cars we saw today. The awards ceremony will be held tomorrow. Photos of the award winners, more event photos and an article will be posted Monday night. This year the timingtower.com pick is Tony Davidson’s outstanding 1934 5-window highboy coupe. FRIDAY OCTOBER 29 UPDATE: Registration for the NSRA Western Nats started on Thursday and by Friday nearly 1100 cars were registered – many of them were in the Kern County Fairgrounds on Friday. If today was a sampling of what to expect this week-end, we will be seeing a lot of outstanding cars. Below are a few: Trick or Treat!!! Saturday is always the big day for this event and this year should be no exception. The rest of the week-end is predicted to be like today – perfect car show weather. Check back tomorrow night for more event photos and another update. After lockdowns, masks and mandates, the NSRA Western Nats is back!! The National Street Rod Assoc. will hold its 44th annual Western Nationals in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA on October 29, 30, & 31, 2021. Event registration will take place at the Doubletree Hotel Bakersfield, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, Bakersfield starting Thursday Oct. 28 from 12 noon to 6 p.m. Registration will continue on Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is also available at the Fairgrounds. The event is open to vehicles manufactured in 1991 and before. In past years about 1,800 cars have attended this event and this year, we hope, will meet or exceed this number. Hot rods, classics, muscle cars, rat rods and other vintage automobiles will be on display in the Fairgrounds. As usual there will be a swap meet, women’s world and dozens of exhibitors set up in the Fairgrounds. Spectator gates at the Fairgrounds will open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. Each year about 35 vehicles are selected to take home a coveted NSRA award. The winners gather in the winners’ circle on Sunday morning and one by one each car is driven into the amphitheater and in front of the stage to receive the award. For many years, Timingtower.com has been honored to select a vehicle to receive an award. Below is a photo of the 2019 winner selected by Timingtower.com. Timingtower.com will be in Bakersfield again this year for the NSRA Western Nats. Friday and […]

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MARCH MEET 60! FAMOSO RACEWAY, MARCH 1-5, 2018

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 23:16:56 +0000

MARCH MEET 60 All of the photos shown below are on our SmugMug site. Click on the SmugMug icon: All the photos on SmugMug are available for purchase. TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE We have received all Monday race results. All final results are reported after the two funny car galleries below. Photos of the Sunday night nitro car winners can be seen under SUNDAY RESULTS, also below. TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE As yet the tower has released no race results from racing on Monday. However, we were able to learn that Kin Bates won A Fuel running an ET of 5.85 at 233 mph. Below are two galleries representing most of the large field of Funny Cars that showed up for March Meet 2018. All March Meet 2018 final round of elimination race results: Sunday nitro car finals Funny Car – Bobby Cottrell met Ryan Hodgson. Cottrell ran an ET of 5.723 at 241.41 mph to take the win. Hodgson turned in an ET of 5.957 at 240.31. Top Fuel – Pete Wittenberg sat next to Mendy Fry in the finals. While Fry took the early lead, after Wittenberg stumbled off the line. Fry was disqualified after she crossed the center line giving Wittenberg the win. AA/Fuel Altered – Dan Hix was the winner. He met Eric Gates in the finals. Hix ran an ET of 6.301 at 168.13 mph. Gates had trouble from the start running an ET of 9.914 at 93.32 mph. 5.90 Funny Car – Dean Oberg in Holy Toledo motored down the track after Jeff Utterback broke at the line. Oberg ran 14.196 at 59.74 mph. Rear Engine Top Fuel – Mike Halstead took the win with an ET of 8.290 at 223.95 mph to beat Billy McDevitt who ran at ET of 18.171 at 42.60 mph. An examination of the winning speeds in the finals versus top speeds of the weekend reflects that the fuel cars noted above, which ran after 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night, ran significantly slower on the cold track. (Funny Car – weekend top speed 259.61 – finals winning speed 241.41; AA Fuel Altered – weekend top speed 209.94 – finals winning speed 168.14; Rear Engine Top Fuel – weekend top speed 257.14 – finals winning speed 223.95.) The races reported below took place on Monday. A/Fuel – Kin Bates (photo shown at the top of the article) beat Rick Ewens in the finals. Bates ran an ET of 5.894 at 233.88 and Ewens had a ET of 6.072 at 220.84 mph. Jr. Fuel – John Marottek took the win with an ET of 6.871 at 190.86 beating Matt Baldonado who turned in an ET of 7.061 at 185.36 mph. 7.0 Pro – The winner of this class was Ronnie Lemon with an ET of 7.128 at 168.39. Runner-up Tony Trimp ran an ET of 7.294 at 193.29 mph. Nostalgia Eliminator I – This 7.6 index class was won by Dan Schrokosch with an ET of 7.619 at 178.19 mph. Ed Silberman was runner-up with an ET of 7.621 at 164.51 mph. Nostalgia Eliminator II – Sam Tucker took the win in this 8.6 index class against Todd Fernandez. Tucker ran an ET of 8.621 to 146.88 an Fernandez ran an ET of 8.603 at 153.44. Fernandez lost this race at the line with a reaction time of .043 to Tucker’s .019. Nostalgia Eliminator III – Ed DeStaute won this race after Jim Miller broke. DeStatute ran an ET of 9.575 at 139.69 mph. A Gas – Frank Merenda won this race after a double break out. Merenda ran an ET of 7.550, on a 7.6 index, at 174.93 mph. Eric Busch ran an ET of 7.535 at 179.40 mph. B Gas – This class runs on a 8.6 index. Neal Westbrook took the win on a red-light by Tim Mulvhill. Westbrook ran an ET of 8.568 at 161.57. C Gas – PJ Glacalone won this 9.6 index class. Glacalone ran an ET of 9.666 at 132.37 while Larry Hesseman Jr ran 9.600 at 136.72 mph. Glacalone got off the line first with a reaction time of .024 to Hesseman’s .095. D Gas – This is a 10.6 class. Dan Fournier turned in an ET of 10.647 at 123.77 mph to take the win. Dan Ficher, runner-up, broke out with an ET of 10.566. Hot Rod – Dale Hicks running on a 9.71 dial-in ran an ET of 10.639 at 96.66 mph beating Anita Hendry who broke. Below are photos of some of the cars racing at March Meet. This nice looking ’40 Ford pick-up did an impressive burn-out, but then the drivetrain grenaded on launch scattering small pieces of metal at the start line. Below are two galleries of cars in the grove over the week-end. Not many folks braved the rain, mud and puddles to come out. We will update the final race results as information is received. All of the photos shown above are on our SmugMug site. Click on the SmugMug icon: All the photos on SmugMug are available for purchase. _____________________________________________________________________________ SUNDAY RESULTS After a long cold day at the track, racing ended on Sunday night under the lights after 7:00 p.m. Most classes didn’t complete elimination rounds and will finish on Monday. However, Funny Car, Top Fuel, Fuel Altered, Rear Engine Top Fuel and 5.90 Funny Car did finish. The cold track hampered the performance of the nitro cars. At the end of racing on Sunday – the winners were: TOP FUEL – Mendy Fry in High Speed met Pete Wittenburg in Circuit Breaker in the finals. Fry took the lead off the line and opened the gap until she reached half track when she got loose and drifted over the center line taking out some of the timing cones. This disqualified her and Wittenburg and Circuit Breaker are the 2018 Top Fuel March Meet champions. Wittenburg had a reaction time of .161 but smoked the tires after leaving the line. He ran […]

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CALIFORNIA HOT ROD REUNION, OCT. 23-25, 2015

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 06:08:46 +0000

The California Hot Rod Reunion is truly a national and international event. Not only did racers come from all of the western states, but New York, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin and Kansas as well. Several racers were from Canada, three or four from England and one from Scotland. Quite a lot went on at the Reunion – besides the racing, of course. Saturday afternoon NE II driver Tom Mardis and Sonya Rosas got married in the winners’ circle – Chaplin Matt performed the ceremony. The ceremony was delayed somewhat to allow groomsman, Bobby Cottrell, to finish his 7.0 Pro run. Sonya said that the 2015 March Meet brought the couple together. Seems fitting the Reunion should host the wedding. Saturday night at the end of Funny Car racing the family and crew of War Horse driver Roger Garten held a missing man fire-up. Garten passed away in June from injuries sustained in an on-track accident at Famoso. A fuel altered driven by Garten in the ‘70’s was pushed to the start line where the War Horse crew fired it up. The crew stood back from the car and let it run for about 60 seconds before shutting it down. It was a fitting tribute to Roger Garten and War Horse. Sunday morning Braylen posed for photos in front of Funny Car Crop Duster. While Braylen was suited up and ready to race, he spent some time collecting autographs from his fans. Although only three years old now, plans are for Braylen to be behind the butterflies of the Crop Duster in about 15 years. Tradition held, and after the Sunday morning ceremonies Red Greth’s Speed Sport roadster opened the first round of Funny Car racing. The Speed Sport roadster was given a push start, ran up the Budweiser lane, turned and made a pass down the Auto Club lane. The Speed Sport roadster, a ‘27 T, is known as “Old Noisy” because of the noise coming out of its eight tailpipes. Drag racing is, of course, a family affair as demonstrated in the Fuel Altered class. Pure Hell, was driven by Brian Hope while Rat Trap was piloted by his Dad, Ron Hope. On Sunday, the two met in the Chicago Style shoot-out. Brian demonstrated he had a good teacher by beating his Dad to the finish line. Hot rods, customs, rat rods, classics and old dragsters filled The Grove on Saturday. Sunday saw fewer cars in The Grove, but there was still plenty to see. As always, Cacklefest was held on Saturday night. This year more than 70 restored and/or re-pop nitro burning dragsters participated. Cacklefest is appropriately named. On Saturday the push cars were lined up and ready to go. Exhibition cars ran all week-end so there was never a lull in the action. Collin Millar brought his Anglia, The Flyin Fyfer, from Scotland to run exhibition – and according to the tower announcer – it took 7 weeks on a ship. Jerry Lee covered the quarter mile with the front wheels of his Model T Flatbed lifted. Fighting Irish the Funny Car ran side-by-side against Fighting Irish the Top Fuel car (the Funny Car won). Two altereds, Iron Maiden and High Heaven, ran. And, of course, racing ended Saturday and Sunday when jet car Black Pearl made the final pass of the day. And now for the final race results: The first pair to run a final round were Howard Anderson and Gary Renerio in AA/Supercharged. Anderson was in a ’38 Chevy Coupe and Reinero drove in a ’48 Austin. Anderson got off the line first with a reaction time of .078. Reinero was right behind Anderson with a reaction time of .084. Although the two had near identical speeds, Anderson at 208.88 to Reinero’s 208.33, Anderson got to the end first with an ET of 6.552 to Reinero’ss 6.723. Jr. Fuel cars were next up with Scott Parks and Don Enriquez sitting at the line. Enriquez ran on a 7.15 dial-in and Parks on a 7.02 dial-in. Although Enriquez had a better reaction time, .034 to Park’s .083, Parks crossed the finish line first. Parks ran an a ET of 6.837 at 191.24 mph and Enriquez ran an ET of 7.192 at 185.54 miles per hour. After Jr. Fuel it was the Pro Mods turn at the line. Andrew Berry the No. 1 qualifier in a ’68 Camaro met No. 3 qualifier Rob Moore in a ’60 Chevy Impala. This was quite a contest ending with Berry running .033 of a second quicker. Berry had an ET of 6.013 and Moore ran an ET of 6.046. Berry took the win traveling 242.76 mph to Moore’s 239.36. The A/FX finals put two Fords side-by-side. Steve Whitemore in a 427 ci ’69 Mustang and David Franklin in Old Yeller a 429 ci Gallaxie. Franklin broke out running a 9.225 ET on a 9.25 dial-in letting Whitemore have the win. Whitemore ran a 10.307 on a 10.25 dial-in at 129.47 mph. Next up were the Fuel Altereds. This was the final run of the final race for Pure Hell. Pure Hell made a valiant effort but couldn’t out run the Mike Sullivan Fiat. Jeremy Sullivan ran an ET of 6.20. Brian Hope ran an ET of 6.37. Pure Hell in the final run of its final race. The A Gas finals found Steve ‘Flattop’ Faller in the Auto Club lane and Brendon Frye in the Budweiser lane. Flattop was too quick leaving the line and turned the light red while Frey broke out running an ET of 7.569 on a 7.6 index. Frye took the win. DeWayne Sanders and Billy McDevitt were the two finalists in 7.0 Pro. Sanders took the win on McDevitt’s red-light. Sanders ran an ET of 7.36 on a 7.00 index at 136.91 mph. In A Fuel the win light went to Drew Austin. Bobby Cottrell was quicker off the line with a .008 reaction time to Austin’s .045. But Austin made up the […]

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