The key word in the CHRR is Reunion. Unlike the March Meet which is a race, the CHRR is a race within a social event. If I was forced to attend only one event a year, it would be, without question, this one. There is so much going on and so many people that its impossible to do it all in three days. Just like it is impossible to put up all the photos we'd like to. Here are a small sampling of what the event looks like off the track.

 

For the last 10 years it has been a custom for all the members in attendance from the Standard 1320 Group to gather in front of the tower at noon on Saturday for photos (inevitably many never make it as they are racing). And every year the lens needs to be wider. The head count for 2008 was something like 110.

 

Anita Smith and Pat "Ma" Green always set the tone early on.

 

It is said that most all the old players still above grass make an appearance at the CHRR. And every year there are those who finally make the trek to Bakersfield and ask themselves why haven't they been here before. One such character from the past was George "The Stone Age Man" Hutchenson. Armed with his signature plum helmet, he simply had a ball and vows to be back next year. Below George shares some memories with Harry Hibler.

 

 

Two vets with their way more than their share of drag racing war wounds, Herm Petersen and Frank Rupert

 

 

 

Rose Gruzen won the back-up girl award.

 

Bob Muravez, Blake Bowser and Dusty McWillams - no comment necessary.

 

Mike Kuhl is the go to guy for fuel system help with your cacklecar. He spent some time with John Dearmore and sure enough, the Gingrass & Dearmore car ran just like it was suppose to.

 

Carl Olson and Ronnie Hampshire

 

Ma Green and Mr. Cacklefest - Bill Pitts

 

Jim Sorenson and his hero, Steve Reyes

 

WDIFL photog Bob Brown

 

 

 

There is a great story to go with these three photos. In short, we lost arguably the best drag racing cartoonist ever - Pete Millar in February of 2003. His wife Orah Mae and daughter Robin have carried on his legacy and as they manned their DragCARTOONS booth at the CHRR, Steven C. Wallace and Bob Muravez surprised them with some very special photos.

 

It was a little known secret at the time but during the 2003 March Meet Muravez honored Pete's request to have his ashes spread at his favorite place - Famoso Raceway. Bob put Pete into the chute pack of the Western Hoist Spec. Top Fuel dragster and proceeded to take him for his last ride. When Bob pulled the chutes it looked like (and people thought) he'd hurt the engine. For those of us who knew what was happening it was a very touching thing to watch.

 

Prior to the run Wallace was asked to shoot it from the top end. He did and until now the photos have been in his possession. The end of this story is he, and Muravez, presented the sequence of photos, mounted and framed, to Orah Mae and Robin.

 

 

Another touching thing for many of us this year was the debut of the Pat Foster Memorial Bench that will be a fixture in The Grove.

 

 

Famed starter, Larry Sutton with Danny Porche (above) and Mike Boyd (below).

 

 

The next 12 shots may be of more interest to racers and engineers. But, they also give the fans a great example of new technology and drag racings ever increasing attention to safety.

 

What's this you ask? It's the remains of the cage of Brad Thompson's Top Fuel car that he crashed in the final at the 2008 Boise Nightfire Nationals.

 

 

This is Thompson's new car with some very significant chassis improvements designed by Steve Faria. Since all of Thompson's serious injuries were caused because the car hit the guardwall back first (at over 200 mph) the alterations to the new car focus on the back of the cage. Thompson feels the extra 20 pounds of tubing is cheap insurance that can be made up elsewhere in the car.

 

 

 

 

Notice that the seat is not molded to the rear uprights. There is a gap (to allow some compression give) in the now "floating" carbon fiber seat.

 

 

 

 

Another trick safety feature is the lip on the motor plate that the cowl will slide into thus giving the cockpit a better seal in case of oil or fire. Providing he is released by the doctors, the car will debut at the March Meet.

 

 

I'll be back!

 

 

The High Speed Motorsports team had to do an engine swap after round two. They don't need no stinking engine hoist! The entire process is can be seen on the High Speed Motorsports website.

 

The Paso Posse team.

 

 

The pits were loaded with beautiful race cars.

Camped at the top end, Tim Hanaseth was overcome with excitement. Or, he was praying for a nice juicy blower explosion.

The High Speed Motorsports pit was a fun place to be following the semi-finals when they were crowed Top Fuel Champions.

1st Qualifying Session - Friday 2nd Qualifying Session - Saturday Top Fuel Round One - Saturday Top Fuel Eliminations - Sunday TF & FC Finals - All Winners - Other Cars

If you are reading our coverage of the CHRR, and appreciate the enormous effort that goes into it, you must be a fan of nostalgia racing. As you enjoy this extensive recap of the event you must also realize this form of drag racing started back in 1950 and on the member side of WDIFL.com there are over 90,000 photos of drag racing history with hundreds more added every month. For less than a cup of fancy coffee at Starbucks you can enjoy an entire month of viewing... That's affordable entertainment in these tough times. Also notice WDIFL.com is not cluttered up with advertising on every page...just stories and photos. We rely on our memberships to support this site. So do us and yourself a favor, pass on a single cup of coffee and join our other members who enjoy hour after hour of affordable entertainment. You just may decide, as others have for the past ten years, that you want to join for month after month... but that will be your choice as you can terminate your membership at any time. To our loyal members we thank you for your continued support.

Related Links

Cacklefest.com

Jack Harris Racing - Nitro Thunder

High Speed Motorsports

WW2 Racing

Order Photos

Bob Brown Photos

Stephen Justice Photos

Stephen C. Wallace

Tim Hanaseth Photos

Pam Schavrien Photos

Darrell Conrad Photos

Dan Kaplan

Paul Hutchins

Jim Sorenson

 

 

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