Further to this previous post about my images from the California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield in 2008, the new edition of Mensfile magazine is out, and my picture is a spread across pages 46 and 47. See the website for details of stockists – it’s a fantastic magazine!
The text accompanying the image reads as follows:
October 12 2008
17th NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion
Auto Club Famoso Raceway , Bakersfield
My dad got me into racing. Now I’m here in the Californian desert with a friend of his, dragster legend Bob Muravez, aka Floyd Lippencott Jr. Night has fallen and the temperature has dropped to single figures. There are dozens of drag cars lining up along the length of the Auto Club Famoso Raceway. White hydrogen flames are jetting out of exhaust headers. The air is thick with the acrid scent of nitro, and the noise is insane. This is the cacklefest.
Racing is racing, but the cacklefest is the heartbeat of the Hot Rod Reunion. There’s a whole bunch of memories getting stirred up by the sights and sounds and smells. A lot of the guys watching were there the first time around. For them, these cars are like old friends, and not all the tears shed can be blamed on the nitro fumes.
For the rest of us, experiencing it all for the first time, it’s no less visceral. Your senses are blasted, and that sensation lingers long after the last car falls silent. You don’t forget the cacklefest in a hurry. They did it for love, so they say, and that’s plain to see.
