Holley Hot Rod Reunion Draws Thousands to Bowling Green

06/21/2017
10 min read

Holley Hot Rod Reunion Draws Thousands to Bowling Green

06/21/2017
10 min read
The 15th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion over Father's Day weekend at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Holley's hometown of Bowling Green, Ky., was another smash hit. Fans and participants braved foul weather Thursday, then took in a full day of action-packed qualifying on Friday and eliminations on Saturday. Veteran Jim Murphy, a star of Top Fuel and Funny Car from the 1970s to the 1990s and a leader in the nostalgia drag racing movement of this century, claimed the Top Fuel title and took over the NHRA points lead from March Meet winner Mendy Fry. Fans gazed at hundreds of classic cars and hot rods between rounds of racing, perused a jam-packed midway of automotive vendors, scored deals at the memorabilia swap meet, enjoyed a great car show full of vintage iron, and concluded the festivities Saturday night with the always exciting "cacklefest" of nitro-burning machinery, including Bruce Larson's USA-1 Corvette and the Castronovo Bros. Custom Body Dodge Funny Car. Scroll down for a complete list of race and show winners and more great shots from the weekend. And for a huge gallery with dozens more images, click here. DRAG RACE WINNERS NOSTALGIA TOP FUEL: Jim Murphy 7.0 PRO: Don Nave 7.5 PRO: Darrell Wathen NOSTALGIA SUPER STOCK: Doug Duell COMP: Skeeter Wayne TOP STOCK: John Meinelt MODIFIED: Larry Key 348/409: Bryan Fugate GAS: Pat Freels GEEZER GASSERS: John Swiek HOT ROD: Chad Brewer AXALTA SHOW 'N SHINE WINNERS BEST SHINE & DETAIL: Dan Duffy, 1956 Chevy 210 MEMORY LANE: Kevin Doolittle, Willy’s Pickup ONE OF A KIND: Lowell Groom, ’63 VW Beetle Funny Car GRAND MARSHALL: Linda and Ralph Miller, 1930 Ford Tudor KILLER KUSTOMS: Truman & Wanda Morgan, ’55 Chevy Bel Air convertible DAZZLIN’ DEUCE: Erik & Oksana Hansen, ’32 Ford Sedan DIRECTOR’S CHOICE: Mike Whitney, ’32 Black Highboy Roadster DYNAMAT PICK: George Poteet, 1950 Ford Coupe TRICK TRUCK: Trent Blue, ’49 Chevy Pickup TIMELESS TRADITION: Mark Watson, ’32 Ford Roadster THRILLING ‘30s: Linda & Ralph Miller, 1930 Ford Tudor FABULOUS ‘40s: Ted Novicki FINEST ‘50s: Kevin Burt, ’55 Chevrolet “Resurrected” SENSATIONAL ‘60s: Zach Straits, ’61 Galaxie SUPER ‘70s: Gary Buckies, ’71 Camaro Custom PUSH CAR: Dan Shaw, ’32 Ford Pickup STREET ROD: Oscar Gamble, 1932 Ford 3 Window MIGHTY MUSCLE: Jeff Mumford, 1970 Chevy Camaro MOST UNINSURABLE: ’49 Plymouth Ratrod PERIOD CORRECT: Jeremy Dorlac, ’30 Model A




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