23rd Annual California Hot Rod Reunion

Racing, Cacklefest, iconic drag racers and vehicles: the California Hot Rod Reunion (CHRR), it just doesn’t get any better than this. If we were living in the late ’60s this event would be labeled as a “happening.” Don’t get us wrong, the racing portion features very serious competition, but there’s just so much more. This is the perfect venue to meet up with competitors from the golden age of drag racing. The late Raymond Beadle’s entire crew, Dale Emery, “Waterbed Fred” Miller and D Gantt were in attendance, just to name a few. Sadly, the numbers are dwindling, so don’t wait another year to attend.

This is the perfectvenueto meetupwith competitors fromthegolden ageofdrag racing.

Even with the plethora of activities, racing always takes center stage. Simply by their sheer numbers, Nostalgia Funny Car is the premiere class. More than 30 nitro floppers clogged the pits, vying for a spot in the hellaciously competitive 16-car field. Dan Horan finally got the CHRR monkey off his back by defeating former champ John Hale, in the final round. He also captured the Funny Car season title in NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series. This double up was very special for Horan because it was his last race with his crew chief Ron Swearingen. He and Swearingen have been together for the past three years.

In Nostalgia Top Fuel, Tony Bartone continued his dominance in this season’s NHRA Heritage Series. By defeating Rick White in the CHRR final round, he “ran the table,” winning every round and every race in the five-event series.

During the course of the event, eight categories were contested: Pro Mod was taken by Mike Maggio; the Junior Fuel title was taken by Don Enriquez; A/Fuel winner and 7.0 Pro winner was Bobby Cottrell; 7.0 Pro B winner was Jesse Adams; Nostalgia Eliminator 1 was taken by Jason Barta; A/Gas winner was Eric Bush and A/FX was won by Doug Hampton.

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