Saturday's crowd was one of the biggest ever for a Midwest event featuring AA/FC, AA/FD and nostalgia classes as the main attraction.

Cordova Dragway owner/promoters Scott and Laura Gardner took a big chance by staging a big race at their track using AA/FC, AA/FD, and AA/FA cars as the main attraction. A weekend ticket was $45 and despite a five O’Clock rain shower on Friday that kept the crowd to about 1500-2000 hardy souls

Saturday saw the main grandstands nearly full and the food vendors sold out of some items before the Jet Cars and fireworks signaled the end of the Saturday race. Fans at Cordova not only applauded and cheered the professional nitro cars but they also cheered for the Look for other promoters in the midwest to pay attention to this race and start thinking seriously about booking AA/FD and AA/FC events throughout the midwest in 2008 especially if the upcoming HHR events later in the year at Norwalk Raceway Park IN and Bowling Green KY. The Cordova race could be the beginning affordable nitro racing programs not just match races in the Midwest.

Joe Hass wheels the Wonder Wagon to a best of 6.775/208.75 on Saturday.

This event showed that AA/FC can make three runs over two-days, that fans will pay to see AA/FC cars race. This race marked the return to 1987 AHRA World Champ and NHRA hitter in his day Doc Halliday and tuner Jerry Newman plus the first time I have ever seen a nitro burning Fontana engine in a Funny Car. Shawn Bowen and his ‘77 Trans-Am was the class of the field with no one even close to them. They ran a best ET of 6.128 and a best speed on Saturday of 237.40 which also earned that team the $150 bonus from DRO. Give us a call or email Shawn and we’ll get you check into the mail.

Doc Halliday was the quikest and fastest on Friday but engine woes shortened up his day on Saturday.  Most of the AA/FC had traction issues but delivered a good show none the less. Look for the return of some of these cars at the Cordova World Series of Drag Racing.

Kevin Brewer's Midwest Threat Donovan powered AA/FD

The Top Fuel show was extremely entertaining even if it didn’t deliver a exceptionally quick or fast field. Never the less the fans did get to see a couple of 6.02 laps from the VRA legal Roger Lechtenberg AA/FD. The would have probably seen a five second pass from the Lechtenberg ride but on a 6.02 lap early Saturday the car appeared to burn some piston or some other metal on the left bank with big flames out of the pipes on that side in the lights. The quickest Top Fueler of the event was the ride of “:Dragster Dave” Dahlem. Dahlem runs much wider tires than the VRA legal cars but never the less he ran two five-second laps Saturday with a best of 5.811/244.25. He is the winner of tghe DRO $150 bonus for Top Speed for AA/FD on Saturday and as soon as he contacts the magazine wdith an address the check will be mailed. Congrats to the entire crew from the staff at DRO.

Lisa smokes the hides

Lisa Coil just got her license and ran a 5.70 ET in the Drastic Plastic AA/FA tuned and owned by Tom Motry. If there was any doubt the lady can drive they were erased at the Cordova Event when she demonstrated she can deal with situation on a somewhat dark track she had never driven on before. Her passes were witnessed by distaff legend and three-time Top Fuel World Champ Shirley Muldowney who was doing color commentary and praised the rookie driver’s efforts at Cordova. Lisa Coil has arrived.

Let's get ready to rock

This fuel altered is the most authentic nostalgia car at the race in the Burkster’s opinion.
The owner/builder/drivers name did not appear on the sheets but after spending some time with this man in the pits I discovered he is known as “Cannonball” Johnson, he and his car are a glorious tribute to what nostalgia racing oughtt to be. He lives in Rockford Ill and owns a high-performance machine/engine shop (Sterling machine) . He built every piece on this car including The engine and chassis. The current engine is an all steel 392 Chrysler hemi that he runs on an 80 percent load. He has an aluminum Donovan block and a set of aluminum heads that he may use to build an all aluminum bullet in the future.

This is the fourth version of the car and the third version he crashed on a reported 7 second/212 mph pass at his home track of Byron Ill, he says they asked him not to come back. He brings the car to the track on a open trailer towed by a beat-up S-10 shop truck.

Enjoy the photos as much as I enjoy the car.

FLAME ON!

Perhaps the most unique and truely representative of sixties drag racing at the Cordova Nostalgiafest is the Top Fuel class. Although the cars are all booked in they truly represent the “No Rules” halcyon days of Top Fuel racing. There are Chevy powered cars such as the Mill Road Boys East Coast car, a couple of the standard Milodon/steel head hemi combinations and Dragster Dave Dahlem’s all aluminum, big tire car that has gone into the five recently. The current leader in performance after one round is the Roger Lechtenburg Hemi-powered car who ran a 6.03/216 lap last night.

"Drastic Plastic" AA/FA

Lisa Coil drives Tom Motry’s “Drastic Plastic” AA/FA. She got her license at Route 66 Raceway recently and then ripped off a stellar 5.70 lap. She made her first lap in a fuel Alt at night Friday night at Cordova. The time wasn’t stellar but she drove the 125-inch wheelbase Altered right down the track.

Danny Miller and Randy Baker

Danny Miller former computer businessman turned rear-end expert brought his Hemi-powered Maverick to Cordova for Nostalgiafest. After a lot of engine problems at the end of last year and at this year’s 50th Bakersfield event the team seems to have solved a lot of their issues and are looking for 6.20s today.

Doc Halliday returns to competition in his AA/FC Telstar against the Randy Baker driven Miller owned Maverick AA/FC from St. Louis

Eight AA/FC made laps Friday night on a track that had been rained on earlier on the day. While most of the nitro burning flops made tentative passes with a lot of early lifting and shutoffs both Halliday and Baker legged it through the quarter-mile. Halliday set low ET and Top Speed for the floppers with a 6.67/212 lap. In the other lane Baker and the Maverick drifted left and put up a shower of sparks as the headers ground against the concrete guardwall. Afer the lap Baker said the car wasn’t hurt that they just bent the headers and they would fix them and be back for both of todays passes.
It should be noted that the team of Doc Halliday (68 years young) and tuner Jerry Newman were the last of the AHRA full schedule AA/FC champs back in 1987. Halliday’s lap insures that he will be one of the two cars that will contend for the title. The format for the race is that the quickest time from Friday and the next quickest car from the first round on Saturday will race for the title in the final round Saturday night.