Goodguys at Bowling Green
The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association’s first visit to historic Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., was a colorful blend of hot rods, vintage race cars, crisp fall weather and an enthusiastic capacity crowd. The Nostalgia Nationals proved to be a popular first-time event as over 2,000 vintage rods and race cars packed the quaint facility owned and operated by Dallas Jones and his family. The Nostalgia Nationals served as the third and final Goodguys Vintage Drag Race of the 2008 season.
The non-stop racing action featured the Midwest’s finest vintage drag racers getting in one last quarter-mile blast before winter. Just before Sunday’s final eliminations commenced, Rich “Pure Hell” Guasco (right) was honored by Goodguys. The 72-year-old Fuel Altered and hot rodding legend was presented with a special Goodguys hemi trophy before driving his bright purple ’32 Ford coupe down the Beech Bend quarter mile. He obliged the fans with a smoky sideways burnout as he left the starting line – all too fitting for a Fuel Altered legend.
The hot and heavy Nostalgia Funny Car action, which featured an eight-car eliminator field, was highlighted by a first-time meeting in the class final between Steve Nichols’ Delaware-based Mill Road Boys ’70 Camaro and Justin Grant’s Indiana-based “Wonder Wagon” ‘Cuda driven by Hoosier Joe Haas. Even though Nichols cut a stellar .056 light, it was Haas and the big Hemi Cuda who thundered down the Beech Bend quarter mile to grab his first win of the 2008 season and first-ever Goodguys trophy. With Grant expertly tuning the car all weekend, they ran their best speed ever here this weekend at 231.91. Nichols was looking to make it two wins in a row after taking the Funny Car title last month in Norwalk, Ohio, but he had to settle for runner up honors. Haas’s winning time was 6.176 at 230.84 mph.
In Nostalgia Top Fuel, veteran shoe Howard Haight (shown) set a torrid pace in qualifying, ripping off a career best 5.859 at 254.42 behind the wheel of Jim Diddio’s New York-based “Nitro Addiction” entry. After the elation had subsided, the crew found a burned main bearing and couldn’t continue their quest to conquer the field.