Volume X, Issue 8, Page 44

MARION COUNTY NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR NATIONALS

Words by Micky Hale
Photos by Jeff Unfried and Bob Wenzelburger
8/25/2008

On August 16 the little town of Larue, Ohio, stepped back into the late 70’s. The inaugural Marion County Nostalgia Funny Car Nationals was held at Marion County International Raceway (MCIR).

MCIR was the site of many funny car battles between legends such as Don Prudhomme, Jungle Jim Liberman, Tom Hoover and countless others. Back in the seventies these fiberglass warriors would travel from town to town making a living during an era that would launch legends and leave us memories that we long to relive.

In recent times there have not been traveling shows like that, and the funny cars of today do not resemble their street counterparts as they did in the 1970’s and ‘80s.

Enter the Great Lakes Nostalgia Funny Car Circuit. This is a group of period correct funny cars that match race throughout the eastern half of the U.S. The GLNFCC along with MCIR has put together a yearly event that once again captures the excitement of the funny car scene that was the ‘70s.

By 10:00 the pits at MCIR were overflowing with nostalgia funny cars. Just like in the 70’s these cars have nicknames and personalities. There were cars like Tweety’s Rat, The Detroit Hustler, Red Baron, Fuelish, Mutiny and many more that would make you feel like the year was 1978 not 2008.