Ashley Force-Hood Video Preview: 2010 NHRA Season

I can’t say it’s cool when you enter the John Force Racing compound. It’s OVERWHELMING! The people, the parts, the action, I love it!

We (Pikesan and Swanee) first entered the pit area of John Force, Ashley Force-Hood and NHRA Champion Robert Hight at the test and tune at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ to find every team working feverishly, even though, racing for the night was done. It’s obvious, this team works well together, everyone knows their job and they’re ready to rock for the Winternationals in Pomona.

As a huge fan of the NHRA, especially the John Force Racing team, meeting and talking to Austin Coil, then having a short sit down with the charming, yet #2 in the world funny car racer, Ashley Force-Hood was a dream come true. It’s a sure sign that the JFR team loves their fans.

So dig this short interview of loveliest lady of motorsports (Danica, it ain’t even close!) Ashely Force-Hood. After making several full passes, I found her listening to the Vikings, Saints game on TV while working on her laptop.

.

It takes a strong woman to compete in a male dominated sport, then to be a calm and professional (one take’s all you need!) as Ashley.  About 20 minutes before the interview above, she did this:

I gotta thank the John Force Racing team for getting us so close to the starting line!

No doubt who we’ll be rooting for in the 2010 season of NHRA drag racing.  The season kicks off with the fabled and now 50th, Winternationals in Pomona, CA on February 11-14.  Take your honey to the race… I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Valentines Day!

Who else is rooting for John Force, Ashley and Robert Hight? Let us know!

NHRA Museum Happenings: Wrap up 2009

If you’ve never been to the NHRA Motorsports Museum, GO! If you haven’t been in a while, GO BACK!! It’s always changing with new cars and interesting people wondering through.

NHRA Motorsports Museum Calendar of Events

(Nov. through Dec. 2009)

Thursday, Nov. 12

Ø       Auto Club NHRA Finals Begin www.nhra.com

Ø       Museum Open House 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – extended hours and admission is free.

Friday, Nov. 13

Ø       Museum Open House – 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Ø       New Exhibit Opening – 3 p.m. FREE

Ø       Drag Racing Celebrity Book Signing – 5 p.m. FREE

Ø       Night of Champions/Auto Club Q&A with NHRA racers – 6 p.m. FREE

Saturday, Nov. 14

Ø       Museum Open House – 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Ø       Racing Collectible Show – 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. $5 Admission.

Sunday, Nov. 15

Ø       Museum Open House 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Admission is free.

Free Museum admission and extended weekend hours during Auto Club NHRA Finals, Nov. 12-15. Free Tram Service from Pomona Raceway (Gate J) to Museum.

Wednesday, Dec. 2

Ø       Annual Holiday Twilight Cruise and Toy Drive

4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is Free!

Bring a new, unwrapped toy for disadvantaged kids of the Pomona Valley.

Saturday, Dec. 12

Ø       Retro Holiday Slide Show with Charles Phoenix

8 p.m.
Fee – Tickets available online at Retro Holiday Slide Show Tickets

For more information, please contact the Museum at 909-622-2133 or visit us online at www.museum.nhra.com.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Gate 1/Fairplex, Pomona, CA 91768

NHRA Record Holding Bass Player

Talented Bassist Gene Schwartz hangs up his guitar for a weekend of racing at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway, Oct. 16-18

BAKERSFIELD, CA – Gene Schwartz is a former NHRA record holder in his 1952 Chevy, but underneath his racing suit Gene can’t stop singing the blues. That’s because his “day job” is as a bass player. For over 30 years, Gene played bass for legendary blues guitarist Robert Lockwood Jr. When not jamming on his bass guitar, Gene has managed to build his skills as a champion racecar driver setting National records in the 60s to present day.

The Euclid, OH resident has made the annual trip to the National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Kentucky on numerous occasions, but has yet to visit McFarland, CA for the California Hot Rod Reunion. Fans of both Gene’s music and his racing raised money to surprise him with an all-expense-paid trip to the California Reunion this October. Gene was surprised, thrilled and eager to join fans and friends at the Reunion.

Gene’s car will be a sure crowd pleaser. His ’52 Chevy racecar is one of the few nostalgic gassers that uses a “stick shift” and uses his patented 9000 rpm for a thrilling starting line launch. Now, he’ll be rocking and rolling down the strip in his Chevy, an exact duplicate of the car he ran in the 60s. Don’t miss this talented racer, also considered “the best white guitar player in America” according to Lockwood.

– More information about the California Hot Rod Reunion –

Information, including a full activities schedule, entry forms and tickets, is available through the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at http://museum.nhra.com or by calling the Reunion Info Number at 909.622.8562. Requests can be emailed to themuseum@nhra.com.

Proceeds of the California Hot Rod Reunion benefit the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by Auto Club of Southern California.

Nostalgia Drags “Top 5″ at NHRA Museum’s CHRR

Start getting excited NOW! Mark your calendars for October 16-18 in Bakersfield California for the best of Nostalgia drag racing at the California Hot Rod Reunion. It’s a “Reunion” because is more than just a huge gathering of vintage styled racers and the real-deal, too valuable and historic to actually race diggers… it’s a social gathering of friends and competitors from all over, but certainly the hot rod-packed southern California scene where the 1320-craze started.  The Reunion includes 3 days of nostalgia drag racing, a car show of hot rods, a growing swap meet and manufacturers midway and a gathering of drag racing legends from years gone by.

If you can make it to only 1 drag race, make this one. (pssss… bring your camera!)

Press release from the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum

Top 5 Things to See at the 18^th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California

Auto Club Famoso Hosts Vintage Drag Race Event, Oct. 16-18

BAKERSFIELD, CA (Sept. 1, 2009) – The cackling noise a vintage dragster makes when fired up. Rubbing elbows with legendary racers. These are a few of our favorite things to see and do at the 18^th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California.

Make sure to add these things to your bucket list, to do list or whatever list when at the Reunion scheduled for the weekend of Oct 16-18 at Auto Club Raceway Famoso–more commonly known as Bakersfield. High on anybody’s list, the Reunion is a great weekend of vintage drag racing, the finals of the NHRA Heritage Series and a cool time for all the family.

1. Justice Bros. Car Care Products Spotlight Award: This year the Spotlight highlights the team of Stone, Woods & Cook, voted the Favorite Race Car ever in an NHRA.com poll. On display will be both the first and last cars: Swindler II and Swindler A, from this iconic race team.

2. The Grove: Is always the place to check out cool stuff from the hundreds of rods and customs that gather there to the special static displays. This year museum friend John Stein will bring a display of vintage drag bikes including Pat Miller’s triple-engined Yamaha–one of only a hand full (pun intended) of triple-engined drag bikes. It had three, three cylinder Yamaha TR2 350 road racing motors. And ya gotta hear it!

3. Honoree Reception: The Reunion is all about the people and it’s as much our pleasure to honor the honorees as it is theirs to be honored. On Friday night, we throw one heck of a free party for all comers to take time to recognize those in the sport who have made a difference. Join us at the DoubleTree Hotel at 7:00 pm and say hello to Grand Marshall Jess “Mr. Pontiac” Tyree and honorees: Danny Broussard, Don Moody, Steve Reyes, “Jet Car” Bob Smith and Walt Stevens.

4. Cacklefest: Coined by our curator Greg Sharp, the word cacklefest, describing the cackling noise a Top Fuel motor makes on nitro, has now entered the vocabulary and nowhere is the word more expressed that an the Hot Rod Reunions. Saturday, as the sun goes down is the time to see dozens of vintage, front-motored race cars push started and fired up just like they used to be in the day. It’s a sight and sound guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes as nitro fills the sky.

This is what the Cacklefest looks like:

5. Renegade Vintage Dragster Display: You may have seen the Renegade/Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum vintage dragster display at several NHRA National events and at Beech Bend.  The vehicles change for each venue so be sure to visit the trailer which also contains vintage drag racing images from the museum’s archives. For more information about Renegade trailers go to: www.kibbi.com

Just a few more pics to get you excited! (Click any picture to see it full size)

More information you’ll need:
The 18^th annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, Oct. 16-18 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm.  It’s also the season finale of the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage nostalgia drag racing series.

Produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, and located in Pomona, Calif., the Reunion is part of the museum’s “living history” philosophy, which works to bring to life the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture.

Unique among motorsports events, the Reunion honors some of the top names in hot rodding from the past and features a fabulous array of cool drag cars, street rods and customs of the historic and present-day hot rod eras.

Those purchasing their credentials at least three weeks before the event receive significant added value including a “goodie” bag, Reunion program, commemorative dash plaque and a colorful and collectible plastic souvenir credential.  Three-day credentials ($55 each) are available by calling 800/884-NHRA (6472) or online at http://store.nhra.com.  Auto Club members receive a $5 discount off Adult credential prices (limit of 4 credentials).

Daily general admission tickets/pit passes will be available at Auto Club Famoso Raceway gate, (www.famosoraceway.com). Cost per person: Friday, $20; Saturday, $20; Sunday, $15.  Children 15 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Auto Club discount is also available at the gate.

The Reunion features a wide variety of activities and events, including:

• NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport’s most famous and historic cars and drivers, racing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Funny Car, Fuel Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others. It’s the grand finale of the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series.
• Hundreds of gleaming pre-1972 hot rods, street rods, custom cars, rat rods, classics and muscle cars.  “Memory Lane” will have a display of nostalgic race cars. The Justice Bros. Spotlight Award will fall on the team of the Stone, Woods & Cook.
• California Hot Rod Reunion Reception, held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bakersfield, Fri., Oct. 16, from 7 p.m.- 10 p.m. Open to everyone at no charge, it’s a tribute to Reunion Honorees including Grand Marshal Jess Tyree. The reception offers a chance for fans to meet some of drag racing’s heroes.
• Cacklefest on Saturday evening, where nitro-burning historic, front-engine top-fuel dragsters and other classic race cars are push started just like in the “old days.”
• The Swap meet and Reunion Midway filled with hot rod and automotive related vendors. Something for everyone!

Information, including a full activities schedule, entry forms and tickets, is available through the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at http://museum.nhra.com or by calling the Reunion Info Number at 909.622.8562.   Requests can be emailed to themuseum@nhra.com.

Proceeds of the California Hot Rod Reunion benefit the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by Auto Club of Southern California. Founded in 1998 and named for the founder of the National Hot Rod Association, the Parks Museum, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California houses the very roots of hot rodding. Scores of famous vehicles spanning American motorsports history are on display, including winning cars representing 50 years of drag racing, dry lakes and salt-flat racers, oval track challengers and exhibits describing their colorful backgrounds.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., PST. Current NHRA members are admitted free and Auto Club members enjoy a $2 discount. Admission for non-members is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 60 and older, $5 for juniors six through 15, and free for children under the age of five. The Museum is also available for special group tours. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at Fairplex Gate 1, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona. For further information on special exhibits, museum events or directions, call 909/622-2133 or visit http://museum.nhra.com.

Ron Capps’ Top Five Most Influential Funny Cars

Back for 2009 with Don Shumacher Racing, Ron Capps is in his fifth full season with Shoe’s team driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T for the 2nd time and of course, his crew chief is long time friend, Ed “Ace” McCulloch.

Born in San Luis Obispo Capps has always been a So-Cal guy and now lives with his wife and their daughter and son in Carlsbad, CA. With a B.S. in Software Engineering from Santa Clara college, Capps joined the NHRA super-team of Don Schumacher Racing, in 2005 to drive the Brut-sponsored Dodge Charger Funny Car. With Schumacher, he’s won eight national events and finshed 2nd in 2005, 3rd in 2006, and 4th in 2007. He’s hoping to turn that trend around for 2009

Capps joined DSR after driving for longtime friend and team owner Don Prudhomme. DSR is only the second Funny Car team for whom he’s driven since entering the nitro classes in 1995.

Since 1995 Capps has collected 25 wins in 54 final rounds, in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. He’s been close, but has never won it all after claiming that crown, finishing as Funny Car runner-up in 1998, 2000 and 2005. He’s hoping his ongoing commitment to Don Schumacher will offer him the best opportunity to achieve his goal. With Nitro running through his veins, here’s Ron Capps Top 5 most influential Funny Cars…

Ron Capps Top 5 Funny Cars

« Previous Page — Next Page »