The weather bureau promised that Sunday would the best day of the weekend - and they didn't lie. The Kentucky sun was shining, the unbearable humidity of Saturday was down to 40% and there were fans in the stands. Life was good.

 

Things kicked off at 11:00 a.m. with Dave McClelland introducing the event Grand Marshall, Dick LaHaie.

 

 

With the NHRA Big Show off this weekend the NHRA Safety Safari was diverted to Bowling Green staffed by some of the best in the business, including Donie Butts (in blue firesuit).

 

 

The top fuel teams found shelter from the sun during the opening ceremonies.

 

 

Steve Gibbs and the LaHaie's during the invocation.

 

As our Anthem faded Thompson and Murry fired and started their burnout.

Murry drilled Thompson on the lights (0.041 to a 0.156) but that's where any good news ended for Brendan.

By the 60' clocks Thompson was truckin' to a nice 5.752 at 255.05. Murry had his best run of the weekend (6.709 at 178.61) but was train lengths back when Brad cleared the traps.

Green flat unloaded on the troops running low ET and top speed of the event - 5.727 at 258.67 - both track records.

With the whole place still buzzing over Green's pass, the first round single went to Adam Sorokin. If you're wondering why #1 qualifier Brad Thompson didn't get the single it's because the ladder was made up for a 6 car show but when Haight couldn't come back the car he was paired with (Sorokin) got the bye.

WDIFL.com photographer Paul Broughton and 1320 The Magazine publisher Jennifer Luna hard at work.

 

The RB Entertainment car left a little soft but trucked on the other end to a 5.944 at 251.06.

Following round one, "Digger Dan" Horan made another pass in his long quest to re-license in Top Fuel. Like others who thought they were done driving, he made the mistake of letting his NHRA license expire. When, after a decade out of the seat he dusted off his old but upgraded 1969 Don Long car and wanted to race it one more time he learned that he would have to literally start over and make the mandatory 6 runs - the last being within 10% of the current standard. Long story short, his stop at Bowling Green was his third stop (following the March Meet and Goodguys Indy) in an attempt to complete the task. On this run he got within one of getting a new license. After a long trip back to Big Bear, CA Digger will go for his final pass in the near future.

After a hard leave, Thompson gave his all to put on a show for the fans (and maybe try to get the track record back) to rip off another great time - 5.756 at 243.28... sacrificing more pistons in the process.

 

Coming off his stunning 5.72 pass in round one, Troy Green was a heavy favorite in his semi final match with Adam Sorokin.

 

At the hit Sorokin put a ton in the bank (0.023 to 0.094) and we had the best drag race of the weekend.

 

Behind from the gate, Green was also bit in the ass by a dead #8 hole from A to B. The dropped cylinder coupled with the Sorokin hole shot spelled the end of the High Speed Motorsports quest for a fifth straight NHRR win.

 

Sorokin moved to the final with a skating, out of the groove 6.063 at 216.17 over a quicker and faster 6.051 at 244.03... Green's worst run of the weekend.

 

 

Between the semis and final there was no shortage of thrashing going on in both the RB Entertainment and Thompson & Bless Racing pits. Both cars were on a steady diet of aluminum all day.

 

As Thompson and Sorokin got in their respective rides, Steve Gibbs and Alan Miller made sure the track was in top shape.

Sorokin rattled the tires hard at half track and was forced to lift. He pedaled but shook again and headed for the center line and simply had to lift.

Thompson, taking the stance any good drag racer would take in a final, was not about to lift in spite of the fact he knew his engine was a dead player by the 900' mark. The wall of smoke and ground rattling "boom" in the lights pretty much told us there would be carnage when the car came back to the pits. His 5.890 at 251.53 had soundly defeated Sorokin's 7.063 at 142.82.

Carnage or not, the crew was ecstatic and besides, the damage could go in the box to be fixed back home. They won!

In a post race interview Thompson said he ran the last 400 feet blind because he burnt about 16 pistons and the supercharger blew off , covering him in oil. "I had to radio in to ask if I won," he said. This was Thompson's first time racing at Beech Bend. "It's a great place. I'm just glad we got it done this weekend. These bookend Reunion trophies (2007 CHRR and 2008 NHRR) are because of Larry Bless (Thompson's sponsor). He's like a father to me."

Thompson's win on Father's Day was another tough loss for Adam Sorokin, Bob McClennan and the crew of Brian Van Dyke’s RB Entertainment Special from Tulare, Calif. Sorokin, who lost in the first round at the 2007 Reunion, is the son of the late Mike Sorokin, who drove the legendary “Surfers” top fuel dragster in the mid 1960s. "I left pretty good, but halfway through it started to shake hard and I had to let off it. We were right there. It wasn't our day but we're getting there."

Gerry Wheeler was the class of the A-Fuel field and easily beat Mark Vaught in the final 6.892 at 196.70 to 7.164 at 192.96.

Ron Hope in his Rat Trap AA/FA raced Nanook 3 times over the weekend and the fans loved it.

Dave Rosenberg made the long haul from SoCal to compete in A-Fuel - losing in round two.

The Standard 1320 Group had their little corner of the world for weary travelers to cool off.

Brad Green and his David Pace driven top fueler missed session three due to a seized blower. Brendan Murry let them his spare to make round one on Sunday.

Real photographer Paul Hutchins tactfully explains to not so real photographer Don Ewald that he should have kept to driving Top Fuel instead of trying to be another Steve Reyes.

Ex-TF pilot Kent Terry was on hand to tune the "Nitro Diction" fueler. Unfortunately Haight whacked the guardwall before Terry had the chance to use the data he was gathering.

The "Bark Yard Guys" were in work mode all weekend and did quite well for a bunch of geezers.

Thursday was set-up for the vendors including the staff from the NHRA Wally Parks Motorsports Museum. If you wanted an event or Cacklefest T-shirt you were out of luck if you waited for Sunday.

Event PR director, Bill Groak did a masterful job of covering all the bases - no clue what base this was.

As is the case with all of the NHRA reunions, there was no shortage of good old fashion bench racing. Here Steve Stephens, Gary Osborn, Dick and Dickie Venables discuss the merits of nostalgia racing and cacklecars. Dickie, who, with the NHRA tour off for the weekend, had to agree that we have way too much fun and the stress level is nil compared to a weekend of funny car racing with Tony Pedregon.

Kent Terry, John Peters, Goob Tuller and the irrepressible Preston Davis.

 

 

Qualifying

 

 

Related Links

NHRR Cacklefest

Thompson & Bless Racing

High Speed Motorsports

All American Fuel Dragsters

Cacklefest.com