The Holley Performance Products facility will become a classroom for 30 Bowling Green Technical College students, as well as the public, on June 13, for the first Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion Education Day.
Students will start the day at 10 .m. with a tour of Holley's production facilities and an engineering workshop. They will then be taken out to Beech Bend Raceway for an up-close lesson on vintage drag racing and a Hot Rod Basics workshop led by Ron Hope, driver of the famous Rat Trap fuel altered race car.
"It was the dream of NHRA founder Wally Parks, who recently passed away, to bridge the gap between students and the motorsports industry," said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, producers of the Reunion (June 13-15, Beech Bend Park, Bowling Green, Ky.). "Education Day is a piece of that bridge and it's gratifying to see industry leaders come together for this common goal.It's also another way we can work closely with the Bowling Green community and our title sponsor Holley."
As part of an ongoing collaboration with Henry Astor, owner of Astor Motor Productions and former American Hot Rod Foundation director, the workshops will focus on speed and safety, which are at the core of NHRA drag racing. Participants will learn about the industry's evolution, carburetor applications, speed and drivability theories, building horsepower, as well as evaluating fuel, ignition and brake systems.
"This is the first of many in a series of industry-supported education days," said Astor. "Our goal is to expose high school students to the wealth of possibilities the automotive industry provides, destroy the stigma of shop as a 'last resort,' and reestablish auto shop within high schools."
The 6th annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, June 13-15 at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Ky., is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm. Produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, 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.
Individual tickets are available day-of the event. Cost per person:Friday, $20; Saturday, $20; Sunday, $15. Children 15 and under are free when accompanied by an adult.
The Reunion features a wide variety of activities and events, including:
. Hot Heads Eliminator NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring somethe sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers, racing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Fuel Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others.- Street rod "show 'n shine," presented by SoffSeal, withthousands of gleaming pre-1972 hot rods, custom cars, classics and muscle cars. "Memory Lane" will have a display of nostalgic race cars.. Open house at Holley, Thurs., June 12, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.,followed by the Heacock Classic Insurance Show 'n Shine cruise (featuring the 2008 Vettetastic Treasure Hunt) to the Holiday Inn University Plaza, the host hotel. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 5 p.m.- National Hot Rod Reunion Reception, held at the Holiday InnUniversity Plaza's Sloan Convention Center ballroom on Friday evening, June 13. Open to everyone at no charge, it's a tribute to the Reunion's Grand Marshal and Honorees and 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 manufacturerexhibits and demonstrations- A separate amusement park with rides and games for all agesadjacent to the park.
Information, including a full activities schedule, is available through the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at http://museum.nhra.com.
Proceeds of the Holley Hot Rod Reunion benefit the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. Celebrating its 10th anniversary and named for the founder of the National Hot Rod Association, the Parks Museum presented by the 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., Pacific. 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.