Clermont, IN - The Goodguys 22nd Hot Rod Nationals is set to blast off June 11, 12 & 13 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, officially kicking off another hi-revving trio of vintage drag races for the Goodguys/VRA. The Hot Rod Nationals kicks off a three-race series for vintage drag racers which includes the Hot Rod Nationals, the 9th Blue Suede Cruise August 20-22 in Norwalk, OH and the 3rd Nostalgia Nationals October 15-17 in Bowling Green, KY.
The Hot Rod Nationals is one of the country's largest vintage hot rodding events combining a massive car show with over 4,000 '72 & earlier rods, customs, muscle cars and classics with a weekend long vintage drag race on O'Reilly Raceway Park's vaunted drag strip. Vendor exhibits, a swap meet, car corral, special awards and live entertainment round out the festive weekend.
A well rounded field of over 20 entries is confirmed in both Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nostalgia Funny Car. Both classes will be run as 8-car open shows with qualifying sessions scheduled for Friday, June 11th at 3pm and Saturday, June 12th at NOON. The first round for both Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations is scheduled for 3:30pm Saturday afternoon with final eliminations commencing Sunday morning the 13th at 10am.
The Nostalgia Top Fuel field is led by defending event co-champions (due to a rained out final last year) Denver Schutz in the "Raisin Express II" and Howard Haight in the "Nitrodiction" entry out of upstate New York. "Radar" Roger Lechtenberg returns this year behind the wheel of Dale & Kat Suhr's Waterloo, Iowa based "Orange Crate" top fueler - no doubt a threat to the top two. Other entries include Brendan Murry's "Runnin' Wild" from San Jose, CA, Muscatine, Iowa's Kevin Brewer, Randy Bridges, Butch Blair's "Fugowie", Ernest McClain's Chevy powered entry from Delaware, local hopeful Keith "Roo Man" Burgan, "Diamond" Dave Miller in the "Telstar" dragster and long time veteran Joe Krupinski.
In Nostalgia Funny Car action, defending co-champions champion Paul Romine and Shawn Bowen look to renew their unfinished business from last year's rain out. Other confirmed entries include Justin Grant's "Stardust" 'Cuda, Anthony Bronge's "Punisher" '69 Camaro, Steve Nichols' "Mill Road Boys" '70 Camaro, Peter Gallen's "Poverty Stricken" Vega, Troy Martin's "Chi Town Hustler" Dodge Charger, Danny Miller's "Rear Gears" '70 Maverick and coming in from California is Bob Godfrey's "Burn-N-Money" '69 Camaro.
In all, 12 Sportsman classes including Pro Comp, B/GAS, Nostalgia Gas, Nostalgia Comp and Hot Rod Eliminator will also be contested. Exhibition classes include the popular Nostalgia Super Stockers, Nostalgia Pro Stock and the always-wild "Geezer Gassers." The popular Street Rod Shootout 1/8th mile competition, which crowns the fastest street rods and hot rods from the car show side of the event, will take place Saturday at 11:30am!