Bakersfield, CA - October 12-14, 2007: The 16th NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion lived up to its star billing in spades. From the opening of the gates on Friday, record crowds filled Famoso Raceway and considering this is one of the two premier nostalgia drag racing events in the country, the teams came here loaded for bear with one thought in mind - winning. 21 Top Fuel dragsters rolled in for the 16 car show and what a show it was.

Racing was halted during the first Nostalgia Top Fuel qualifying session by a brief sprinkle. With the Reunion Reception set for Bakersfield, the Wally Parks Museum staff made the decision to continue that session on Saturday. The Honoree reception, which included a mini-Cacklefest with five cars roaring to life in the Doubletree Hotel parking lot, included a tribute to Wally Parks by long-time NHRA announcer and master of ceremonies, Dave McClelland.

However Saturday saw the end of the wet stuff and the two qualifying sessions and Cacklefest went off on cue.

Brad Thompson took the Nostalgia Top Fuel class victory with fastest speed of the meet - 5.721 seconds at 261.62 mph over Pete Kaiser's 5.924 and 228.54 respectively. Thompson capped a perfect weekend in which he qualified # 1 and ran the second quickest time in history in the semi finals (5.706).

Full story and photos below.

 

Right on time, after the playing of our National Anthem, the first pair of Top Fuel cars fired up at high noon.

 

The next to last pair in session one was two cars capable of not only taking the poll but setting records. A red hot Brad Thompson in his LG Bless sponsored flyer and Adam Sorokin in the RB Entertainment - Champion Speed Shop car.

Sorokin was good until just before the 1000' mark when the car got loose and he aborted the run, pulling the chute to straighten out the car.

Thompson went low by a bunch stopping the clocks with a stunning 5.741 at 255.89 ... a pass well worth sacraficing some aluminm for. His incremental times: 60ft-1.043 sec., 330ft-2.648, 660ft-3.859/206.65mph, 1,000ft-4.876. Impressive to say the least.

With only two qualifying sessions and sitting #1 by a good margin, Thompson and company decided to sit out the second session and save their parts for eliminations.

Being October, Thompson and crew had the obligatory pumpkin and being the pranksters they are, milked it for all it was worth.

11:05 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 67 degrees, relative humidity 59 percent, barometer 29.95 inches.

 

In round one the # 1 car of Brad Thompson and the # 16 qualifier, Rick Rogers paired up.

Rogers got a lead off the starting line as Thompson, having a huge preformance advantage, played it safe.

Thompson caught and passed Rogers before half track but Rick didn't give up.

Try as he did, Rogers' 6.110 at 238.28 couldn't better Thompson' s 5.902 at 212.96.

2:06 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 74 degrees, relative humidity 45 percent, barometer 29.89 inches.

The final pair of round two pitted Brad Thompson and Rick White - the LG Bless car had lane choice.

Both drivers left together but Thompson's ride moved faster - great launch.

Thompson continued to pull away clocking an incredible 212.06 MPH at half track.

Thompson clicked it early and still clocked a 5.768 at just 229.65.

4:20 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 70 degrees, relative humidity 43 percent, barometer 28.89 inches.

 

The semis started with Brad Thompson getting a gift single when the Nitro Fever car could not make the call. Denver Schutz was up for the break rule spot but their car was already in the box.

In this situation most racers would make a short squirt and click it to save parts. Not Thompson. He was still shooting at a new ET record and wanted to keep lane choice.

This was a true thing of beauty. How about the second quickest time in NTF history - 5.706 at 231.66. Brad shut the car off at 5.1 sec and was doing 250 at that point and the data suggested the pass under power would have been a 5.67 or 5.66 which would have been the first 5.6 in NTF history.

6:10 p.m. The sun is beginning to set in back of the tower but there are still some hearty folks in the stands waiting for this final round.

 

The final was suppose to pit the two quickest cars on the property but in the semi-finals Jim Murphy had some serious drive line damage after he defeated Pete Kaiser. The crew found irreparable damage to the the car so they were done for the day. Pete Kaiser would get back in on the break rule and meet Thompson in the final.

The crew rolled the car to the waterbox as Thompson got suited up.

 

 

 

Thompson and Kaiser wished each other a safe ride before getting into their respctive cars.

Steve Faria waits for the signal from Kaiser's crewchief that they are ready to move into the staging beams.

Thompson absolutely drilled Kaiser on the tree (0.073 to 1.140) and never looked back.

Although Kaiser never gave up, Thompson' s 5.721 at 261.62 (top speed of the meet and new AAFD ET record) buried his 5.924 at 228.54. The big orange LG Bless car made the home town crowd proud with one of the most convincing Top Fuel wins ever.