A big congratulations to all the competitors who made
the trek to Mecca and of course to all the winners!
ANRA had its debut race on April 2nd at LACR and all accounts
so far point to a rousing success. While the car count
was a little low by Goodguys standards, it was a major
step in the right direction by making dates, and putting
on the event. Also cool was an appearance by the famed
15oz. Coupe being run and restored by Mike Demarest, famed
nitro guru and one of the original Ground Shakers, with
help from the notorious Vipers and Mr. Nitro helpful himself,
Troy Cagle.
To backtrack slightly, the ANRA is catering to sportsman
nostalgia racers with a full plate of classes starting
with NE1 down to Hot Rod. Please support these guys! Look
for some nitro to be thrown into the mix here and there,
especially this summer at one of the night races - you
can check out the schedule at http://www.anra.com
So you think you have to wait to get your nostalgia nitro
fix until April 23rd when the Goodguys hit Infineon up
in Sonoma, California? Not so, buddy! On Friday night,
April 8th, one of our favorite promoters, John Keigley,
is putting on a good old Fuel Altered race at good old
Famoso Raceway! That’s right folks, those awful,
awful Fuel Altereds will be bending the quarter mile into
who knows, maybe a half mile with a few Nostalgia Fuel
Funny cars and two big money brackets thrown in to draw
out the rail birds!
This event will feature Mike Boyd in the “Winged
Express,” Stephen Neese and Ron Fassil, the world's
fastest and quickest transformer deals respectively. Jeff
Diehl will be shoeing the spooky Witch Doctor. Hey, will
Leeza wear a retro witch doctoress thingee to back up Jeff?
Let’s hope so!
Greg Daebelliehn (I couldn’t have spelled that right)
the two-time Night Fire champ, also James Generalo, Rich
Howell, Jeff Bennett’s “No Mercy” with
“Mr. Charm” himself, Robert Reehl, calling the
shots. Former Nostalgia Top Fuel runner, Ty Norton, will
debut his new altered. Also, the Estrus racing boys, Dick
and Ed, will have their Mike Sullivan tribute Fiat out for
some fun.
Did someone say “Funny Cars”? No? Whatever!
Want ‘em or not, you’ll get two, maybe three.
First, you get Bob Godfrey and Wes Close’s “Flamed
Fortune” Corvette taking on Jeff Gaynor’s “Jeff
Gaynor” entry in a brutal test and tune cage match.
Also rumored to show is 2004 CIFCA champ, Dennis La Charite,
in his “Back in Black” Corvette, running nitro,
kids! He’s taken the plunge and is coming on board
with the Nostalgia Funny Cars. No better way to spend a
Friday than watching some Nostalgia nitro action. For more
information, check out http://www.fuelalteredfriday.com
In closing this month’s column, I’d like to
say that we here at DRO and the Getting Nostalgic page are
deeply saddened at the loss of Shelly Howard and her son
Brian. Our thoughts go out to the family and friends who
go on without Shelly and Brian. Shelly was a talented and
fearless racer who will be remembered by us all. 
