The Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green, Kentucky just gets bigger by the year. Officially called the 3rd annual Holley NHRA Hot Rod Reunion presented by DuPont Automotive Finishes at Beech Bend Raceway Park, the June 17-19 event saw Sean Bellemeur, of Camarillo, California, last year’s winner, repeat in Top Fuel over another famed front-engine fuel racer, Brendan Murry of San Jose, California.

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Bellemeur, racing in his Stirling/Chrysler FED, ran 6.429 at 225.03, setting track records in the process, while Murry shut off after troubles in his Stirling/Arias dragster, hitting 9.295 at 74.87 mph.

In Open Fuel, Jim Swedberg of Grand Forks, North Dakota, who also won the class last year, defeated Dom Paris of Loves Park, Illinois in his twin-engine dragster, the 2003 Reunion runner-up. Swedberg hit 6.830 at 204.57 mph, while Paris’s unique ride broke.

And in “A” Jr. Fuel, Scott Parks of Burlingame, Kansas, won class --- just like last year --- defeating last year’s class runner-up, Stu Sandhaus of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Times were 7.104 at 185.97 mph for the winner, Parks, and 7.182 at 182.95 mph for Stu. Both cars, Parks’ a Chevy-powered N&P front-engine dragster, and Sandhaus’s, a Chevy-powered Tuttle, are essentially NHRA-legal A/Nostalgia Dragsters.

Two other 2005 Reunion class runners-up of note: Rob Davis of Lockport, New York won Nostalgia Gas in his ’66 Nova over Bill Bush of Floyd’s Knob, Indiana in his ’60 Rambler, Bush being the same racer in the same American Motors entry that got runner-up in Nostalgia Gas last year.

And in Classic Super Stock, Dennis Kohr of Myerstown, Pennsylvania won in his ’63 Dodge over last year’s class runner-up, Dave Duell of Evansville, Indiana in his ’64 Plymouth.