BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The 17th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA Insurance came to an exciting conclusion Saturday, as drag racing champions were crowned and winning cars in the Axalta Show ‘N Shine car show were announced in front of thousands of car enthusiasts.
Jeff Arend took home the coveted Wally in the Nostalgia Funny Car category with his run of 5.784-seconds at 243.28 mph.
Arend’s California Hustler Trans Am was also the top qualifier for the weekend. He defeated Dan Horan Jr. and Eric Stevens on his way to the winners circle.
“We’ve never been to Bowling Green before. Love the track; it’s a great area,” said Arend. “The car ran good and Ronnie Swearingen is a good Crew Chief. We have a great team here. We were low E.T. in qualifying. So today we knew if we run the same as we have, we’re probably going to do okay and win.
“I’m really happy we won and got a Wally for Don Nelson (team owner).”
In Nostalgia Top Fuel, Mendy Fry, current world champion and top qualifier for the event, powered to victory in her High Speed Motorsports dragster with a pass of 5.561 at 259.21.
It was a side-by-side battle all the way down the track in the final round as Fry defeated Jim Young’s run of 5.651 at 262.28. She landed in the final round after turning on the win light against Jerry Hangey and Tyler Hilton earlier in the day.
In other categories competing, Rich Krohn won in 6.0 Eliminator, Jeffrey Sanborn won in 7.0 Eliminator and Randall Boles was the winner in 7.5 Eliminator. Dan Dishon captured the win in Competition Eliminator and Jim Hayes emerged victorious in Gas Eliminator.
In Modified Eliminator, Greg Carta came away with the win and Jimmy Ray took the top spot in Nostalgia Super Stock. The win was captured by George Warren in Top Stock Eliminator and in Hot Rod Eliminator, Paul Mitchell snagged the victory.
Rounding out the day’s winners were Herman Hill in Straight Axle and Joe Bush in Geezer Gassers.
In the Axalta Show ‘N Shine, the Top 50 cars were honored during the day as they made a celebratory lap down the track. Nine cars received perfect scores in judging. Those entries with perfect scores were:
- Eric Bletzinger, 1969 Chevy Chevelle
- Ray Enos, 1931 Ford Roadster
- James Emberton, 1938 Chevy Coupe
- Trint Blue, 1949 Chevy Pickup
- Donny and Linda Rottler, 1949 Chevy Fleetwood
- Dennis O’Brien, 1941 Studebaker Champion
- Rick White, 1971 Ford Funny Car
- Paul Pyles, 1968 Plymouth Road Runner
- Art Noey, 1962 Chevy Impala
As is Hot Rod Reunion tradition, the ever-popular Cacklefest fired to life to close out the event. The sounds of American muscle reverberated under the covered grandstands as vintage cackle cars roared to life delighting hoards of fans.