SCENES FROM THE 2011 NOSTALGIA NATIONALS and FUNNY CAR REUNION at E-TOWN

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park beats the heat for a clean day of racing action

Words and photos by Geoff Stunkard

The heat wave that blanketed the east coast during late July was merciless. Indeed, Raceway Park cancelled both their Friday evening (7/22) and Saturday (7/23) racing programs due to the high temperatures. When Sunday rolled around, the climate was slightly milder but the temperature got hot out on the track as the 2011 Nostalgia Nationals and Funny Car Reunion got underway. While attendance was down to some extent, the nearby Jersey shore proving a tempting option for many, the diehards who attended were treated to full eliminators in many categories, as well as a nitro cackle, exhibition runs, and Chicago style eliminations for the blown alcohol cars. Here are some highlights.

Most visible in the pits was the singed remains of the Frantic Ford Mustang, who had given every attendee at the previous Wednesday’s ‘Night of Thrills’ their money’s worth when driver George ‘Hollywood’ Reidnauer kicked out two rods in the lights. The carnage also broke a fuel pump line, creating an inferno worthy of our ‘Al Hofmann Memorial E-Town Cookout’ award.

Part of the two-car Cackle to kick things off was veteran driver Bruce Larson in his early 1980s Corvette; note the experimental single-plug twin-mag that Bruce dug out of his parts stash, developed to increase spark saturation by hitting four times a rotation instead of eight.	Also cackling for the crowd was the Jim and Alison Lee Great Expections II front-engine dragster restoration of former East Coast photographer Brian Beattie.