Words by Jeff Burk Photos by Richard Muir, Dave Milcarek and Jeff Burk

Real Nostalgia AA/FC racing made its East Coast debut August 2-3 when historic Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa., hosted the Mickey Thompson Tires DragRacingOnline.com AA/FC Challenge presented by Comp Cams.

The race turned out to be a classic as drivers and teams from as far away as Texas, California, Arizona and Canada raced against teams from the Midwest and East Coast to make the elite eight-car qualified field. In the end, veteran nitro racer John “Bodie” Smith tuned by his dad, Paul Smith, took Texan Henry Gutierrez’s Texas “Jungle Jim” Vega to the winners circle and his first professional class win.
John Smith in the final at Maple Grove. The red stripe is Jake Crimmins’ red light on the “tree” and if you look closely you can see the back of his car just on the left edge of the photo. That was how ‘early” he left. (Jeff Burk photo)