California Hot Rod Reunion XIV - Part 1
By Robert Briggs
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| Mike Austin's red light makes it appear Kin Bates has won the A/Fuel Final Round. But Kin crossed the center line near the finish handing the win to Mike Austin. |
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| Sonny Messner in the repop of Don Garlits' Swamp Rat III. |
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| Sy Sidebotham's King & Marshall maintained those flames for quite a while with Tom Steed behind the wheel. |
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| 2005 California Hot Rod Reunion Honorees: (left-right) Grand Marshall Dale Armstrong, Dave Wallace Sr., Dave Uyehara, Jack Williams, Shirley Shahan, Dick Landy & Leon Fitzgerald. Bill Simpson is not shown. |
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| The Grand Daddy of Cacklefest Bill Pitts pushes his Magicar down the 1320. |
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| A/Fuel Nick Norton boiling the tires on a Friday qualifying attempt. |
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| Herm Petersen displaying quality flames in his Petersen & Fitz digger during the popular Cacklefest. |
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| Junior Fuel A Jon Haire took the title with consistent low 7 & high 6 second times. |
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| Ty Norton had a nasty looking crash but we are happy to report he will recover to race another day. |
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| AA/GS Sean Renteria took the trophy home in a very tough field. |
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| Jerry Baltes' M/T Equipped Cackler showing RED! |
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| A/Fuel Claude Lavoie qualified 4th with a 6.463 sec 218.23 mph run but lost to teammate Kin Bates in the Semis. |
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| Don Ewald in the BankAmericar he drove "way back when" to stardom. |
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| Top Fuel Sean Bellemuer was #1 qualifier with a 5.868 sec 253.87 mph but lost in Round Two to Rick Williamson with a Red Light. |
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| Top Fuel Rick Rogers ran a 6.119 sec 250.00 mph and was 17th best for a 16 car field. Rogers gets in when Jason Richey broke and Rogers' 5.972 sec 247.18 mph beat Terry Cox 5.990 sec 243.04 mph in a great Round One race. |
Robert Briggs
rbriggs6@charter.net
