The NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Series concluded it’s 2016 season with a rousing and drama filled 25th Anniversary event celebration….Located directly within the orange groves just north of Bakersfield CA, the 25th annual California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California concluded with intense racing while category champions were crowned as the sun set for both the event and the 2016 season over fabled Auto Club Famoso Raceway.
In about as a dramatic fashion that could have been scripted – the final round pairing of the entire season was needed to determine 2016’s NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Top Fuel champion.
Tony Bartone, of Long Island City, N.Y., and Jim Murphy, of Santa Rosa, Calif., met in that winner-take-all final. And it was Bartone who came out on top by powering to a 5.600-second pass at 247.25 mph to defeat Murphy’s slowing 9.519 at 74.74.
Bartone, the No. 1 qualifier (at 5.574 secs) was the only racer to double up with world championship and California Hot Rod Reunion event victories.
“We struggled a little bit this season,” said Bartone, who claimed his third consecutive Nostalgia Top Fuel world championship. “We didn’t win any races until the third and fourth races of the season. We had some handling issues here at the Bakersfield March Meet and we had a major fuel leak and shut the car off in Bowling Green, but somehow we just squeaked out the championship.”
For Bartone, whose Top Fuel appearance at Bakersfield will apparently be his last in the class — (building a Nostalgia Funny Car for 2017) – his win came over a very competitive 8-car field which saw 15 racers make qualifying attempts to produce a bump spot at 5.831 secs. Bartone had beaten Bret Williamson and Adam Sorokin in rounds one and two.
In Nostalgia Funny Car, Jason Rupert of Yorba Linda, Calif., powered to the event victory with a 5.592 at 250.32 in his ’69 Camaro over world champion Kris Krabill’s 7.494 at 116.19 in his ’78 Firebird. Rupert was the event’s No. 1 qualifier and also posted the category’s lowest E.T.
For Rupert, the recently crowned IHRA series World Champion, this win was his first at the marquee Bakersfield facility. In earlier rounds he had taken decisions over Rick Rogers, John Weaver and James Day.
Krabill, of Tacoma, Wash., entered the California Hot Rod Reunion as the 2016 Nostalgia Funny Car world champion after clinching that title at the most recent NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series event at Bakersfield in September.
Nitro Nostalgia Funny Car racing at Auto Club Famoso was a record setting quick affair with 32 machines vying for the elite 16-qualifying slots. Those racers produced an all time quick bump spot of 5.875 secs.
Event winner Rupert anchored that program with a low ET of the meet run of 5.605 secs and Canadian driver Ryan Hodgson (who qualified #2 at 5.611 secs) was credited with top speed overall of the race at 261.42 mph racing his Pacemaker Camaro from Edmonton AB.

Canada’s Ryan Hodgson – the defending 2015 CHRR event champion – had a strong “final four” finish and set top speed of the meet overall at 261.42 mph.
The event also featured some great racing in both Pro Mod and AA/FA fan favorite classes.
Bret Williamson was victorious in the Nostalgia Pro Mod class – beating 15 other cars in his supercharged ’63 Corvette — and surviving a very scary final round ride which saw his machine get very loose after blowing a motor on the top end while racing Jay Diedrich’s Camaro.
Kyle Hough, from Las Vegas, and wheeling the legendary “Nanook” car, was declared the AA/FA winner in that “Chicago Style” Shootout event which attracted 13 entries.
Winners were also crowned in eight other eliminator categories – including Drew Austin A/Fuel, Alan Hull Junior Fuel, Allen Taylor 7.0 Pro, Hans Jakob Nostalgia Eliminator 1, Keith Morovich A/Gas, Mike Molea, AA/Supercharged, Bob Moreland in A/FX and Greg Porter in Geezer Gasser.

The event featured some incredible restorations and rebuilds – not the least of which was Al Bridges’ superb Connie Kalitta “Bounty Hunter” car which won at Bakersfield in 1964!

An event hands down fan favourite was Ron Huegli’s Chevy Monza FC which did mongo burnouts all weekend!
Posted with files by Bruce Biegler and John Byczek
Photos by Bruce Biegler & Dave DeAngelis