Lucky in Kentucky: Pete Kaiser Conquers ‘The Beech’ at National Hot Rod Reunion

Luck in the way of good weather and racing was on full display at the annual trek to Kentucky for the nostalgia drag racing extravaganza that is the National Hot Rod Reunion. After a long March Meet layover, the NHRA Heritage Top Fuel combatants were back in action, ready for battle. Despite only five AA/FDs in the pits, the race action and drama was 16-car-field worthy.

Tyler Hilton and the Great Expectations team rolled into Beech Bend with great expectations – the team won the March Meet for the first time and has won this event four years running. Michael Hilton, sitting No. 2 in points, went into Bowling Green seeking redemption for his March Meet red-light loss in the final to his nephew, the aforementioned Tyler Hilton. Pete Kaiser and the KFR Big Red Machine entry made the big tow east from California. He too is looking to strike and right his season.

Qualifying brought out some great numbers from the usual suspects – Kaiser ultimately led the field and looked the part of the people’s champ, running the two best passes of the final qualifying day, ending No. 1 with a 5.76. Tyler Hilton, who went low in Q1, ended No. 2 with a 5.81, but his tire shake troubles in Q2 and Q3 would be taste of things to come in eliminations. Michael Hilton landed third with a 6.02, Brendan Murry and the West Coast “Running Wild” entry started No. 4 with a 6.20, and the newish Hangey/Martin AA/FD dubbed the “Revolution” sat last, still trying get a grip on a tune with a 10.31.

Come eliminations, things got wild, so wild in fact that no Magic 8-ball on the planet could have predicted what was to come. Kaiser had the bye and smoked the tires on the hit – that is not good news – but he moved on. M. Hilton and Murry battled, with Hilton coming away with the win, 6.02 to 6.47. Then things got weird, very weird. Gerald Hangey, who had not driven this car past 200 feet all weekend or ever, pulled one out of the hat and drilled a 6.19 to take down the four-time event champ, Tyler Hilton’s tire smoking/shaking 6.29. Hilton chased, but his 253.66 could not catch the “Revolution” and the champ was done. The stunned crowd went nuts.

Hangey had the bye in round two and saved parts, while M. Hilton and Kaiser got after it. At the green, Hilton was away first, very first, while Kaiser for the second time in as many rounds, smoked the tires. Hilton laid one up with a 6.41 to Kaiser’s dreadful 12.91 at 61 mph. Then the lucky part struck…Hilton red lit. RED LIT! Kaiser moved on.

The Top Fuel final was the best race of the day as Hangey did indeed hang tough and again marched his car down the 1,320, logging an all-time best 5.93. Kaiser in the other lane ripped a solid, non-tire-smoking 5.90 for the win. The final was indeed a win-win…Kaiser won his first-ever Bowling Green title and shockingly took over the points lead. Hangey won his first-ever round of competition, made his first-ever final, and ran his personal-best ET and MPH all on the same weekend. Unreal.

Cue the Fuel Altereds. At Bowling Green, these are not the usual and customary Transformer Funny Car types. No, these are 100% legit. There were three legends at the track this weekend: Brian Hope’s “Rat Trap,” Dave Giles’ “High Heaven,” and Bradford’s classic Tupelo were all on-site to put on a show. And that they did – long, smoky burnouts, wheels-up launches, and cone-crushing top-end passes on display.

While it was a loose exhibition, the cars did run eliminations with Hope coming out on top, winning all three races and setting low ET and top speed for the class with a winning 6.38 at 232.79 MPH in the final. Dave Giles did earn style points and the “brass balls award” with his final pass of the day in the “High Heaven” entry. At the launch, the car went skyward with a huge wheelstand, nearly flipping backwards at 150 feet. Giles, to his credit, stuck the landing and emerged unscathed.

The 6.0 Pro final looked to be a wild match-up with Michael Sexton squaring off against the wheels-up Funny Car of Larry Greer. Greer could not fire and the Sexton won his second Bowling Green title in a row. Gordon Smith took the 7.0 Pro title in his ’63 Corvette, while Jaxon Messamore took home the 7.50 Pro title in his ’57 Belair.

The ultra-spectacular Nostalgia Gassers were out in colorful, tail-scraping force. It’s hard to upstage nitro, but this gang manages to level it up for certain. Jessica Lile’s retro ‘70s livery special, “The Gass Hole” entry, made the final but red-lighted the win to Leonard Mattingly.

The nostalgia night-capper gave the fans one final treat and dose of nitro as a flock of nitro legends including a pair of Camaros – the Bruce Larsen “USA-1” and the classic “Jungle Jim” maroon roller – fired some nitro in the hole. The sun set on the Kentucky skyline and we were reminded, with all the great racing action and weather, we indeed got lucky.