Having been charged with the creation and infrastructure of the Winternationals Memorable Moments program, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief after turning loose the final stories on NHRA.com to bring six intense months of work to a conclusion just prior to Sunday's first round.

From researching and picking the candidates to overseeing the voting and, finally, the writing and posting of the stories, it was a great trip down Parker Avenue's Memory Lane, and the event itself proved a more than worthy arena to salute the rich history of the Winternationals.

In the spirit of that top 25 list, here's my own top 25 list of reasons why I enjoyed the 50th Anniversary Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline.

1. The Golden 50: Good grief, I could write pages and pages about the amazing collection of cars assembled for this display. I could, that is, if I hadn't drooled all over my notes. The display, with everything from front- and rear-engine Top Fuelers to vintage Funny Cars and roadsters and fuel altereds and gassers (oh my!), was almost always packed with fans, both young and old. The older crowd was doing the whole "I remember seeing this car" deal, and the younger gang was staring in wonder at the sometime primitive designs and the sometimes inspiring artistry of these cars. At Saturday's Legends Dinner, Don Garlits remarked, "Of all of the things that NHRA has done for the history of this sport, this really stands out in my mind," and he marveled at the enthusiasm of the young fans looking at the old cars and old drivers "that they never thought they'd be able to see." A-plus effort!

2. Cacklefest (part 1): Saturday's static Cacklefest in front of the grandstands was cool, but of course, the big deal of the day was Sunday's push-start Cacklefest. The cars were paraded up the return road in front of the fans to later be push-started down the track. What was really cool was to see guys like "the Greek," Chris Karamesines, beaming as he rode the short-wheelbased Chizler or to watch Don Garlits accept the acknowledgement of the crowd from the spartan cockpit of Swamp Rat V or to watch "T.V. Tommy" Ivo grinning and waving wildly from the hot seat of his Barnstormer.

3. Cacklefest (part 2): The Cacklefest itself was amazing. The line of cars coming down the track seemed never-ending. Unlike past years, when the cars were pushed down the return road and lined up, engines still running, on the track, this time, they motored down the return road to the cheers and thumbs-up of the fans, each occasionally whacking the throttle. Bob Muravez, taking Larry Dixon Sr.'s usual spot in the Howard Cam Rattler, actually steered close enough to the fence to exchange high-fives with some fans.

4. Cacklefest (part 3): Unfortunately, a little mishap way down the return road brought the cackling to a premature end just as Don Garlits had been started. The cutoff sign was given to those still running and then to Garlits. "Uh-oh," I thought, "This isn't going to be pretty." As an official moved in front of Garlits' car, I had visions of a repeat of the great old tale of NHRA founder Wally Parks trying to disqualify Garlits at the 1960 Winter Nationals (the Florida precursor to the first Pomona event).

As the legend goes, Garlits was facing Lewis Carden in the final, and, as was allowed then, Carden didn't accept the first flag start. Garlits had already launched, but, figuring out what had happened, slowed his car and whipped a U-turn across the centerline and headed back to the starting line. Parks told Garlits he was disqualified for crossing the centerline and that Carden would receive a bye run. Garlits instead waved push-truck driver Art Malone on anyway to refire him, and Parks, who had moved between the truck and the dragster, had to jump onto the hood of the truck to avoid getting mowed down. Garlits' car lit, and he actually chased Carden down to "win" ... or at least cross the finish line first.

As Garlits famously recalled in his book King of the Dragsters, his thought at the time was, "Now you've gone and done it, Garlits. That's the boss of the most important drag racing association in the world who's holding on for dear life back there. You've run your last NHRA race for a long, long time."

So, as an NHRA official ran out to Garlits this time, making the universal hand-across-the-throat cutoff sign, and as one of Garlits' crewmembers dismounted the push truck to discuss it, I was channeling to the official, "Dude, just don't step in front of the push truck. ..."

Garlits, none too happy about, did shut it off this time but clearly was hugely disappointed. "Everything this whole weekend was leading up to this," he lamented.

5. Force wins!: I don’t care who you are; even his fellow competitors had to in some way be happy that John Force won again. The sport needs him like it needs nitro, and it's been way too long since he has cradled a Wally. Personally, I love Force to death and am proud that he considers me a sometime confidant. We became grandpas about the same time in 2004, and he always asks me about the little ones. Although I don't play favorites, there was no losing for me in the final because I also love Ron Capps; I've known him before he was a somebody, and he has always treated me the same.

6. Family feud: Speaking of John Force, how about that wacky second-round race with daughter Ashley? The duo had the first round's quickest times and had to face one another, but just as she'was rolling into the water, one chute popped out. The crew got 'er stopped and started frantically repacking it. Dad realized something was amiss and slowed down as much as he could to buy her some time. Meanwhile, Ron Capps' NAPA flopper, which had won just before them, was locked up on the top end with a broken rear end, and just as the starting-line crew was about to shut off both Forces, they got Capps' car rolling. Ashley never got to do her burnout but still ran 4.18 in a losing effort to Dad's 4.12.

7. Top-end emotion: Between John Force almost busting into tears while thanking wife Laurie for her support and encouragement and presenting her the trophy as a Valentine's Day gift and Larry Dixon being swarmed by his three kids and then hoisting 3-year-old son Darien into his arms in a pose reminiscent of his own with his dad in the 1970 Winternationals winner's circle, when Larry himself was 3, it was some emotional stuff.

8. Larry Dixon and Tony Schumacher: They battled through last decade, and it looks like more of the same. They paired off in the semifinals and, true to form, ran identical e.t.s and speeds to the thousandth -- 3.836s and 317.05s a pair – which Bob Frey says had only happened three times previously in national event competition. "It was like, 'Can't we wait until October to do this?' " said Dixon, whose .068 to .085 holeshot made the difference.

9. W-C-M: Man, what race fan growing up in SoCal in the early 1970s didn't love Warren, Coburn & Miller? Fortunately for us, there were two former Ridge Route Terrors cars at the event, one of each flavor, front- and rear-engine.

The Rain for Rent rear-engine car is the one I remember best, and it was parked next to one of those cool Mr. Ed trailers that was so popular back in the day (Mike Kuhl also had one next to his car). I have a photo of this car and the same trailer (I assume) that I took at Irwindale in the mid-1970s, so the connection was cool for me.

On the other side was Henry Walther's painstakingly reconstructed 1982-83 Larry Minor Top Fueler. They were pretty much the only two back-motored cars in the display, but they're definitely two of the finest!

10. Legends Dinner: Saturday night's gala event at the Avalon restaurant at Fairplex was amazing. I have a full recap of it in this week's DRAGSTER. The panel gave Don Garlits a hard time about his passion for UFOs, and there was a ton of good-natured banter back and forth and amazing stories told. I think there's going to be a DVD made of the evening, and you won't want to miss it.

11. Autograph sessions: Staged each day in the Golden 50 Corral, they were extremely popular. The lines typically would begin to form a good 90 minutes before showtime and would snake around the perimeter of the corral.

12. Exhibition passes: It was really cool to see all of the tribute nostalgia Funny Cars in one place and to see the great names of Pisano & Matsubara, the Fighting Irish, Blue Max, Plueger & Gyger, Beach City Chevrolet, L.A. Hooker, Candies & Hughes, Pizza Haven, and "Jungle Jim" back on the Pomona track. Leah Pruett LeDuc, in Steve Plueger's P&G Mustang, really knocked it out of the park with her 5.70 blast. Her run supplanted the 5.72 registered by Bucky Austin at the Bakersfield March Meet last year. Good one! And let's not forget Mike Boyd's two strong passes in the Winged Express. Although it wasn't the typical guardwall-to-guardwall action we've seen from the car, I can never watch this car run enough.

13. Seeing old friends: The Winternationals was a great place to meet up with old friends, including some past winners I hadn't seen in ages. I caught up with 1990 Winternationals Top Fuel champ Lori Johns and again enjoyed time with the great Shirley Muldowney (not at the same time!) and chatted for a while with Roland Leong. Ran into my "sister" Dawn Mazi-Hovsepian, who flew out from frigid Massachusetts to shoot the nostalgia action, but I just missed one of my all-time favorite people, former Comp champ Bill Maropulos. I haven't seen him in decades, and although we both went looking for one another, we never did connect. I never made a big deal of it at the time, but not long after I drove the Mazi family's supercharged Opel in the mid-1980s, I had a similar generous offer from Maropulos to pilot his national-record-holding B/Econo Dragster. It never came to fruition (my fault) but think of it from time to time.

14. 'Big Mac': It was sure sweet to hear longtime NHRA announcer Dave McClelland again calling the action in Pomona. He worked side by side with regular Bob Frey, and although their styles are different, they complemented one another nicely. I was surprised as well by how abreast "Big Mac" has stayed of the current goings-on.

McClelland, who recently emceed the Dick Wells memorial and was the "roving reporter" in the crowd at the Legends Dinner, has been to every Winternationals save the first two and made a pleasant discovery just before the event when he slipped on his old NHRA jacket, which he hadn't worn in more than three decades. In the pocket, he found a folded piece of paper that turned out to be a handwritten event schedule (in the immaculate penmanship of Steve Gibbs) for the 1978 event, which many will remember as one of the most weather-challenged in history. It even snowed on the starting line! Click here for a close-up look at the schedule.

15. Book sales: We had for sale at the event 300 copies of our book, The History of the NHRA Winternationals, at the NHRA Membership Hospitality Center, and we were sold out early Sunday. Savvy fans snapped them up to have autographed by many of the heroes who were walking around. If you want a copy, you can still get one on Amazon.com here.

16. They love it: I was blown away by the number of people who stopped me to say how much they love the new-look National DRAGSTER. The staff here planned and worked long and hard to make the changes, and we're all working hard to keep the quality and content high from here on out. We appreciate your support and your faith in us and NHRA, and we promise not to let you down.

17. Member-able moments: Speaking of which, I made a number of stops at the NHRA Membership Hospitality Center to welcome those who came out for the race and, again, to thank them for being subscribers. It's always great to hear firsthand what's going on in the minds and hearts of some of the most important people in our NHRA world or just to bench race with them or to answer their questions. I really wish we could offer the center at more events.

18. Brad Pierce: Yet another ND connection as Brad Pierce, husband of ND staffer Debbie, won the Winternationals again with his vintage Corvette. Like Super Stock winner Jeff Lane, Pierce won the season opener in 2003. Between Debbie's bracket wins and Brad's Super Gas work, they're accumulating an impressive collection of trophies.

19. In-N-Out is back in: As a lifelong Angeleno, In-N-Out has been a part of my life for decades, and now they're back in my favorite sport as well, backing Roger Burgess' Melanie Troxel-driven Funny Car.

In-N-Out is always one of the things that out-of-state visitors – be they racers or fans – rave about, and the nearest In-N-Out is usually one of the first places they'll visit when they come to Pomona. The food, of course, is always amazing and predictable from outlet to outlet, but of course, like everything, what makes them even more desirable to those Easterners is that they don't have them where they live.

When I was a teenager, the chain had not yet spread to the Culver City/Venice area where I grew up, so the only time I got to devour a Double-Double was during our regular treks to cruise fabled Van Nuys Boulevard. There was an In-N-Out on Lankershim Boulevard, in neighboring North Hollywood. We'd stop there on the long ride home, and it was always something worth looking forward to. Fortunately for me, when I joined the NHRA staff in 1982, our headquarters was in North Hollywood, just around the corner from that In-N-Out, so it certainly became a regular part of the lunchtime routine.

Today, there are more than a dozen In-N-Outs within 10 miles of my house. I don't eat there any less, and the food certainly is as good as always, and now the flopper is back, too. Life is good. By the way, look for an ND Interview with Troxel in next week's issue.

20. Morgan's Mustang: How about that Larry Morgan and his new Pro Stock Mustang? Semifinals in its debut … nice! With Ford the new official car of NHRA, I think it would have been a home run to have the Mustang win in its debut, much as John Calvert did with the first Cobra Jet Stocker last year and as the original Cobra Jets did in 1968. Morgan is another longtime friend whom I knew before he became a superstar, and I almost got the chance to drive his Castrol/Nationwise Super Stocker at the 1984 SPORTSnationals in Indy. We were doing new-car tests then in National DRAGSTER (man, now that was some fun), and we had a Firebird there to make laps in. The idea was for Larry and me to swap rides. Due to weather issues, the closest I got was some practice launches on the Indy road course. Here's a pic of the two cars.

21. Shane Gray: I gotta hand it to the kid, he done good. The son of versatile Johnny Gray made his Pro Stock debut and not only at times outran the old man but looked good doing it. I don't know who else is in the field, but right now, he's the easy favorite for rookie of the year.

22. Comp: Oh, man, what a shootout. From Brian Fitzpatrick's amazing turbocharged six-cylinder (193-cid) Toyota H/Dragster running 6.223, 226.28 to a crash-filled second round and Dan Fletcher's stunning -.001 red-light all the way to the rematch of the 2006 final, which again went Lou Ficco Jr.'s way against Dean Carter, it was good stuff. I'm glad Comp is my regular ND beat. It's still my favorite class.

23. WFO Radio: WFO Radio's Joe Castello broadcasted live each day from the event with an all-star lineup that included Brandon Bernstein, Greg Anderson, Jason Line, Robert Hight, Larry Dixon, Del Worsham, Ashley Force Hood, Ron Capps, Bob Tasca III, Jeg Coughlin Jr., John Force, and Antron Brown, plus NHRA's Graham Light and media guests such as yours truly, Bobby Bennett, Susan Wade, local motorsports reporter Lewis Brewster, and more. You can hear my two cents at the end of this show.

24: Fudgee-Os!: I stopped by Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s pit to drop off a bottle of wine for him and fiancée Samantha Kenny to again thank them for their generous hospitality in getting me to last month's Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Later, Alan Reinhart, who also traveled with us, dropped off a present from the Kennys: a package of Fudgee-O cookies from north of the border. I mentioned them in my entry here from the bobsled trip, but I guess they're quite the phenomenon. They don't look much different than any other double-stuffed fudge cookie, so maybe it's the whole Canadian contraband thing. Anyway, I shared them with my fellow staffers in the media center, and it was bloody. They were gone in less than two hours. But they sure made our day sweeter. Twas a bad weekend for the Coughlin clan, though – Jeg lost early in both Stock and Pro Stock, and Samantha went red early in Super Comp.

25. No rain!: If you were at the Winternationals last year, you know what I mean. It rained almost nonstop, and we didn't finish the Pros until Tuesday and the Sportsmen until Wednesday. It poured rain here for five days the week before this year's event and on Tuesday of race week, just enough to provide the picturesque snowcapped-mountain backdrop that we all love.

Man, what a great race. Something for everyone, for sure.