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1999 CHRR honorees

Don Alderson, Ralph Guldahl Jr., Jerry Kugel, K.S. Pittman, and Jess Van Deventer are the Lifetime Achievement honorees for the eighth annual California Hot Rod Reunion presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California and scheduled for Oct. 15-17 at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.

Event Director Greg Sharp said, "Once again, we've assembled a list of deserving honorees that represents the entire spectrum of hot rodding. From drag racing and dry lakes to journalism and the aftermarket industry, the five selected represent each of those important facets of our industry. Just the thought of having all these greats gathered in one place again makes this a weekend that everyone can look forward to."

Don Alderson Photos © 1999 NHRA Photographic Services

Alderson can be considered responsible for the survival of Top Fuel engines in the 1960s and 1970s by offering innovative products through his company, Milodon Engineering. The company, which got its name from Alderson's early partnership with Milo Franklin, evolved from doing part-time aircraft industry work in the late 1950s to producing such innovative components as the bottom-end main-bearing supports that added considerable longevity to the early Chrysler Hemis, Oldsmobiles, and other favorite Top Fuel engines of that era.

Alderson campaigned his own race cars, including the popular Scrima-Liner Top Fueler that was used as a test vehicle for developing many other components in the Milodon product line.

Ralph Guldahl Jr.

Guldahl is generally acknowledged as one of drag racing's more colorful and authoritative journalists of the 1960s. The man who first reported on a weekly basis from Lions Dragstrip in California introduced such memorable phrases as "interdigitated-interlocking asphalt" to describe the superb bite of the Lions starting line. He was responsible for contributing to the fame of many drivers, including his personal favorite, Chris "the Greek" Karamesines.

Guldahl went on to become editor of Lou Kinzey's Drag Racing magazine and worked on several publications at Petersen Publishing Co. He has operated the in-house advertising agency at Edelbrock since 1973.

Jerry Kugel

Kugel was a dry lakes pioneer who joined the famed 200 MPH Club with a 205.56-mph clocking, a feat later duplicated by his sons, Joe (219.205 mph in 1990) and Jeff (228.995 mph in 1995). Kugel worked at Ak Miller's garage for nearly a decade before starting his own business in 1969. He gained a wealth of experience at Miller's from working on such projects as the first fuel-injection units for the small-block Ford, many of which were used by Dan Gurney. His current operation, Kugel Komponents, manufactures suspension components for early automobiles.

K.S. Pittman

Pittman is one of the better known competitors from the legendary Gasser wars of the 1960s. After getting his first ride with Tim Woods' '50 Olds, he went out on his own after teaming with engine builder John Edwards. Soon, Pittman was earning up to $750 per match race appearance against drivers of other A/Gas Supercharged cars such as "Big John" Mazmanian, "Ohio George" Montgomery, and Stone, Woods & Cook.

Pittman and many of his contemporaries have benefited from the nostalgia craze, and he is currently making new fans at nostalgia events all over the country.

Jess Van Deventer

Van Deventer was one of the first drag racers to wear the NHRA World Championship crown, claiming the title in 1962 with his incredibly consistent B/Modified Roadster. The entry, a Model A frame with an all-white Ford T bucket, was powered by an injected, 283-cid small-block Chevrolet.

Van Deventer built the roadster and earned the points title in a 16-race series. For his efforts, he was given a new Pontiac Grand Prix from Hurst Performance.