The hot rod community and fans of vintage drag racing will return to Bowling Green, Ky.,  for the seventh annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway Park on Father’s Day weekend, June 19-21. 

“We’re rolling back to Bowling Green with more hot rods, more speed, and more family thrills than ever before,” said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California. “Bowling Green’s warm, Southern hospitality keeps reunion goers coming back for more, and we couldn’t have done it without all y’all.”

Last year marked the start of the museum and Beech Bend’s five-year partnership to bring long-term stability to the event. Dallas Jones, owner of Beech Bend Raceway Park, said, “We’re getting the Beech Bend dragstrip ready for the racers and looking forward to hosting a bigger and better Hot Rod Reunion in 2009.”

Said Vicki Fitch, executive director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, “From our new baseball team, the Bowling Green Hot Rods, to the annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, this is the year of the hot rod. We want all our neighbors to come out for some good fun the Kentucky way. Our motto says it all: Get Rolling to Bowling Green!”

The reunion features a wide variety of activities and events, including:

• Hot Heads vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport’s most famous and historic cars and drivers racing in such classes as Nostalgia Top Fuel, Nostalgia Funny Car, AA/Gas Eliminator, A/Fuel Eliminator, and Nostalgia Eliminator

• Show & Shine presented by SoffSeal, with more than 1,500 gleaming pre-’72 hot rods, custom cars, classics, pickups, muscle cars, and old-school rods

• Thursday night ribbon-cutting ceremony and cruise sponsored by Heacock Classic Insurance 

• Reunion reception, held at the Holiday Inn University Plaza’s Sloan Convention Center ballroom Friday evening, June 19. Free to everyone, it’s a tribute to the reunion grand marshal and honorees and a chance for fans to meet some of drag racing’s heroes

• Meet the reunion grand marshal, honorees, and other legends at the Dynamic Legends VIP Tent sponsored by Dynamat throughout the weekend at the track

• Cacklefest Saturday evening, in which historic nitro-burning front-engine Top Fuel dragsters and other classic race cars are push-started just as in the old days

• Renegade Cacklefest display at the track

• Reunion midway filled with manufacturer and commercial exhibits

• A huge swap meet of used parts and automotive treasures

• An amusement park with rides and games for all ages adjacent to the park (separate admission fees apply)

Darrell Gwynn, one of NHRA’s all-time Top 50 Drivers, will be the grand marshal. He has won 28 national events, and, in 1990, he ran a 4.90, the quickest run in drag racing history at that time. Just weeks after running the 4.90, Gwynn’s racing career was cut short when he crashed at England’s Santa Pod Raceway and was paralyzed from the chest down. Today, Gwynn’s love for racing and living is stronger than ever. He is dedicated to finding a cure for paralysis and enjoys life with his wife and daughter.

Other event honorees are Jerry Baltes, Amy Faulk, Chuck Nelson, Bob Creitz, and Vance Hunt. The Justice Bros. Reunion Spotlight falls on the Stone, Woods & Cook team and its ’41 Willys gasser, voted Favorite Race Car Ever in an NHRA.com poll.

For tickets to the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, log on to http://store.nhra.com (click the Spectator Admission link) or call 800-884-NHRA (6472). Log on to the museum’s Web site, http://museum.nhra.com.