Three days of cool cars, burnouts, bikinis, cruising, and competition-is this heaven? No, it's the Car Craft Summer Nationals presented by GM Performance Division, and if you weren't there, you're gonna wish you were. We took over the Minnesota State Fairgrounds July 19-21 for a three-day celebration of everything automotive. Hundreds of gallons of race gas were burned, millions of calories of fairground food were devoured, and in spite of the unusually cool temperatures and ice-cold economy, we all had a blast. If you want to join us next year, log on to CarCraft.com for details.inline_mediumwraptextright31042167/eventcoverage/summer_nationals/ccrp_0912_2009_summer_nationalsccrp_0912_01+2009_car_craft_summer_nationals+.jpgTrue

Don Green lived up to his vanity plate when he entered the drag racing event after the car show at the Milan Dragway Mopar Days in Center Line, Michigan. After a quick burnout, Don staged and revved up his blown Hemi. When he launched, the TorqueFlite 727 scattered and bounced parts like a handful of marbles. As the car rolled forward, the transmission fluid ignited into a huge ball of fire. Don escaped injury, and the safety crew was on the fire extinguisher so fast the paint job survived.

The new era in street car competition is to pit these machines against each other in a real-world environment of braking, acceleration, and handling rather than merely judge them on how good they look. For you longtime Car Craft readers, this is really nothing new. You may recall a then-unique competition CC initiated back in the May '86 issue called Real Street Eliminator (RSE). The premise today remains the same, but we've made some changes and even added a unique twist just to mix up things a little.inline_mediumwraptextrightReal Street returns with a new competition and now has the owners (or designated hit men) wheel their machines. So this is now just as much a driver's race as it is a test of the machines. This is John Wegner's nitrous-assisted big-block Camaro.26988442/eventcoverage/real_street_eliminator/ccrp_1001_real_street_eliminatorccrp_1001_01+real_street_eliminator+.jpgTrue

The air in the parking lot was electric. It felt historic, optimistic, and liberating. We were staging to cruise Van Nuys Boulevard for the first time in more than a quarter century. At just a few minutes past 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10, a booming voice shouted a few informal instructions and cars began to pull out from the Rydell Chevrolet (formerly Paradise Pontiac) lot, tentatively at first as if they were anticipating trouble. Finally, an old-timer rolled into the street with authority, a bit of engine revving bravado, and just the thinnest wisp of tire smoke. The ice had been broken, and cruising was back on Van Nuys.inline_mediumwraptextright30810021/eventcoverage/car_shows/ccrp_0911_van_nuys_boulevardccrp_0911_02_z+van_nuys_boulevard+cruise.jpgTrue

Exhibition of speed. It's a moving violation, a few points on your license, and an intrinsic gearhead calling. A display of egregious horsepower can be masterfully executed, transcending the sophomoric nature of the act and potentially raising the perpetrator to local legend. Or, if seen in the pages of Car Craft, to national icon.

Crisp In Pro Stock
NHRA Pro Stock Driver Ron Krisher was on a winning streak during Seattle's '05 Car Quest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in his Chevrolet Cobalt after three holeshot wins over series great Warren Johnson, number-one qualifier Mike Thomas, and once-champ Jeg Coughlin. After beating Coughlin in the semifinal, Krisher got his foot caught under the brake pedal before the car veered into the retaining wall, and after a brief slide, caught fire. Krisher was unhurt but sadly the race car was toast.

The 47th annual March Meet at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway just north of Bakersfield, California, had been postponed for a week due to bad weather, and on March 19, 2006, Bill Burch finally got to run his AA/GS Willys coupe. Bill was in the first pair of his class to run Sunday morning. As you would expect, he did a stout, tire-smoking burnout then staged for his pass down the 1,320. Unfortunately, at about the 1,000-foot mark, his car did an immediate left turn, crossed the centerline, and headed for the opposite guardrail. After a violent impact, he began to barrel-roll down the track. The car broke up into several pieces, scattered shrapnel high and wide, and burst into flames as it rolled. The safety crew used the Jaws of Life to cut his rollcage and get Bill out of the wreckage as quickly as possible. Once Bill was free from the car, the tower announcer told everyone that he was OK and that he went over and kicked the car out of frustration. In fact, it wasn't the car's fault but rather the condition of the track. After several days of rain, the surrounding ground was saturated, and water seeping out of the track's surface evidently caused a slick spot. Two more cars crashed right after Bill, and the March Meet was canceled for the first time in its history after the event organizers and track officials determined it was no longer safe to run.

Not everyone is willing to drive their street machine hundreds of miles without a plan, a good weather forecast, or even a hotel reservation. The group of guys who sign off on our annual Anti-Tour road trip is small and usually represents the core of guys willing to drive and wrench on their own street machines instead of just wiping them down with a dust diaper. This year was no different. As we struggled to get our stuff on the road, a surly group of readers did the same. And after a long night of wrenching and welding, they showed up to jam with us. Big thanks to the repeat offenders and the new guys who just found out how fun it is to blow away the squares in the fast lane. It was our pleasure to see you guys having such a good time on the road to nowhere. See you in 2010.

Ben Mens replaced the ladder bar suspension on the Lucas Oil-sponsored Mustang he races in Edelbrock's NMRA Hot Street class with a stock-style Team Z Motorsports suspension before the Milan Dragway NMRA event. He also heads Roush Industries' Competition Engines department, so horsepower is never an issue. Getting all of it to the ground can be another story.

Tim Lopata has done it again. For several years, Tim has successfully gathered together the nation's rarest muscle machinery for an annual car show that's unlike anything else out there. Originally held in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the event has come to be known as the Forge Invitational Musclecar Classic-even though the show relocated recently to nearby Kingsport, Tennessee, to accommodate the massive growth.

We couldn't believe it when we first heard about this, but it's as real as the minus-22-degree-F stunner that cut through to our Californian bones as we stepped out of the airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in January on the way to see our first ice drags. Racing on a frozen river makes perfect sense and is completely mind-blowing all at the same time.

Yes, that is a real Funny Car body, and the scoreboard gives you the perspective. This all happened at the March Meet in Bakersfield, California, during the vintage AA/FC race. Newly licensed driver Tom Padilla was on a 6-second pass at about 230 mph when the camshaft snapped, backfiring the blower into the body. The body sailed about 300 feet into the air before crashing down on the racetrack. The driver was fine, but the body is not.

Drastic times call for drastic measures, and these are certainly drastic times. With the economy on the brink, auto manufacturers going under, and others barely hanging on, it is often beneficial to stop and take a stern accounting of things--or better yet, take time to smash a few dozen cars into a steaming heap.

In the first round of Top Fuel Eliminator at the NHRA O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, Urs Erbacher raced against Larry Dixon in Alan Johnson's Al-Anabi dragster. At about 900 feet, Erbacher's Fueler suddenly exploded. Hundreds of parts came off the car and flew in all directions as Erbacher did an amazing job of controlling the car to avoid the retaining wall and Dixon in the other lane.

Brandon Banfield was at the Wednesday night test 'n' tune at the Milan Dragway in Milan, Michigan, with his '64 Mustang to do some suspension testing. On his first run, the car simply leaped into the air. Local photographer Mike Yoksich snapped it with all four wheels off the ground. "Brandon got confused when I asked him to launch his car," Yoksich says.

Thanks To The Chassis Guy
Chuck Goupil of North Tonawanda, New York, walked away from this high-speed accident during the final round of qualifying for Top Sportsman at the IHRA Canadian Nationals.

We've done an article like this before. Longtime readers, go to your archives and dig up the Mar. '99 issue of CC to see the inspiration for this iteration. In it, former staffer Miles Cook and his brother, Wayne, hit as many local cruises as they could in a week's time and lived to tell the tale.

We were in the right place at the right time in Pomona, California, at the season-opening NHRA Kragen O'Reilly Winternationals. John Irving provided the first moment of excitement of the season after only three pairs of cars had run in the Stock class. As soon as Irving hit the throttle in his Dodge stocker, the studs on the left rear tire sheared and launched him in the direction of the Tree. Irving's truck climbed into the Tree before landing on the barrier and severely damaging the driver door and the side of the vehicle. The activities of the morning were halted for almost an hour as track personnel replaced the Tree and cleared the debris created by shattered bulbs and wiring along with a few pieces of Mopar. For Irving, it was a very early end to his weekend and his first national event of the season.

Kalitta's Big Light-upThe 11th running of the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals took place at the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, May 4-6, 2007. By the final round of Top Fuel qualifying on Saturday, Doug Kalitta, who won the event in 2001 and holds the track speed record of 330.55 mph, was qualified in the 13th position. Hoping to improve his position in the field, Kalitta staged his Mac Tools dragster in the right lane opposite Melanie Troxel, who had yet to qualify.

The Milan Dragway in Michigan opened the track early on Saturday, April 1, 2006 and didn't have to wait long to roll the trucks. J.P. Long of Dearborn, Michigan, is usually good for a great burnout followed by a wheelie out to the 60-foot lights. On opening day, photographers and fans got a little more than expected when J.P. landed his '70 Pro Stock Pinto hard, fracturing the driver-side spindle, which sent him across the track and into the barrier. The impact lifted the rear wheels off the ground and left a 20-foot black stripe on the wall; he was not injured, but the car needs a few repairs.

Year One/ORSCA racer Jeremy Martorella's '04 Cobra went for a wild ride at the November season finale in Commerce, Georgia. After looking at the sequence, the first thing you'll ask is probably the same thing we asked him: "Why didn't you lift?!"

In celebration of Drake Automotive Group's 30th anniversary and the 45th anniversary of the Ford Mustang, Scott Drake and the Mustang Club of America are giving one MCA club a chance to Pay It Forward with the ultimate Mustang makeover. The lucky MCA club will start with a '66 Ford Mustang convertible project car and $10,000 in parts donated by Scott Drake. The club will finish with a fully restored Mustang that will be displayed in the Scott Drake booth during the 2009 SEMA show and later sold at auction. Proceeds from the sale of the car will benefit the charity selected by the winning MCA club, giving them an opportunity to Pay It Forward.

Monster Burnout
Jim Blair is one of the stars of the Nitto Super Street 10.5W in the NMCA who is famous for his long-distance burnouts. At the end of this burnout, flames began to lick at the bottom of the front bumper. It took a few seconds for Blair to realize he was on fire because the flames were below the level of his windshield. As soon as he realized what was going on, he began to shut down the car's systems and popped open the door. From our viewpoint, you could see Blair having trouble getting his feet out of the car. The door opened, closed, then opened again before you could see him sliding between the rollcage and the windshield. He finally crawled onto the track as the NMCA starter opened the fire extinguisher. Blair walked to the ambulance, gave the EMTs his address, and told them he knew he was at Milan-making us think this wasn't the first time he'd been in a car fire. Two hours later, he was pulling the chutes against Dan Millen, and his car looked mint. For Blair, this was no big deal-just another day at the track.

The first Friday of the month, Milan Dragway outside Detroit holds its Heads Up racing program. With all the cars set on kill, it wasn't a surprise to see Jason Lee's Mustang passing the Tree with the front wheels climbing. He was on the bumper 300 feet out when he started getting too close to the wall. With nothing to see but blue sky, Jason stayed on the gas hoping to come down straight. When he finally did, the car bounced into the wall and ground to a halt at the 1,000-foot mark. When he got to the pit, he was wondering if anyone got the shot. Exactly one month later, Jason and his crew got the car ready for the next Heads Up race. When Jason did his trademark 300-foot burnout, the crowd got to its feet. Most of them had been at the last race and knew what Jason was capable of. When he launched his Mustang, the front end was rising at a steady rate when he passed the Tree. At 150 feet out, he was riding the bumper exactly like before. There was a collective gasp as Jason's Mustang came down inches from the wall at about the same spot he hit the time before. This time the landing was clean. Jason's bumper ride put the crowd in a great mood for the rest of that night's action.

Greg Leideker's backflip last year set the bar high, and the competitors at the 14th annual Byron Dragway World Power Wheelstanding Championships defied rain, snow, hail, and 55-mph winds to become legends in the eyes of Byron Dragway's frozen fans.