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THURSDAY Oct.4 Photo Page 1 : Page 2

Setup day was quite simply overwhelming as we pit between the all new Weekly Rivero Fox Holding Frantic 4 car and the Panic AA/FA! Jet Car Bob was here with a bunch of cool 'driving' pieces. The CackleFest is shaping up to have more than a few surprises, one of which is secretly scheduled for 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. HH will be there to capture history. See ya tomorrow night after the big social at the Double Tree, so it could be a late posting here. LP

FRIDAY Oct. 5 Page 1 : Page 2 : Page 3

SATURDAY Oct 6 AA/FA Photo Spectacular : CackleFest 2001 page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5

SUNDAY Oct. 7 The Addict AA/FD proving yet again it can get better.

GRAND FINALE VIDEO : QUICKTIME VIDEO DSL/CABLE : REALVIDEO DSL/CABLE : REALVIDEO 56K PLEASE NOTE - BIGtime traffic generated by this page will almost surely result in more buffering than normal. Please be patient, this stuff is worth the wait...even for cable and DSL viewers.

The video was a quickly edited piece featuring just a very few of special special moments we captured. It begins with a welcome by Steve Gibbs followed by a burnout from number one T/F qualifier Jerry Steiner. Next up is a series of shots featuring the Frantic 4 from a Thursday night fire-up to a sight that will make your heart go pitter patter, the famed red car being pushed down by the '61 Chevy pickup. You will then see their first run as we switch to Friday night and a quick interview with famed drag racing promoter 'Broadway' Bob Metzler from Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, Wisconsin. That leads into a great intro by Dave McClelland of Dwight Salsbury who is next shown handling the Addict AA/FD on it's now famous Sunday morning wheelstand. Also from Sunday is footage of the Jade Grenade and Beebe & Mulligan side-by-side before we see an unknown digger on the push bar and the Panic Altered on a tire-blazing pass Friday. THEN we move into CFest 2001 beginning with Freight Train, Jet Car Bob, the Howard Cam Rattler and an overhead shot of more nitro slingshots in one place at one time than you could ever imagine! As that comes to a close Mike Boyd wheels in with the Winged Express and shows why he's so damn good. The Beebe & Mulligan 'smokey' is next followed by the Mike Kuhl hit. This all leads into the arrival of Garlits in Swamp Rat VI. If you don't have a rush by now...Look closely as the first person to him to have his helmet signed is Bob Mauravez! We see a bit more of Don posing then get to see and hear Boyd climbing out wondering how many cones he took out! The final clip in this nearly 15 minute piece is the run by Rat Trap, and if you never loved Fuel Altereds before, you will after seeing this unbelievable pass. It's a special streaming video treat to show you just what we can do. Please note this was done completely without plug-in power with a Sony VX 2000 camcorder and a Mac Powerbook. Next time you need some SERIOUS on-site video work, please think of Horsepower Heaven.

"We're not in Mission any more"

Everything our March Meet experience was seven months ago, the 2001 California Hot Rod Reunion was so much more. In fact the Goodguys race barely prepared us for the NHRA happening. In March it was about a race and a car show, come October it is so much more social, and like we said three years ago, chrr is proof positive the corporation can still put on a show that is so much FUN to be a part of.

Our main goal here was to participate in the second annual Cacklefest with a former Romeo Palamides AA/FD dragster restored by Dave Strell of Mission. We knew going in this year that some of the cars would actually "do a little smokey" as Steve Gibbs had put it. We were ready, but at the last minute Gibbs may have realized what he had created here and asked us nicely that if we didn't really have to...it was a smart move as Cacklefest 2001 would be nearly four times bigger than it was in 2000, and about as radical a scene at an NHRA event in decades.

The Fest had so many moments from Mike Boyd throwing the Winged Express into a three wheel slide at half-track to the entrance of the Jade Grenade, the burnout by the Beebe & Mulligan and Mike Kuhl dragsters, Pure Heaven and Pure Hell (with Dale Emery at the wheel) side-by-side...but it all came to a head when Big gave his two-fingered salute from the cockpit of the first 200mph drag car in classic Garlits style. It is doubtful this will be repeated in many respects. Never will so many cars we had not seen together before debut again. Never again will the chaos of photographers, fans and security guards be so huge, and (hopefully) never again will it mean so much for one particular reason.

Sunday morning. Waiting for the pre race ceremony to begin the announcement was made that the allied attack of Afghanistan had started. The simultaneous cheer and chill that went through the place was about as surreal an experience ever felt by this writer. Suddenly America was at war and here we were at Famoso watching cars from the1960s. It was the Vietnam feeling all over again. A bit different, but pretty close.

Our coverage of this event turned into a dream like race to video as It seemed every time we pointed a lens at a car on the track it went ballistic. The weather was perfect, and when the dragster fired for Dave and Vicki who were push starting it for the very first time on Saturday evening the entire world seemed perfect. Jet Car Bob Smith had the best time he had in years wheeling the car adorned with his 1969 open face helmet that never covered his silly ear-to-ear grin. It was Wally and Barbara Parks looking so good. It was seeing the Frantic 4 car fire at night with a BEAMING Norm Weekly surrounded by the leather cockpit. It was Tom West winning the Les Lovett photo contest. It was National Dragster photogs Mark Gewertz and Theresa Long dressed in 1960s vintage official shirts. It was too much for words at easily the most nostalgic drag strip on the west coast...if not the world.

Our goal at the 2001 California Hot Rod Reunion was to spend some money to promote this website and our video services to some of the biggest names in the sport. I hope we succeeded, as I can assure you we won't be able to afford to do this again without a major sponsor. We will also not be producing a video of this event because so many others already do. HH specializes in giving you what others cannot. All of our shots from this event, the March Meet, the Nightfire Nats and many more will be on a video tape available this Xmas. To say it will top our success of the Four Days in May video is difficult, but when you see the shots we will combine into this two hour tape, I feel confident it could well be the greatest HH tape ever. Please check back to HH often to see when this tape will be available for order.

A HUGE thank you to the too many people who helped make this event one that I can call "the greatest drag race I have ever attended".

Sincerest regards:

Larry Pfister
Webmaster: horsepowerheaven.com
Producer: Horsepower Heaven Videos