June 2022 • By Tony Thacker Presented by H&H Flatheads
Hot rod Hemis, flatheads and a host of ohv-powered rods light up the strip at the RPM Barona Drags

They came from near and far. As near as Beverly and Jay Dean’s Nostalgia Ranch just up the road in Fallbrook, California and as far as Auckland, New Zealand, Australia, Cologne, Germany and England. And why did they come? For the RPM Barona Drags, of course.

Oragnized by Justin Bass and Russ Hare, the RPM Barona Drags is the sister event to the RPM Nationals Flathead Drags held every year at the Santa Margarita Ranch some 100 miles north of Santa Barbara, California. Unlike the Flathead Drags, Barona is open to ohv-engined hot rods ’63 and earlier and period correct. That means that rodders with Chrysler Hemis, small-block Chevys, Booicks, Oldsmobubbles and other ohv engines can burn up that 1/8-mile of asphalt and have some fun.

The Barona strip is located in the beautiful Wildcat Canyon just 33 miles from San Diego and just 128 miles from Los Angeles and its a great drive back in time to a location and a track from days gone by. I love it.

As I said, people came from far and wide. Greg Stokes of GMS Hot Rods came over from Auckland, New Zealand to drive his fenderless closed cab Model A truck while Stefan Immke came from Cologne, Germany to drive his flathead-powered rail job completed just in time by Jay Dean at Nostalgia Ranch. Also there was Brit Simon Glickman in his stunning supercharged 5W built by Troy Ladd’s Hollywood Hot Rods. It was a truly international event.

Besides all the new/old builds there were some ressurections on hand including the ex-’Squeak’ Bell' X-322 Tudor now owned by Brian Mackey’s Hot Rods, Huntington Beach, CA. The car was originally raced by Gene Ken Berglund in 1954. It raced all the So-Cal strips from Irwindale to Fresno. Brian purchased the car in 2021, sanded away the primer and found the original purple paint. Also running was a Modified built originally built by Jim Colbert. It ran at the Paradise Mesa drags back in the early fifties. The car then ran at Bonneville in the hands of Dick Hogan with a Hemi. It’s now owned by Joe Buffardi who’s returned it to flathead power.

If you want to enjoy old school drags and hot rods as they used to be then the RPM events are for you.

For future dates go to: https://rpmnationals.com