RPM Barona Drags ’23

May 2023 • By Tony Thacker • Presented by H&H Flatheads
Hot rod Hemis, flatheads and a host of ohv-powered rods burn up the Barona Dragstrip

The third annual RPM Barona Drags was a great success as the So-Cal weather finally cleared letting the sun shine on old-school, 1/8-mile drags.

Organized by Justin Baas and Russ Hare, the RPM Barona Drags is the sister event to the RPM Nationals Flathead Drags held every fall at the Santa Margarita Ranch some 100 miles north of Santa Barbara, California. Unlike the Flathead Drags, Barona is open to period-correct, ohv-engined hot rods ’63 and earlier.

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 nostalgic drive back in time to a location and a track remindful of days gone by. Ya gotta love it.

As they did last year, people came from far and wide. Stefan and Katrin Immke came all the way from Cologne, Germany, to drive their flathead-powered race cars prepared by Jay Dean of Nostalgia Ranch. Mike Williams flew in from New York to drive his closed-cab Model A truck. Also there was Brit Simon Gluckman in his stunning supercharged 5W built by Troy Ladd’s Hollywood Hot Rods. It was a truly international event.

New for this year was a tribute to the famous Dragmaster company of Dode Martin and Jim Nelson. Formed in 1954, in nearby Fallbrook, California, the Dragmaster partnership was one of the first professional chassis builders that blossomed as drag racing gradually eclipsed dry lakes racing. In 1957, the team won the C/Dragster class as well as the Best Engineered award at the U.S. Nationals. They also moved the business to the more convenient Carlsbad. The Dragmaster colors were traditional gold and red but perhaps the most memorable Dragmaster car was the Mooneyes dragster that graced the cover of the September 1961 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. On hand to celebrate the Dragmaster history was the Mooneyes dragster of Shige Suganuma and the team of Tommy Osborne.

Also new for ’23 was an open invitation to motorcycles and while none of them performed particularly well, they were a welcome addition to the event and I can see this being a growing contingent next year.

Winners:
4-cylinder street- Johnny Martinez
4-cylinder modified-George Yandolino
4-cylinder full race- Bill Lattin
Flathead V-8 street- Rob Sepe
Flathead V-8 modified- Dustin Scaplo
Flathead V-8 full race- Rick Palagyi
Overhead street- Charles Chavez
Overhead modified- Lou Stands
Overhead full race- Tommy Osborn

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