2014 HONOREES AWARDS
CEREMONIES &
CACKLEFEST KICK-OFF
Prior to the ceremony there was
lots of mingling in the parking lot and halls of the Double Tree
Hotel.
Greeting the reception attendees
was the just completed restoration of Tommy Ivo's first glass
sided trailer. Purchased and restored by Ron Johnson to haul
his Tommy Ivo Barnstormer dragster, and hooked on to a period
correct Cadillac tow car, the rig was a perfect presentation
from 50 years ago.
Ron Johnson and TV Tom
In the hotel lobby guests were
greeted with Hugh Tuckers AA/MR and the Cortopassi & Butler
"Glass Slipper".
Bit of history here....
Roland Leong, Don Prudhomme, Ivo and Kenny Hirata.
Hugh Tucker, John Rasmussen,
Prudhomme and Ed Pink.
Bud Rasner, Bob Brooks
family and Dennis Taylor.
Mike Dunn and Dan Kaplan
Bob Frey, Sharon Muravez,
Marty Woods from Australia and Mike Goyda
Mike English and Gary
Christensen
Team Magicar: Vince Yamasaki,
Bill Pitts and Dennis
Del and Chuck Worsham
Cynthia Ewald and Orah
Mae Millar
Evelyn Fuller, Ivo, Kent
Fuller and Don Tubbs
Gary and Marie Cochran
Louie Senter
Dellie Reath with the
Brooks family.
Dennis Holding, Jim Fox
and Sid Waterman.
Greg Sharp, Donna Crowther
and Don Irvin.
John Ewald, Linda Vaughan
and Nevaeh
Roland and Suzi
Dellie Reath and Dunn. Over the
years Mike's dad, Jim was partners with Joe Reath on more than
one race car.
Cliff Bedwell, Ray Lake
and Isky
Dunn with wife Sandy.
Granddaughter Kailey was on hand as well.
Grand Marshall Mike Dunn
Honoree the late Bob
Brooks
Honorees brothers Ed
and Roy Cortopassi and Doug Butler
Honoree Hugh Tucker
Honoree Dennis Varni
Honoree Sid Waterman
(Pencil Art done by Shannon
Olson)
With regular MC Dave McClelland
sidelined this year, Bob Frey did a masterful job of filling
in.
Larry Fisher, celebrating his
second anniversary as the Executive Director of the museum.
Tommy Ivo came up to introduce
this years TV Tommy Ivo Spotlight Award shined on long-lived
The Bay Area Roadsters. Ray Lenz and Tom Walsh accepted
on behalf of the club.
A man who needed no introduction,
Steve Gibbs who introduced the Golden Age Award
to the Cook & Bedwell Fuel Dragster.
Ray Lake, owner of Cook &
Bedwell Isky-U-Fab Special replica dragster. He was a crew member
on original car in mid 1950s. Cliff Bedwell was the partner
with Emery Cook on the original car and now lives in New Zealand.
HONOREES
Bob Brooks
Like many who became successful
businessmen in the hot rodding aftermarket industry, Brooks gained
his initial experience as a racer, having campaigned a variety
of front-engine dragsters in the 1960s. He was a regular competitor
on the Southern California scene and a member of the Mickey Thompson
200 MPH Club. Brooks visionary skills contributed to major
performance advancements in drag racing; among his efforts were
helping to develop the lockup clutch for Top Fuel and Funny Car
applications and introducing the smaller and more efficient multi-disc
clutches to Pro Stock. Brooks passed away Aug. 29, 2014. He was
73.
Accepting for Brooks posthumously
was safety expert and close friend, Dennis Taylor.
Brothers Ed and Roy Cortopassi
& Doug Butler
After a couple of street rods
and a radical competition coupe, brothers Ed and Roy Cortopassi
decided the next project would be theirs from the ground up.
In January 1954, with two lengths of aluminum channel, they began
construction on the car that is credited as the first streamlined
and enclosed-cockpit dragster, the Glass Slipper. Finished in
1955 with flathead power, it reached 181 mph at Bonneville. A
Chevy transplant in 1956 took it to the second NHRA Nationals,
where it scored top speed for a Chevy-powered entry. It was voted
Americas Most Beautiful Competition Car at the 1957 Oakland Roadster
Show.
Doug Butler joined them later
that year as a partner in the 301-cid unblown Chevy engine and
has been part of the team since. In late 1972, Hot Rod magazine
pulled it from the Cortopassi garage, arguably giving birth to
the nostalgia drag racing movement. In 2009, Ed made his final
run at Sacramento Raceway. He passed away Aug. 5, 2014 at the
age of 79.
Hugh Tucker
A select group of racers are
best known for their success with one particular car, and such
was the case with Tucker and his unique Chevy street roadster.
He immediately gained a tremendous following with Oldsmobile
fans by running a 400-cid Rocket 88 engine, and after switching
from carburetors to a supercharger, Tucker and the Chevy roadster
became unbeatable. Tucker swept both class and Little Eliminator
honors at the 1962 Winternationals and came back the next year
to score in Junior Eliminator at the Winternationals and Middle
Eliminator at the Bakersfield March Meet, and he won again at
the March Meet in 1964. Tucker sold the car in 1969 and retired
from racing to spend more time with his family. After discovering
his old roadster in a barn in 1997, he restored the entry with
the help of his son, Hugh Jr., and regularly displays it at reunions
and national events.
Dennis Varni
Varni has been referred to as
a hot rodders hot rodder and Captain
Fun, during his life and these names fit him perfectly.
At 13, he bought his first Model A for $45, money he earned by
picking prunes and selling his train set. Learning as he went,
by 1964, the roadster was nice enough for him to join the Bay
Area Roadsters, and 50 years later, hes still a member.
Following a stint in the service, he went to work for Goodies
Speed Shop, rising to general manager of the entire chain. In
the late 1960s, starting with a $25 frame and $100 body, he built
a state-of-the-art 29 highboy roadster. After logging many
thousands of miles during its first 20 years, it was rebuilt
and named Americas Most Beautiful Roadster in 1992. It
has since been driven more than 50,000 miles.
Sid Waterman
As one of the elite mechanical
minds to emerge from the Northern California drag racing scene,
Waterman enjoyed tremendous success throughout the years as a
team campaigner and engine builder before devoting his focus
to revolutionizing nitro-burning fuel systems. Waterman got his
start as a helper for the Masters & Richter team in the early
1960s, and after buying a Kent Fuller chassis, he teamed with
Masters & Richter to run its engine after its car had crashed.
After moving to Southern California, Waterman split his time
between working for various companies and racing on weekends
with a different driver every night. By the late 1970s, most
of the Top Fuel teams were building their own engines, so Waterman
got out of that business and opened his fuel system operation,
and his innovations have played a major role in the development
of todays 300-mph marvels.
Mike Dunn
Second-generation drag racer
Dunn has grown up around the sport. The son of Big Jim
Dunn, he blazed his own path in the sport and amassed 22 NHRA
Mello Yello Drag Racing Series victories in both Top Fuel and
Funny Car. One of his most recognized wins is his 1986 Funny
Car victory at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the
worlds most prestigious drag race.
Dunn earned his Top Alcohol Funny
Car license in his dads car in 1976, began racing nitro
Funny Cars in 1980, and scored his first major win in one of
Roland Leongs Hawaiian Funny Cars in 1981. He went on to
record 10 Funny Car wins through 1991 and added 12 victories
in Top Fuel from 1993 to 2001.
Dunn was named driver for Darrell
Gwynns race team in 1993. After working with crew chief
Frank Bradley through 1996, he was tuned to four victories by
Ken Veney in as many final-round appearances in 1999 and named
the Car Craft All-Star Top Fuel Driver of the Year. The team
received prestigious backing from the New York Yankees at the
end of 2000, and Dunn left the operation when the team dissolved
in mid-2001.
With all premium rides taken
for the 2002 season, Dunn signed a one-year contract to do color
commentary for ESPN. Though the role began as a temporary stint,
Dunns vast racing background, considerable insight, and
enthusiasm led to a new career, which has given him even more
recognition. Currently at each of the 24 NHRA Mello Yello Drag
Racing Series events, Dunn showcases his vast knowledge of the
sport and has become one of drag racings premier announcers as
the lead analyst for the ESPN2 telecasts.
Dunn, no stranger to
a mic, literally held court for nearly 30 minutes.
Every year new or special cars
are selected to fire-up in the parking lot of the DoubleTree
Hotel following the awards ceremony. This years picks of the
litter included the debut of the beautiful 1966 Tom Hoover Woody/Hanna
"Fishbowl Car" restored by Steve Andersen.
The debut of the restored 1966
"Atlas Oil Tool Spec." of Tom Scott and Keith Brednich.
The debut of the Mailliard Automotive
Eng. sidewinder of Jack Gillett.
After several years of absence,
the restored Tony Nancy's 1970 "Sizzler" Top Fueler
car owned by John Neas made another appearance.
And the award winning Cook &
Bedwell Isky-U-Fab recreation of Ray Lake was back for its second
consecutive year.
Eily Stafford was in
the Cook & Bedwell car.
Don Hampton was in the
Atlas seat.
The legendary Harry Hibler
was in the Tony Nancy car.
Bob Frey introduced the cars
while Gibbs scanned the area for any potential problems before
he gave the start-up signal to the first car.
The Anderson family;
Larry, Jessica, Brad in back, Kali, Rachelle and Chris.
Sue & Andy Brizio,
Ed & Sylvia Pink, ??? and Bud Barnett.
Isky and Kenny Youngblood
Cindy Gibbs Arias
Louie Senter, Gene Winfield
and Cliff Bedwell
:
Bill Simpson, Dan Broussard,
Spider Razon and Walt Stevens
Heather Roberts and Terry
Capp
Don Ewald, Isky and Simpson
Mike Kuhl with Simpson
Ewald, Ken Theiss, Simpson
and Dave Jeffers
Joe Schubeck
Ronnie Hampshire and
John Preora
Ron Huegli, Robert &
Richard Reel with Gwen McWilliams
"Honda Doug",
Kenny Logan and Chip Woodall
Darrell and Jerry Gwynn
Pink, Alan Gillis, Ed
McCulloch, Bob Brandt and Bernie Fedderly
Barbara Hogan and Ace
Dale Funk, Chip Woodall
and Spider Razon.
Wish we had more people
shots from this deal and if you have any, send them. 2014
CHRR Photo Submission
Untitled Document
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