Folks Of Interest NDRA, what actually happened to them?

Back in 1989 or so, I belonged to a vintage drag racing club, called NDRA. It was before is was trendy to build g***ers etc.

There were just a handful of guys with some prime examples of survivor cars. KS Pittman was a member, he campaigned a clone car, but cool nonetheless. They ran a few races, one in Michigan and one n Memphis. We attended the Muddy Water Nationals in 1989 and then they just sort of disappeared.

Just curious, if they are completely dissolved or if someone still owns the name?

 

Tom Prufer and his pal Brian (lost in the memory banks) formalized the NDRA and ran races for a few years. I helped them at Fremont 2 or 3 times and also at Milan, MI.

I don't remember all the details but I believe it got folded into Goodguys. I've got some great tapes from Fremont and some good memories.

 

It was Brian Burnette (sp?). Now I got it.
Get a cup of coffee and remember that this is one man's memory of what happened.

NDRA - Nostalgia Drag Racing ***ociation

I first became aware of NDRA events thru the pages of SR in late 80s. They had stopped promoting events around the country before I moved back to Cal in '91 and started attending their events. Something had happened within the organization giving control to Ferd Rhodes. The story I was told is that Rhodes was doing the t-shirts and somehow wrestled the organization away from the two guys (mentioned above), who actually built and grew the deal with help from Street Rodder exposure and HUGE levels of interest around the country. Fremont had closed and the only available tracks were LACR (Palmdale) and Bakersfield. (There were other tracks but you had to have vintage cars around them) Bakersfield was run by the #2 guy at Goodguys, so no other organization was allowed to run Top Fuel at that facility. Sears Point was very difficult to book, because it is part of a very busy roadcourse, plus Goodguys were already in there. They were not big on compe***ion from other sanctioning bodies and their events were growing..
Bernie Longjohn welcomed the events to Palmdale, but the distance from LA and the condition of it's track hurt participation. NDRA soldiered on, but (like LACR) seemed to be dying a slow death, as purses were paid with "Racer Bucks" redeemable only within the organization. Maybe not even for entry fees, IIRC.
Another organization ANRA (which is still alive) was facing the same obstacles and offering an alternative from problems in NDRA. I don't remember NDRA's last gasp, but the closing of Los Angeles County Raceway did not help.
NDRA actually had an A/GS cl*** which was limited to 6-71s, gasoline, and 5 lbs/cubic inch.
Rob Frazier

 

Those clone cars were actually built by Johnny Rocca from Virginia. He surprised KS with the red one and got him to drive it on tour. (a real match race tour) I even saw them at a NHRA event in Dallas. Johnny still runs the blue car with Rocky Pirrone's Nostalgia G***ers group.

 

Just to keep the record straight, it was Tom Prufer & Brian Burnett (son of illustrator Rex Burnett & owner of Los Gatos Ferrari)
We ran several NDRA races back when nostalgia racing really was nostalgic!

Mick

 

Rob
Are you thinking of Brian Burnett (? Sp). IIRC, he owns Ferrari of Los Gatos Ca.

 

Yea, correct. I tried to edit it, but mistyped It. Thanks.
Those two guys really did something. I always wonder what they could have accomplished.
One thing no one will ever forget is that Fastest Street Rod deal they started. Fat Jack's Ford, Moreland's 40 sedan, Castelli's Willys. There were a lot of people watching this deal SERIOUSLY. Add the g***er legends, dragster, and altered guys who were there and those who were working on stuff and it added up to some serious potential. I started the complete nostalgia g***er story w/pics over on falcongeorge's Modern Nostalgia Drag Cars thread, if you haven't seen that.

 

Thanks for the history guys. The closest event to us was the Muddy Water Nationals, which was about 8 hours away, but it was really fun. 3 guys in a 79 Ford single cab pickup for 8 hours was a challenge.

 

Great follow-on guys. I just couldn't remember Brian's last name. And it is clear to me now that there apparently wasn't a direct tie to Goodguys. After Milan I had a change in my work commitments and lost track of the whole nostalgia racing scene and by the early 90's I was crewing on a local door slammer Chevelle that ran in the low 9's.

I agree that Tom and Brian performed a huge development task in the early years. When I was involved I believe Sue Brizio was doing the shirts and stuff. Tom took me to Roy's shop a couple times on my business swings to the West coast. I have a lot of great memories of my ***ociation with Tom and Brian.

 

Charlie Chops, You initially used the term folded in to Goodguys. Their idea was crush and fold.
I actually told Gary that I thought that was a bad philosophy. Why would a smart person put a lot of money into a racecar that only had one choice as to where to race? I was trying to get across that it was better to have more options, so more cars would get built, then put on the best events and let them all come.

 

So, you guys think something like this takes big money to keep it going? I guess most racers are looking for a payout to recoup some of their investment.


Wow, I never knew that event ever happened. Of course I didn't buy the Parr altered until 87 or early 88.

 

I still have my decals from NDRA. I also have some from the North West Timing ***ociation, NWTA with a Willys Coupe on it, that was more local. Got some T-Shirts somewhere too. They all started out fast and furious, and died without a wimper. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Here's how I think it got started. SoCal has the Antique Nationals which is still happening yearly, put on by Forever Four club. They needed a place to drag their truly vintage cars.
Jim Tipper sent me these flyer and dash plaque images showing some Bay Area action which benefitted from coverage and promotion from an international magazine.

 

I was a NDRA member and attended the Stroker Nats. in Tulsa. That was the real thing. No gl*** and aluminum BBC cars. 3 cars that stick in my brain were the Mooneyham and Sharp coupe that smoked the hides full track,Champion Speed Shop Worlds fastest Chevrolet with Sammy Hail driving. I remember his comment was I am getting to old for this ****. The last car was the Gl*** Slipper.I all so got to talk to Stroker him self.

 

I ran the NDRA race at Milan. I still have the trophy and decals in storage. It was well attended but until recently Milan did not continue with nostalgia racing. Recently their "Detroit Dragway Reunion" race in the spring and their Nostalgia Drags in the fall have become two of their biggest races of the season, both in terms of participants and fans. NDRA was ahead of its time around Michigan.

 

As far as success on a national level, this may be the real answer to the OP's question.

 

I raced at Milan I think it was '88,'89, and '90.

 

Sorry about the crooked pic. Not sure why it did that.

 

I ran Fremont in '86, '87 & '88, twice in T/F and once in A/GS. Those were the best of times for nostalgia racing. Cars and parts were relatively cheap and easy to find, and the atmosphere that Tom and Brian provided was second to none ! It was a mixture of legends of the sport, intermixed with those of us who always dreamed of driving those race cars in the 60's. I was amazed at how far some of the compe***ors traveled to race, and the lasting friendships I made during those years will live with me for life. The "Golden Years" of Nostalgia Drag Racing.

 

I always wondered what happened.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The March Meet was a nickname for The Fuel and Gas Championships, put on by The Smokers car club of Bakersfield back in the days we honor here on the HAMB. It was a yearly thumb-of-the-nose to NHRA's "fuel ban" and a HUGE SUCCESS. This was NDRA's attempt to honor those memories, whether approved or not. Notice they counted it as the second (and show the SoCal address). When Goodguys took over the event name, they started their year count all the way back to Smoker's first event.

 

This is what we took to the races back then. It was Cody Parr's "Apache" that we restored. Here's a pic of my dad piddling on it. I should have kept that car. The wheels alone are worth what I sold it for these days.

 

Thanks for this post you guys.Tom and really loved doing the Notalgia Drags. We started them at Fremont and they became a real event. We wanted a place for street rods and Hot Rods to be able to run , and had cl***es for everyone. Including a Powder Puff for the Ladies. We encouraged and searched for the old great cars that had not been out in years. Tom restored his old fuelef and Jet car Bob drove it. Chrisman , Mc Clennon , Haight ,Jim Davis , Gl*** Slipper , Adams and Enrique , Stone Woods and Cook ..Junior Thompson and son Tommy ,Jack ****rod ,,and many many more great old cars were pulled from the garage and lit up again.
We started a world's fastest street rod cl***---It was cool.
Jerry Moreland , Fat Jack ,Cole Cutler , Wendy Fry , Mike Spillmam , and some other WILDCHILDS ran that very popular .cl***.
Street Rodder and Hot Rod Magazine gave us huge support and it was a great event. We had stumbled on a really good combination.
Fuel and hard runners had rules---11" Tire Max---cast iron block and heads (knowing we would eventually run out of them) no slipper clutches. Kept everything sorta in the realm of reality.
Gray Baskerville bet me I couldn't find the Moonyham Sharp 554 Coupe ,while we were eating pizza and drinking beef one night after a Fremont Race.
I was pretty good at digging old stuff out so I bet.
He had decided it was the wildest Car he had ever seen run.
AGREED !
I found it after 2 phone calls the next morning , in Pittsburgh , Pa. (Lucky) Brizio and his guys restored it----Gerry Steiner and Brad built the motors and Gerry drove it. Never skipped a beat.
Word got around it was debuting after it was finished at one of our Fremont Races----maybe 85-86
Fans honestly flew in from as far away as Europe to watch the 554 Coupe run again---old guys got tears in there eyes when it lit. (not from nitro)---it was on alcohol. Nitro later
We ran a big schedule----Tulsa---Fremont---Seattle---Bakersfield----Milan----lot of work
Dave Bell did our art work ( Great Posters )
Tom arranged to have Curd and Mouse run the NDRA.
Guess that sort of screwed the deal , but realistically Tom and I had other responsibilities.
They had different ideas , and it was gone
Tom and I loved it and worked to make it special----Hope we did.
Today with NHRA involved it seems out of reach for many.
In reality , a fan can't tell the difference between a 5.40 and a 7.10

 

Brian's Dad, the famous REX BURNETTE did some cutaway views of winners' cars, just as he had for the HRM 'Hot Rod of the Month', (can't recall the dates for the NDRA drawings)
Just imagine having a Rex Burnett cutaway of your car...
(was super busy at the Campbell shop then, and sadly missed some of the best meets!)

 

I was at Tulsa and the 554 Coupe brought tears to my eyes to. In fact I am tearing up just thinking about it.