A week has past since we drove into the drizzle with a 207 thousand plus miles econobox to get to Bakerfield for a drag race that also happened to be a swap meet and car show. The roots of the California Hot Rod Reunion run deeper into history than a modern drag racing event. Behind the bleachers at Famoso Raceway is the Grove, in the ground of which trees are planted in honor of those drag racing heavyweights that have passed on. The Grove at the CHRR is packed with those who feel a strong enough connection to the action on the track to fork over a few extra sawbucks to show off their rides - with some spots conspicuously vacant after the call to the staging lanes crackled over the loudspeakers.

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