I will post a few reports over the holiday period featuring some pictures and video clips of my visit to the CHRR. Here is part 1
With a few sacrifices and a little while to pay it all off myself and the wife included the meeting in the middle of a wedding anniversary holiday.
I didn't take my full DSLR and although I had been granted a press pass at the event before on one of my failed trips I didn't apply this time. For one I didn't want to leave my wife in the stands all day and the other thing was I really wanted to get the flavor of the whole event and not be glued to the track side stuff.
Photographs were taken with a compact camera and my phone so no action shots.
The raceway itself seemed to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Driving there we passed hundreds of gas and energy extraction machinery but then the track appeared up on the left Walking into Famoso for the first time was a little overwhelming to be honest. Seeing so many cars in the flesh that I had seen in magazines and old cine film clips all my life was very surreal but so cool.
I've heard it said before that you really don't know where to look and that's the case and there were classic dragsters and recreations everywhere Famoso itself is a fantastic venue because you have a top condition racing track with all the extras and care you would expect but at the same time the venue has a real unspoiled (old) feel to it and I think that is whats helps add to the magic.
Running parallel behind the track and sandwiched between the trade area and the pits is what I think they call the grove. A long dusty area which is not only a drive in car show for the best looking rods and customs you have ever seen but also some rare and stunning dragsters. There was also some classic drag racing machinery thrown in for good measure. After a while it turns in to the coolest auto jumble on the planet. Even the root beer van at is cool at Famoso. Next time plenty of this . And some of this
Watch on YouTube for bigger and HD version.
So after a few failed attempts in the past due to different reasons and wanting to go so bad for many years I finally got to fulfill a dream and attended the CHRR at Famoso raceway in Bakersfield in October.With a few sacrifices and a little while to pay it all off myself and the wife included the meeting in the middle of a wedding anniversary holiday.
I didn't take my full DSLR and although I had been granted a press pass at the event before on one of my failed trips I didn't apply this time. For one I didn't want to leave my wife in the stands all day and the other thing was I really wanted to get the flavor of the whole event and not be glued to the track side stuff.
Photographs were taken with a compact camera and my phone so no action shots.
The raceway itself seemed to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Driving there we passed hundreds of gas and energy extraction machinery but then the track appeared up on the left Walking into Famoso for the first time was a little overwhelming to be honest. Seeing so many cars in the flesh that I had seen in magazines and old cine film clips all my life was very surreal but so cool.
I've heard it said before that you really don't know where to look and that's the case and there were classic dragsters and recreations everywhere Famoso itself is a fantastic venue because you have a top condition racing track with all the extras and care you would expect but at the same time the venue has a real unspoiled (old) feel to it and I think that is whats helps add to the magic.
Running parallel behind the track and sandwiched between the trade area and the pits is what I think they call the grove. A long dusty area which is not only a drive in car show for the best looking rods and customs you have ever seen but also some rare and stunning dragsters. There was also some classic drag racing machinery thrown in for good measure. After a while it turns in to the coolest auto jumble on the planet. Even the root beer van at is cool at Famoso. Next time plenty of this . And some of this
Watch on YouTube for bigger and HD version.