THE 44th ANNUAL NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS were held in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA on October 29, 30, and 31, 2021.
Five words perfectly describe the week-end: IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK. After lock downs, masks and mandates it was obvious that people were glad to return to normal. The Western Nats provided normal in abundance. There were 1,234 vehicles in the Fairgrounds as well as a crowd of spectators. The show opened on Friday morning and by about 3:00 on Sunday it was over. Between Friday and Sunday though there were so many cars to look at:
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This is Grant standing next to a tricked out 1957 Chevy.
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This year the timingtower.com award went to Tony Davidson and his ’34 Ford 5-window high boy coupe. We’ll have more photos and a feature article on this car.
Since this was Halloween week-end there were plenty of reminders of the holiday:
There were witches:
Pumpkins – also known as Halloweenie
Trick or Treaters – Spider-man is really Braden.
Skeletons – Gabrielle and Mikey.
Herman Munster was there.
If you use your imagination the rear of this nice, black 1959 Chevy resembles a bat.
While Halloween did add some fun, the week-end was all about the cars.
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Also, as in past years, the NSRA safety inspectors were hard at work. They inspected 72 cars with 59 receiving the Safety 23 pin. These inspectors give up their week-end to make sure others get home safely. Their work is greatly appreciated.
Photos of the award winners are shown below. Following the award ceremony, many great prizes were given away. Bradley made some very happy folks by drawing all the winning tickets.
In addition to merchandise prizes, NSRA gave away three $2,000 checks. The winners were Dan Hayes of Bakersfield, Ernie Lowe of Wasco, and Charles Ray Shannon of Bakersfield. Standing with the winners is Tom Wilkerson, the event director.
After the award ceremony and prize giveaways, it was over.
For awhile it seemed the 44th Western Nats wouldn’t get off the ground, but it did, and now the 45th Western Nats is in the planning stage. It will be held April 29, 30 and May 1, 2022 in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA.
NSRA 2021 SUNDAY AWARD CEREMONY – this year 43 awards were given.
We know everyone is interested in the award winners and we wanted to get those photos up as soon as possible. More photos and an article will be posted this evening.
Below are the NSRA 2021 award winners. There were 43 awards given. Photos of the winners are divided into three galleries. The photos are in the same order as the awards were given – if you are looking for a particular car and know it was one of the first to received an award, look in the first gallery.
NOTE: We no longer sell photos through Smug Mug despite indications above. If you are interested in photos or digital downloads please contact us at timingtower@gmail.com.
AWARD GALLERY NO. 1
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AWARD GALLERY #2
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AWARD GALLERY NO. 3
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SATURDAY OCTOBER 30 UPDATE;
There were more cars in the Fairgrounds today, but it doesn’t look like we’ll make the 1,500+that attended in 2019. We’ll get the final attendance numbers tomorrow. No matter how many cars attended, it was terrific to be outside at a car show again. Here are photos of some of the great cars we saw today.
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The awards ceremony will be held tomorrow. Photos of the award winners, more event photos and an article will be posted Monday night. This year the timingtower.com pick is Tony Davidson’s outstanding 1934 5-window highboy coupe.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 29 UPDATE:
Registration for the NSRA Western Nats started on Thursday and by Friday nearly 1100 cars were registered – many of them were in the Kern County Fairgrounds on Friday. If today was a sampling of what to expect this week-end, we will be seeing a lot of outstanding cars. Below are a few:
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Trick or Treat!!!
Saturday is always the big day for this event and this year should be no exception. The rest of the week-end is predicted to be like today – perfect car show weather.
Check back tomorrow night for more event photos and another update.
After lockdowns, masks and mandates, the NSRA Western Nats is back!!
The National Street Rod Assoc. will hold its 44th annual Western Nationals in the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA on October 29, 30, & 31, 2021. Event registration will take place at the Doubletree Hotel Bakersfield, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, Bakersfield starting Thursday Oct. 28 from 12 noon to 6 p.m. Registration will continue on Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is also available at the Fairgrounds. The event is open to vehicles manufactured in 1991 and before.
In past years about 1,800 cars have attended this event and this year, we hope, will meet or exceed this number. Hot rods, classics, muscle cars, rat rods and other vintage automobiles will be on display in the Fairgrounds. As usual there will be a swap meet, women’s world and dozens of exhibitors set up in the Fairgrounds. Spectator gates at the Fairgrounds will open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Each year about 35 vehicles are selected to take home a coveted NSRA award. The winners gather in the winners’ circle on Sunday morning and one by one each car is driven into the amphitheater and in front of the stage to receive the award. For many years, Timingtower.com has been honored to select a vehicle to receive an award. Below is a photo of the 2019 winner selected by Timingtower.com.
Timingtower.com will be in Bakersfield again this year for the NSRA Western Nats. Friday and Saturday nights we will posts photos from the show and on Monday evening we’ll post an article and photos. Keep checking this site for new info and photos.
