Kern County Fairgrounds – Timing Tower

NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS, October 29, 30,31, 2021

admin — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 01:22:49 +0000

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: This is Grant standing next to a tricked out 1957 Chevy. 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. 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 AWARD GALLERY #2 AWARD GALLERY NO. 3 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. 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: 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 […]

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2017 WESTERN STREET ROD NATIONALS

admin — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 04:47:57 +0000

The 41st Western Street Rod Nationals, Bakersfield, CA, April 28-30, 2017. As the Western Nats enters its 5th decade it is truly amazing to see the changes that have occurred over the years. No longer is this a pre-49 street rod only show- now it not only includes cars from the fifties, sixties and seventies, but also offers a varied selection of name plates. Where else could you find an AMC Gremlin (humorously displaying Yenko racing graphics) and a pricey Kurtis roadster at the same event. This show continues to demonstrate that car folks are some of the most innovative and creative individuals around. Which is why the NSRA Western Nationals continues to be one of the best. The 41st Western Street Rod Nationals kicked off on Thursday evening, April 27 with the annual Welcome Back Bar B Que at Stramler Park. The bar b que is sponsored by the Bakersfield Convention and Visitors Bureau and offers a really good dinner. It’s worth coming to Bakersfield a day early just for the bar b que. This year 925 dinners were served. The Kern County Fairgrounds started filling up on Friday and by the end of the show 1,735 cars were on display – which is a few more than last year. The fairgrounds has plenty of room and parking is never a problem. Some of the nice cars at the fairgrounds are shown below. Friday morning a continental breakfast was hosted by the Selohssa Car Club. This is the 30th year the continental breakfast was held and along with coffee, 62 dozen donuts were given out – that’s a lot of donuts. And after breakfast there were more cars to see. All of the photos shown in this article are available on our SmugMug site and all photos are available for purchase on our SmugMug site. Safety Inspections performed by the NSRA Southwest Division Safety Representatives were available both Friday and Saturday. This is an invaluable service provided by NSRA to its members. The inspectors perform a 23-point inspection to ensure a vehicle is safe and road worthy. Below are the items a car must have to pass the inspection: Required Equipment Horn: Electric only. Speed Indicator: Speedometer or calibrated tachometer at 65 mph. Rear View Mirror: One inside or outside on driver’s side of vehicle. Glass: Must be safety plate, lexan, or tempered glass. Lighting: Hi-beam; low-beam; tail; brake; license. Windshield Wiper: Electric or vacuum operated. Automatic Transmission Lockout: Neutral and/or park start only. Tires: 3/32 tread acceptable. Must meet D.O.T. specifications. Steering No excessive “play” (2″ radius max.) or binding; system must be safely mounted. Throttle Linkage: Must not travel past center. Fuel System: Check Vent on Trunk and Interior Mounted Tanks; no clear, plastic lines allowed. No leaks. Exhaust System: No Leaks: Must pass rear edge of front door and exit exhaust away from vehicle. Self-aligning Rod End Bearings: Check for fractures, insert sloppiness or binding. Shock Absorbers: One per wheel, no leaks, 2″ travel in each direction. Brakes: Four-wheel brakes, no leaks, check brake pedal travel, no copper tubing, check length of flexible lines. Scrub Line: No steering, suspension or chassis components should be below this line. Recommended Equipment: May be reason for failure Windshield: Should be AS-1. Shift Pattern: Shift pattern should be visible except on three speed standard column shift. Fuel Lines: Should be safely mounted and routed. Parking Brake: Should be activated independent of vehicle’s hydraulic system. Self-aligning Rod End Bearings: Ball should have 1/8 inch spacer on each side of the ball if there is any misalignment. Rod ends should not have more than 10° misalignment. ROD ENDS and 4 BAR-PARALLEL RADIUS ROD SYSTEM rubber bushed ends should have a safety washer at least the same outside diameter as the housing or larger. Brake Lines: Should be safely mounted and routed. Chassis Fasteners: Self-locking nuts, lock-washers, safety wire, or cotter pins. For Your Safety Safety Equipment: Fire extinguisher in driver/passenger compartment, seat belts, a third brake light and a dual master cylinder. Safety inspectors can be seen hard at work below. The individuals performing the inspections donate a great deal of their time and talent to make sure everyone stays safe. This year at the Western Nats 140 inspections were performed, 127 cars passed and 119 passed the entire 23 point inspection. Since the safety program began countrywide 412,000 inspections have been completed. This year the Streets of Rods, held on Saturday, included categories for Flamin’ Freeway, Memory Lane, Camaro Court, and 29 Below. This special event is held in a grassy courtyard off the main entrance to the fairgrounds and is a nice area to look at the cars and talk to the owners. Being separated from the main fairgrounds, the courtyard offers a peaceful break from the activity outside its gates. Below are some of the cars in the Streets of Rods. Starting at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday the award winning cars gathered in the Circle of Winners. The winners remain in the circle until the awards ceremony providing a good opportunity to see some very spectacular vehicles. Most of the owners stick around with their vehicle so it’s also a good time to find out the name of that special paint color, who painted those flames, who sells a particular part, or to just stand and stare. Below are some of the cars from the winners circle. Every year timingtower.com is lucky enough to be able to select a car to receive a trophy. This year we chose a fantastic 1932 pick-up owned by John and Mary Booth. John has owned this pick-up since he was 14 years old. Once he was old enough to drive he took it to the first NSRA Western Nats which was held in Merced, CA. We’ll have more info […]

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40th ANNUAL WESTERN STREET ROD NATIONALS

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 00:07:30 +0000

WOW – 40 YEARS OLD!! IT WON’T BE LONG UNTIL THE WESTERN NATS IS AS OLD AS MANY OF THE CARS IN ATTENDANCE. Over the years the Kern County Fairground has proven to be a good home for the NSRA Western Nats with plenty of parking and plenty of cruising lanes. There was a lot to do at the Fairgrounds in Bakersfield over the week-end of April 29-May 1 – the Thursday night bar-b-que, the ladies’ tea (which hosted 135 participants), the quilt display, a free continental breakfast, Sunday church service, the swap meet, the vendors, Revell’s model car ‘make-and-take’, women’s world, the safety inspection and, of course, looking at 1,727 of the most creative, ingenious, innovative, not to mention, dazzling, splendid, and down-right gorgeous vehicles gathered together anywhere. The Street of Rods section this year had a section for 29 and below (29 refers to the age of the driver-not the car), fabulous forties (models between 1940-49), kustom korner (1936 or newer customs or lead sleds), and be-bop boulevard (Buicks, Olds, and Pontiacs). The photo below was in the 29 and below class. This photo is a line-up at the kustom korner. We saw a lot of nice cars this week-end, but one that caught our attention was a 1967 Mustang owned by Mike Payne of Bakersfield. This car was purchased new by Mike’s grandmother in Bakersfield. It has 137,000 miles on it, is all original and still looks good. In the late forties and early fifties Ford and Chevy were vying for the title of ‘best selling truck’. The photo below shows the Ford and Chevy trucks of the era. Sunday morning the 41 award winners gathered in the winners’ circle providing an opportunity for folks to get a good look at those cars selected by the judges. Awards are given by the Mayor of Bakersfield, the CHP, the NSRA Safety Reps and Division Reps, ISCA, and others. The slide shows below have photos of the winners. More photos from the award ceremony will be posted, along with the photos above, on our SmugMug site – All of the photos you see on this page, and more will also be on our SmugMug site. Timingtower.com also gives an award. This year Roy and Pamela Hawks’ 1948 Chevy Pick-up was chosen as the Timingtower.com pick. The custom and restoration work on this truck was performed by the Castro brothers at Ultra Car Care in Bakersfield. More about this terrific truck (shown below) can be found in the Feature Car section of this website. The long-distance award went to Robert Harmon who drove his 1939 Chevy from Newark, Ohio – 2,400 miles – photo below. Throughout the week-end, about $70,000 in prizes were given away, many of them through a drawing by Wings Kalahan. In addition, to playing tunes, Wings posted prize-winning numbers on a board at his trailer. The award and prize ceremony started at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. The winning prize numbers were expertly drawn by Kaiah and a lot of nice prizes were given away. The super prizes consisted of three $3,000 checks, and Jim Clendenning, Chuck Crawford and Marlow Klein each took home $3,000 – nice way to end the week-end. Below is Kaiah – ticket selector extraordinaire. The three super prize winners with Tom Wilkerson, the event director. After all the prizes were given away, the show was over. Mother Nature co-operated admirably and the week-end in Bakersfield couldn’t have been better. Next year the Western Nats will be held on April 28, 29 and 30. All of the photos in this article, and more, can be found on our SmugMug site Saturday started out cool and overcast, but by noon it was sunny and warm. As we expected, there were even more cars in the Fairgrounds today. The award winners have been selected and will be gathered in the winners’ circle tomorrow morning. Monday night we’ll have photos of the award winners including the timingtower.com pick. Below are but a few of the nice cars we saw today. Today, Friday, April 29, the Kern County Fairgrounds started filling with all types of specialty cars – hot rods, customs, classics, rat rods – as the 40th NSRA Western Street Rod Nationals got underway. We send Mike Chrispyn, the NSRA Event Director, our prayers and best wishes after the death of his wife, Laura. Laura’s smiling face at the registration desk will be missed. If the number of cars in attendance today is any indicator, tomorrow the Fairgrounds will be full. Below are some of the cars we saw today: We’ll post photos of more cars tomorrow. It’s hard to describe the spectacular sight that is the Kern County Fairgrounds this week-end. The show will continue until Sunday afternoon. It’s time for the Western Street Rod Nationals in Bakersfield. Check here for photos from the show on Friday and Saturday nights and on Monday evening for the full event coverage including photos from the awards ceremony. The Western Street Rod Nationals (“Nats”) will be held in the Kern County Fairgrounds on April 29, 30, and May 1, 2016. Event registrations will be at the Doubletree Hotel in Bakersfield and starts on Thursday, April 28 at 1:00 pm and runs until 6:00 pm. Friday registration is from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday it’s from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. This show attracts about 2,000 of the finest vehicles anywhere.

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2014 NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS+

admin — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 03:26:43 +0000

THE 38th NSRA WESTERN NATIONALS+, April 25-27, 2014, Bakersfield, CA Was it the late April shower that made Bakersfield so colorful this week-end? No, we think it was the annual infusion of over 1,600 brightly colored hot rods making their way to the Kern County Fairgrounds for the 38th Street Rod Nationals that put a rolling flash of color on the streets of Bakersfield. This is the 28th year the Western Nats have been held at the Kern County Fairgrounds and it is a great place for a car show offering plenty of parking on the grass, a good route for cruising, a bandstand with seating for the awards, buildings for the vendors and lots of food and beer booths. NSRA will be back to the fairgrounds for the Western Nationals+ again next year on April 24, 25 and 26. Registration was down a little this year with 1,646 registered – in part due to the Friday rain. Saturday morning was cloudy but by Saturday afternoon the sun came out and Sunday was a perfect day. The Bakersfield firemen were back selling beer and food and this year they had a particularly interesting way of filling beer cups. Each glass has a round magnetic disc in the bottom that seals off a hole. The cup is pressed down over the round spigot that fills the cup from the bottom to a pre-set 16 ounces. When the cup is full it’s removed from the spigot and the round magnetic disc seals off the hole. Works pretty slick – no beer gets spilled and no foam runs over. There was a lot going on all week-end. The event started on Thursday evening with a Bar B Que sponsored by the Bakersfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. More than 1,000 meals were served that night. Friday when the fairgrounds opened the Selohssa Car Club was on hand with a Continental Breakfast where 600 cups of coffee were served along with 63 dozen donuts. As always Sanderson Headers sponsored a Ladies Tea on Friday and 150 ladies took part. Included with Women’s World was a quilt display with a raffle. The “best” quilt was chosen by people’s choice and was given to the lucky raffle winner. Wings Callahan played tunes all day every day with live bands on both Saturday afternoon and evening. Ride Tech sponsored a tech seminar on Saturday morning and the safety inspectors worked both Friday and Saturday. This week-end the safety inspectors inspected 145 cars, 124 passed and 117 received the safety 23 sticker. Last year throughout the U.S. 69 teams comprised of 900 NSRA safety inspectors inspected 14,415 cars. A lot of time and energy goes into the safety program and all we can say is “THANK YOU”!!! Saturday special parking was set aside for the Streets of Rods. This parking was divided up into four sections – 29 Below for street rods owned and registered by participants under the age of 29; Forever Four for all hot rods built in a year ending with a 4; Nostalgia Lane open to all years and makes but reflecting a nostalgia build; Hot Rod Haulers – for all trucks from pick-ups to car haulers. A lot of nice cars could be found in the Streets of Rod Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning offered a church service and a chance to see all the award winners parked in the Winners’ Circle. This year 37 awards were given but with the number of nice cars in the fairgrounds this week-end that number could have been 1,646. Here are photos of the award winners. Additional photos of the award winners are posted on our SmugMug site www.timingtower.smugmug.com. You can order photos directly from SmugMug or contact us at timingtower@gmail.com. The awards ceremony started at 2:00 pm, followed by the Super Prize drawings with three lucky guys taking home $3,000 each. The first $3,000 cash winner was Stennett Bell from Stockton, then Ryan Davidson from Bakersfield won and finally Jerry England from Kernville received his $3,000. This year more than $69,000 in cash and merchandise was given out. In addition to the prizes given after the awards, Wings Callahan handed out prizes all week-end. The winner of the timingtower.com award is a 1950 Oldsmobile 88 owned by Haskell and Liz Cowan of Porterville, CA. This nicely restored car is painted cypress pearl and black, the upholstery is gray with cypress accents, and it sports a Pontiac GTO 400 engine. Below are a few photos of the Olds but more are posted under our Feature Car section. This week-end we learned about a new organization called American Warrior Customs (AWC) whose mission is to get the classic cars of service members and veterans on the road. AWC’s first project was a 1970 Ford Torino owned by U.S. Navy Chief Jason Saffa. Chief Saffa found his completely restored Torino sitting in his garage waiting for him when got home from deployment. American Warrior Customs is a California based non-profit organization operated by Tracy Harrelson and Jon Hall and many volunteers and friends. AWC’s next project is a 1957 T-Bird which will be ready for a warrior upon his return from a current deployment. All labor and all parts are donated. AMW also hopes to obtain cars which it will rebuild/restore and give to an individual who is either now serving or is a veteran. Donating to this group provides a way for everyone to give back to those who keep us safe. If you want to help, log on to American Custom Warriors. The photo below is of Chief Jason Saffa’s Torino. The ’57 T-Bird which is the next car to be restored by AWC. Here are some of the nice cars at the fairgrounds this week-end. But when its over, its over and everyone heads home. Looks like everyone had fun. Mark your calendar for next year so you can make your way to the Kern County Fairgrounds April 24-26 for the 39th Western Street Rod Nationals+. The Western Nats are always fun. Check our Images for sale on www.timingtower.smugmug.com You can order photos directly from SmugMug or contact […]

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