The American Nostalgia Racing Association brought two days of tight index racing, sharp reaction times and plenty of competition to Famoso Dragstrip for the ANRA Summer Nationals.
Saturday qualifying set the stage, with Frank Merenda leading A/Gas, Tim Gorman topping B/Gas, Danny Vahidi taking the No. 1 spot in C/Gas, Mike Balzer leading D/Gas and Nicholas Van Horn pacing E/Gas. Vince Generalao Jr., Robert Johnson and Kevin White earned the top spots in NE1, NE2 and NE3, respectively.
Sunday was a different game. Qualifying positions were replaced by win lights, and racers had to survive round after round to earn a trip to the winner’s circle.
Mike Needham emerged with the NE1 title, defeating Randy Ferguson in the final with a 7.626 to Ferguson’s 7.633.
Robert Johnson turned his No. 1 qualifying effort into the NE2 win. Johnson used a .011 reaction time and an 8.613 to defeat Ted New.
Kevin White also carried the No. 1 qualifying spot through eliminations, taking the NE3 victory over Douglas Holmes. White left with a .031 reaction time and ran a 9.563 in the final.
The Gas categories saw several Saturday leaders knocked out along the way. Bakersfield’s Kamaka Pocock claimed A/Gas over fellow Bakersfield racer Kenzer Small, while Brent Handley of Exeter defeated Wayne Broughton for the B/Gas title.
Justin Lynch of Whittier captured C/Gas over Walt Clevett of Loomis. Bakersfield’s Jerimie Jennings made one of the weekend’s biggest moves, qualifying 17th in D/Gas before working his way through eliminations and defeating Anthony Byers of Paso Robles in the final.
Gage Cameron added another Bakersfield victory, taking E/Gas over Mark Thompson of Lucerne Valley.
Brad Thompson of Visalia earned the Sportsman win over Allen Schoonmaker of Fresno, while Mike Brock captured Open Wheel over No. 1 qualifier Bob O’Neal.
Hot Rod produced one of the final round’s best starting-line battles. Jim Hulse of Porterville and Don Momi of Stockton both cut identical .005 reaction times, with Hulse turning on the win light to claim the Summer Nationals title.
The Junior racers also battled for Summer Nationals titles. Isabella Lily Pires won Junior Comp, Connor Casner took Junior Group 1, Caden Olivera won Junior Group 2, Alex Rees captured Junior Group 3 and Brady Kolb earned the Junior Group 4 win.
The cars and classes may celebrate drag racing’s past, but there was nothing nostalgic about the competition once the tree came down.
By Sunday afternoon, qualifying numbers were history. All that mattered was turning on one more win light — and at the ANRA Summer Nationals, those lights were earned.
This story was originally published on August 17, 2026. 
