O'Reilly Street Machine Nationals Event Recap 2014

[Trackside-Brandy]

O’Reilly Street Machine Nationals
Pomona Fairgrounds – Pomona, Ca
March 22-23, 2014

January through April is packed with pro-touring events on the West Coast. The O’Reilly Street Machine Nationals may seem like just another event, but if you did not go this year, make sure to add it to next year’s list. Though the show was on a much smaller scale compared to most others, the autocross, sponsored by TCI Engineering and ran by Racing Byrds, was the main focus of the event. The crowd was packed and the participants were parked several rows deep while they waited in their run group throughout Saturday. Here’s a quick recap of the top highlights throughout the weekend:

Jake Rozelle took the lead Sunday winning the Hot Rod Class. Jake has been unstoppable the past couple months, winning several west coast events and climbing the ladder to Pro Class at the April Goodguys Del Mar Event. This was just another example of Rozelle’s testament of seat time vs rewards. We can’t wait to see what else he has for us when the fall west coast sweep comes back around.


Rob MacGregor took lead both Saturday and Sunday in the Pro Class. As Sunday came to an end, MacGregor held on to his lead, winning the Pro Class and ranking as the overall leader for the weekend.


Sal Solorzano in the TCI ’68 Camaro and James Crosby in the ’68 ridetech Camaro fought for second place throughout the weekend. Though both competitors continued to bump each other from that second place position, Crosby figured out what he needed to pull off the second place win on Sunday with a little under a half of second lead. Congratulations to both drivers for some impressive driving and putting on a great show.


Don Gonzalez in his 2010 Camaro SS won the Modern Muscle Class while also ranking 5th overall. His very impressive lap times got him noticed out of the 60 participants that ran throughout the weekend. Though short, the course was technical and those who mastered it proved just how good they truly were behind the wheel.


Ken Dugmore with his ’72 C10 was also a sight to see. This 3/4 ton 2-wheel drive truck had a very unique power train; with a 440 Mopar. Though mostly stock, this truck was awesome to watch. One may question why in the world Dugmore brought this truck out in the first place, but this is exactly what our pro-touring community is all about. It’s always great to see people bring out their stock vehicles and watch them transition with suspension and engine mods throughout the years. Though you may never see the addiction coming, autocross gets more addicting each time you come out, no matter if you're a participant or just a spectator.


Derek Christenson was another noteworthy participant that caught our eye that weekend. Christenson brought out what looked to be just another tuner car, but we caught something out of the ordinary right out of the gate with this car. The Chevy bowtie had us scratching our heads and questioning what was really under the hood. Not only did it sound completely unique, but Christenson had every reason to run that Chevy bowtie on his grille. With a complete LS1 swap, this car was not only loud, but quick and fun to watch. We have been noticing the LS swap trend in these tiny Datsuns and we are all for it. Keep ‘em coming because they are awesome to watch and we loving having them come out to events.


That’s a wrap with this event. Though we might not have mentioned you, there are 400 awesome pictures of every car that ran on Saturday. Don’t forget to take a moment and browse through them. If you weren’t out this year, please come out and participate next year. The track was awesome and we want to thank the Racing Byrds for putting on a great event.


We also want to thank TCI Engineering for hosting the autocross and feeding all the participants. It’s not too often you get to race and eat free food!


Finally we want to acknowledge the staff at the Street Machine Nationals. Family Events puts on this event and they were amazing to work with. Not only did they accommodate us for the moment we stepped foot through the entrance, but the event was well organized, the vendors were all in one main area, the staff was extremely friendly and overly helpful and we had an amazing time. Thank you Street Machine Nationals Staff for making us feel at home and we can’t wait to come back next year to cover the event.


Results for the weekend provided by Racing Byrds:


For complete coverage of the 2014 O'Reilly Street Machine Nationals check out our photo slideshow and continue to visit www.pro-touring.com for the latest event calendar, updated info and event coverage.


http://www.streetmachinenationals.net/event/276