Maple Grove Raceway - Holy Hot Rods, Batman!

Set in the rolling farmland in the Appalachian Mountains in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, Maple Grove Raceway proved that hot rodding is alive and well in the northeast, with not an empty seat in the stands, nor grassy knoll left uncovered. The drag strip side of the track could barely hold in all the competitors, which numbered well over 600 entries and guzzled gallons and gallons of high octane go-go juice. Eliminations continued deep into Sunday as the sun started to set and the show cars piled out for the trek home.

Quite an array of beautiful show machines crossed the judges' path, with an emphasis on Pro Street beauties and rare muscle. Our recent cover bearer, Denny Durbin, displayed his high-horsepower, supercharged Nova. So did his brother, who brought his bumper-draggin', Pro Street, first-generation Camaro.

Also gracing the grasslands was a pair of ultra-rare 1967 Camaro Z/28s. It is unusual to see one of the 602 original Z cars at one location, let alone two. Complete with the correct 290-horsepower 302 cubic-inch small-blocks designed specifically by Chevy for squashing the Mustang in the SCCA Trans-Am series in the late '60s, each of the two in attendance was documented. Both had folding rear seats and the red one had a front bench seat, 8-track player and 4.56 gears-from the factory.

Tremec True Street was an absolute blood bath, with 28 competitors cocked, locked, and ready to rock. The tour began out the rear gate of Maple Grove Raceway, past the once-legendary/now dry and filled-in swimming pool that catered to many a drunken encounter through the years. They continued some 20-plus miles through Morgantown and back again without a single hitch. As per the request of most competitors, they made haste through the hills in an attempt to keep off the high-stall converters. In the end, perennial butt-kicker and December 2006 feature car owner Marc Schwankweiler once again proved the worth of his blue '66 Chevy deuce. He rattled off a 9.174, 8.698, and 8.611, good enough for a class average of 8.83-seconds and $200 prize in Tremec True Street.