Vintage drag racing cars like Al Hanna’s Funny Car will be part of the Sept. 12-14 Hot Rod Reunion. (credit: Al Hanna photo)

By Lou Modestino

Legendary drag racing announcer Bob Frey will be honored as the grand marshal for the NHRA Motorsports Museum New England Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA Insurance at New England Dragway and Motorsports Park, Sept. 12-14.

For the second consecutive year, three days of classic cars, quarter-mile drag racing, and honoring the legends of drag racing will take place at the scenic facility outside of Boston.

Frey, who announced drag racing at tracks across the country after falling in love with the sport after attending his first race in 1964, worked for years at his home track of Atco Dragway in New Jersey learning his trade. In 1985, he became an NHRA national event announcer and called it a career at the conclusion of the 2012 Auto Club NHRA Finals. In those nearly five decades, he entertained and educated millions and visited more than 200 drag strips. The self-described “skinny, geeky, bald-headed guy with glasses from Waterford in South Jersey” was the full-time voice of NHRA Drag Racing for nearly two decades.

Also honored during the event will be Gil Coraine, John Healey, Al Hanna, George Weiler and ‘Jungle Pam’ Hardy.

A hot rodder for more than six decades, Coraine started the Peace Pipes hot rod club in 1960, which became part of the New England Hot Rod Council that helped operate the pioneering drags at the Sanford, Maine, airport. He was part of the original group that acquired the land and developed New England Dragway in 1966 and was an original member of NED’s board of directors.

Bob Tasca Sr. was the visionary leader, Bill Lawton was the highly talented driver, and Healey was the equally talented mechanic whose behind-the-scenes work helped make the Providence, R.I.-based Tasca Ford dealership one of the most featured Ford drag racing teams during the decade of the 1960s. In addition to his work for Tasca, Healey successfully tuned cars campaigned by John Downing and Ed Terry. Healey has received well-deserved recognition for his accomplishments, including induction into the New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame in 2012.

In his many seasons of racing, Hanna earned fame behind the wheel of Top Fuel dragsters, nitro Funny Cars, and jet dragsters. He and his longtime partner Bob Beaulieu first became involved with a variety of cars during the mid-1960s, including the first of his own series of Eastern Raider entries, Bill Flynn’s Yankee Peddler ’65 Dodge, Jim Maybeck’s Patriot Chevelle, the Screaming Eagle Corvair and Camaro, and many more. Hanna has maintained his interest in nitro burning cars and pays close attention to recent developments in fuel, clutch management, and data-gathering systems. He has been honored many times for his achievements, including his induction into the New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame in 2006.

At 17, Pennsylvania native Weiler went to work at Beckersville Garage, honing his mechanical and welding skills, and in 1960, he and fellow members of the Eastern Custom Car Association were instrumental in creating Maple Grove Raceway. In 2004, he was inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame and the Maple Grove Walk of Fame.

One of the most iconic images from drag racing in the 1970s is the skimpily clad Hardy backing up Funny Car superstar “Jungle Jim” Liberman after his burnouts. More often than not, she would put on a better show than the race itself, and she quickly earned fame on her own as “Jungle Pam.” Prior to partnering with Liberman, Hardy was leading a quiet life in the sleepy town of West Chester, Pa., until one day in May 1972, when Liberman drove by in his Corvette and talked her into joining his match race tour. “I ditched the college that had accepted me, and it drove my mother nuts,” Hardy recalled. Today, Hardy’s husband, Bill Hodgson, helps tune George Reidnauer’s Excalibur Corvette Nostalgia Funny Car, and they attend many reunion-and nostalgia-type events.

The NHRA Motorsports Museum New England Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA Insurance begins Sept. 12 for three days of classic cars, quarter mile drag racing and honoring the legends of the sports. Gates open at 8 a.m. each day with activities taking place during the weekend.

NHRA Motorsports Museum New England Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA Insurance, is produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and benefits the facility located in Pomona, Calif. The Museum’s mission is to celebrate the impact of motorsports on American culture. The Museum collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets the vehicles, stories and artifacts that represent America’s affection for, and the influence of, automotive speed and style in all its forms.

• SCHEDULE: The event begins at 8 a.m. each day with racing beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 12; Racing starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday Sept. 13; And 9 a.m. on Sunday Sept. 14.