When you attend RPM Nationals as a spectator, you are right there in the middle of a time warp with all the old hotrods battling it out on the airstrip like it was back in the 40s-50s. The cars and trucks that race at RPM Nationals are ‘36 and earlier and appear as if they were built in the early 50s or earlier. RPM Nationals Fathead Drags is one of those events that you put on your calendar and hit repeat, this event should be on everyone's must-attend list.

The spectator view of the races is fantastic; you can watch all the action near the starting line. In addition, the pitts are accessible for everyone, you can check out the cars and talk to the owners about them. There is also a car show and swap meet at the event. RPM Nationals, like most car-related events, is very family-friendly.

If you have an early traditional style '60 and earlier hotrod or custom, you can enter it in the car show. The car show is right near the drag strip, the rides that participate in the car show are fantastic and sometimes you can find one thats a bit different, like the Ford truck with a VW engine that was at an earlier RPM Nationals event. One of the entries to the car show this year was Guido's "The Von Zipper." I first met Guido at an earlier RPM Nationals event.

At that time, he had a car called "The Stinking' Hotrod Lincoln" check out RPM Nationals' blog post with more about Guido's fascinating and unique custom car. While checking out his custom car, Guido told me about another car that he built called "The Von Zipper." He built the car as a tribute to the Red Baron model conceived by Tom Daniels, which he built and rebuilt so many times as a kid.

The Von Zipper has a 1919 Studebaker body in the rear and a 1920 Dodge body in the front. Both car bodies found in a river bed are now part of this unique custom. Guido narrowed the body to fit on a Model A frame. The car sports a 1933 straight 8 Chrysler engine and transmission. The helmet was welded and formed using ten pieces of aluminum. The Von Zipper's machine gun even has actual Russian 1910 maxim machine gun parts; he had to fabricate some of the machine gun parts. It was great seeing The Von Zipper at RPM Nationals, we’ll see what he brings out next year.

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The Von Zipper, Red Baron tribute car

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Everyone that races in this event race for fun, but it seems like the cars are getting faster and faster every year; yes, it's for fun, but you want to bring home a win in your race class. That's why nobody is settling for good enough, and cars are getting faster and faster each year.

A lot of our favorites returned this year to race at the event. It's hard to pick a favorite as all of the cars and trucks that race at this event are fantastic and unique. Some hotrods are built just for this event, and others can be seen running at other race events throughout the year.

Participants from all over the US attended this event, especially from western states like California, Oregon, and Arizona. In addition, there were participants as far away as Germany at this year's event.

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Many cars raced at this year's RPM Nationals for the first time, two of them I recently saw at the Midnight Mass get-together in Northern California. First, a 1932 Roadster with McCulloch painted on the car's door, which refers to the early McCulloch Supercharger that the car had.

The early supercharger looked cool on this car, and if he can get a few more HP it’s all the better. The McCulloch painted on the door brought back memories as a kid watching my parents and brothers racing go-carts. I still remember the sound and smell of those two-stroke engines. McCulloch was not only known for manufacturing superchargers they also built a popular go-to engine for cart racing back then. George, the owner of the car, recently purchased the car pretty much the way it sits now, and he is now out here at RPM Nationals racing for the first time. I'm sure he will be bitten by the RPM Nationals race bug and will be back out here racing again.

The other car racing out here for the first time that I first heard start up from the other side of the Midnight Mass event; the hotrod is called the Rattler. The Rattler is a fascinating Model T Roadster with lots of history. Robert Weitzel, the owner of the hotrod, also has another Model T that he calls the Wild Cherry. He raced the Wild Cherry out at the Auburn Hill Climb; the Wild Cherry is the first car that I saw at that event get up on two wheels.

There was also a nice collection of race cars built by Nostalgia Ranch Hot Rod Shop. The newest addition of Nostalgia Ranch built hotrods is Katrin's Model T Roadster. The roadster has a lot of race history in Southern California; painted on the car's rear were race results dating back to '49. It was cool seeing this one, looking forward to seeing Nostalgia Ranch’s next build.

There were quite a few cool cars debuted at this year's RPM Nationals; one of them was TJ Kazarian's Model A Roadster. The roadster was finished just in time for this event, it raced in the modified-street 4cyl class. The car stood out at the event with its blue color, which looked perfect for this car.

RPM Nationals Flathead Drags is one of the funnest hotrod race events on the West Coast. I encourage everyone to check this one out. RPM Nationals is held in October at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch in Santa Margarita, CA. The ranch is just 10 miles from Atascadero, where there are plenty of places to stay and eat, and just a short distance from Morro Bay along the central California Coast.

Justin Baas and Russ Hare organize RPM Nationals and another fun hotrod event RPM Barona Drags. RPM Barona Drags held in Lakeside, CA, at the Barona Drag Strip near San Diego. You can get more info on both events at RPM Nationals

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