photos by: the author
The 25th Anniversary of the Original USA-1 Nostalgia Dragfest at Bruce Larson’s
On November 11, 2023, Bruce Larson opened the doors of his museum collection of race and street cars at his Stoney Creek Barn in Dauphin, Pennsylvania (just north of Harrisburg). This year’s event was more memorable than usual as it was the 25th anniversary of the annual event that kicked off in March of 1998. The Dragfest included access to Larson’s barn, a huge car show, vendors, and an auction of donated race memorabilia, with the proceeds for the auction going to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
For those with limited or no knowledge of Larson, he began his drag racing career as a teenager. Over the next decade, he raced a ’32 Ford, a ’54 Oldsmobile, and then a ’32 Chevrolet A/Gas coupe. By 1965, Larson had stepped up to the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) A/Sport and AA/Sport classes in a 1963 Cobra. He had great success at all levels of competition, and during his time in the sportsman ranks, he won national events and even more local events and match races.
During the early years of his racing career, Larson made a living working at Sutliff Chevrolet. He and the dealership business manager, Greg Sutliff, formed a racing team with a Chevy-powered ’66 Chevelle with a fiberglass body. The car was used to match race at tracks across the United States. The red, white, and blue altered wheelbase Chevelle was christened with the USA-1 monicker.
Larson moved to a ’68 Camaro funny car with a Logghe chassis and clocked a class-best 7.41-second run. Larson won the prestigious 1969 Super Stock Nationals in York, Pennsylvania, with the same car. Except for a couple of years in the early 1970s when Larson dabbled in Pro Stock (after he received burns from a funny car fire), he ran a series of USA-1 Chevrolets with the Corvette bodies becoming the most popular.
In the mid-1980s, Larson secured significant sponsorship from Sentry gauges and switched to Oldsmobile bodies. In 1989, with the expert guidance of crew chief Maynard Yingst, Larson won six NHRA events, including the Winternationals and the US Nationals, on his way to his only NHRA funny car championship. Larson would go on to work with and then drive “Big Daddy” Don Garlits’ top fuel dragster in the early 1990s before Larson ended his professional racing career.
Larson has remained active in nostalgia racing, performing exhibitions throughout the mid-Atlantic area of the country. He has originals and reproductions of his USA-1 Chevrolets and a couple flathead-equipped front-engine dragsters. Also in the barn are a ‘30s Ford coupe, a convertible ‘50s Thunderbird, and a ‘60s Camaro.
The 25th Nostalgia Dragfest anniversary celebrated everything related to the “golden era” of drag racing. The admissions pass stated it best:
“Come spend a day bench racing, remembering the heyday of the fifties, sixties, and seventies drag racing era. Relive drag racing history with a bunch of like-minded gearheads!”
This year’s show featured Ron and Brian Hope’s “Rat Trap Fuel Altered,” Costolow and Larson’s “Dragonsnake” Cobra, Jim and Allison Lee’s “Great Expectations II” front-engine dragster, and Doug Thorley’s AMC Javelin funny car. In addition, there were several additional front-engine dragsters, a funny car, and a belly tank dragster.
The Stoney Creek barn’s grounds were packed with race cars, muscle cars, and roadsters. Several big block Chevys, Fords, and Mopars were everywhere. Hemi engines were found in many race and street vehicles. Wild ’50s-type metal-flake paint jobs, gold leaf, and lace patterns were well represented.
With over 600 participants at the 25th anniversary, the hope is the annual show will continue for several years to come. While no date is currently set for the 26th anniversary, as the calendar flips to 2024, check out Bruce Larson’s Facebook site for the date of the greatest nostalgia show in the mid-Atlantic.
For the last twenty-five years, Chris has been an automotive college professor. Since 2003, he has taught at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. Chris instructs automotive electrical & electronics, HVAC, and various high-performance classes, which include the usage of a Mustang chassis dyno, flow benches, and various machining equipment. Recently, he had a vintage vehicle upholstery class added to his teaching assignments. Chris owns a ’67 273 Dart, a ’75 Slant-Six Dart, an ’06 5.7L Hemi Police Pursuit Charger, and a ’12 Cummins turbo diesel Ram, and he is a multi-time track champion (drag racing) with his ’69 340 Dart, which he has owned since 1989.
