CACKLEFEST: THUNDER ON THE ISLAND!




Long Island’s 5th Annual Hot Rods & Racecars Show at East Neck Auto Service hosts the area’s only Cacklefest.






Unless you’ve been to an event that includes a Cacklefest, you can’t imagine the thrill (and tearing eyes) of being there. It’s all about vintage nitro-burning drag racing cars firing up and filling the air with a cacophony of ground-shaking sounds. And Nitromethane fumes that would not please the EPA!





Now it its fifth year, the annual East Neck Auto Service Show brings out the most incredible selection of street and show hot rods, from old school to billet, and racecars that once thrilled tens of thousands of spectators. Among the Cacklefest’s highlights this year was the firing up of the stunning Tasmanian Devil’s blown fuel Hemi engine with original driver George Snizek behind the wheel. The Taz is actually a tribute car, an authentic recreation of the vintage NHRA AA/FA record-holding roadster owned by Pacers Automotive and driven by George Snizek and tuned by his partner, the late Charlie “Dodge.”



Back in the mid-1960s when I was Editor of CARS Magazine, we lived just 15 minutes or so from Pacers Automotive (Oceanside, NY) and I worked with Charlie and George on magazine projects and they often helped road test cars. At one point CARS Magazine was on the cowl of the Tasmanian Devil and on the Pacers’ fuel dragster, below, and trailer. I’m still in contact with George and son Scott, and the Snizek family was out in full force for the Cacklefest. Photo below is with me, far right, Charlie, George and Pacers crew and dragster, circa 1966.














For more photos of this event, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacersauto/sets/72157631344332208/



Check out the Pacers & Tasmanian Devil story at http://www.pacersauto.com/




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