(Season 14 EP 46)
Guests Eric and Jeff Koopmeiners, two of the seven original founders of the Meltdown Drags Association.
Eric and Jeff felt it was time to publicly speak, for the group, about the Meltdown Drags. They reached out to Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio to give an exclusive interview. What did become of this internationally known vintage drag racing event? Is there another Meltdown Drags in the future?
The founders had no idea how popular their little get together would become. They just wanted to race each other on the weekend with their own personal collection of misfit hot rods. They needed a break from their 9-5 jobs and knew that a few trips down the track would be a welcomed distraction. To add a little fun, they decided to imitate the racing times of the 60’s. Much like those that reenact the civil war – they wanted to reenact those glory days of drag racing. They chose a track that has a clear view of a nuclear reactor stack pluming out vapors. The track is the Bryon Dragstrip which is located on the western tip of Illinois. Because of this location the event became known as the “Meltdown”.
It didn’t take long for the social media channels to start buzzing about their weekend. They started getting requests to join in their meltdown. They quickly realized that there are many others who wanted to dust off their nostalgic rides and join in the fun.
They formally created the Meltdown Drags Association to assure that the event could not waiver beyond their original mission.
They held 9 Meltdown Drags events. At the height of the Meltdown Drags – over 900 vintage dragsters were brought in from over 50 states, thousands of fans packed the stands along the strip, hundreds of supporting classic cars lined up for a car show and racing industry leaders and celebrities walked about.
Then suddenly the group decided to stop the event which left the hot-rodding community in shock. All kinds of speculation started swirling about and people felt they never were given a complete answer from the association. What was known is that the group were held in high regard and well respected.
Let’s ask them on the air and see what they have to say about one the most asked questions in the drag racing community. “Will there ever be another Meltdown Drag event?
See the 2018 Meltdown photos in out Richie’s Photo Albums…
2018 9th Meltdown albums part 1 and part 2.
Contact WHRR hot line at: 414-215-9477 (WHRR)
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