For those who attended the original Bug-In events, which were held between 1968 and 1983 at the famed Orange County International Raceway in SoCal, the reemergence of a "new" Bug-In was met with some quiet skepticism. After all, how could you possibly improve on an iconic event, one that has spawned dozens and dozens of sub-iconic copycat imitators around the world for the past two decades?
Well, three enterprising people (Joel Mohr, racer Clyde Berg, and Rich Kimball, the original promoter of the event back in the day) saw that the timing and location was right to stage another show. The location was key to the success of the show, as Rich Kimball put it: "We've tried to find a suitable location for a long time where we could have the event." Indeed, one of several quarter-mile strips located in SoCal in the '70s, OCIR was unceremoniously paved over, as was nearly every other dragstrip. Though Kimball had tried to book the event into the California Speedway in Fontana before, track officials finally relented this year and allowed the Bug-In to happen.
But the trio didn't want to start a new event; they wanted to carry on from where the old show left off, calling this event Bug-In 32, when Bug-In 31 was in 1983. Timing was the second part of the equation, and it was no small feat to provide a spot to see if the VW scene, born in SoCal, was still alive or not. The night before the one-day event, old timers, drag racers, and VW industry pioneers all got together to tell stories to reminisce, show photos, and give impromptu speeches.
The next day, the promoters were happy to see thousands of VW fanatics lined up to get into the facility, ready to show, race, swap, and trade their VWs. By the numbers, there were 600 show cars and 200 drag cars. Low E.T. and Top Speed for the event went to Kris Laufer, who covered the quarter-mile in 7.65 seconds at 201 mph in his VW-powered rail! But there were plenty of 10- to 13-second Bugs, some in street trim, running in various drag racing classes.
The old Bug-Ins were held twice a year (spring and fall), so maybe with the success of this event, we'll see another Bug-In soon. For more on the Bug-In visit www.bugin.com to see what they have in store for the future, plus all sorts of other VW-related events.