Drag Illustrated Issue 153, February 2020 | Page 42
D.I. COLUMNIST
On the Road
with Van Abernethy
I
f you’ve ever wanted to
journey to Bradenton Motors-
ports Park to enjoy the legend-
ary Outlaw Snowbird Nationals,
the intense sunsets alone should be
enough to persuade you to make the
trip! When I first began journeying
to Florida’s Gulf Coast region just
over a decade ago for this awesome
event I was stunned at the evening
sun’s magnificent presentation. I re-
member thinking that I had simply
arrived on a remarkable weekend
all those years ago when this “fire
in the sky” began to form.
Amazingly, though, year after year
as I travel to Florida, I’ve come to
realize that the skies over Bradenton
will deliver the goods evening after
evening as the setting sun disap-
pears from view.
Furthermore, when much of
the country’s racing has come to
a screeching halt, the best racing
Florida has to offer actually begins
in early December with the running
of the Outlaw Snowbird Nationals,
Bradenton’s marquee event. The
Snowbirds race is as old as yours
truly, since we both
turned 47 in 2019.
Originally called
Desoto Memorial
Dragway, the track
we presently know as
Bradenton Motors-
ports Park was built
in 1972, and held its
first Outlaw Snow-
birds Nationals later
that same year.
Typically, I don’t
make my first trek to Florida until
December, although I’ll never forget
the time back in November 2014
when there was this “polar vortex”
getting ready to slam North Caroli-
na with snow, freezing rain and who
knows what else, so I called Dave
Lansberry down at Bradenton and
asked what they had going on that
weekend. I told Dave of my impend-
ing forecast and he’s like, “Dude,
come to Bradenton, it’s gonna be
85 degrees and sunny!” So, I threw
some shorts and sunblock in a suit-
case and made the quickest-ever trip
to Bradenton to enjoy the Southern
Nostalgia and Muscle
Car Shootout.
I’ve got some great
memories of traveling
to Bradenton through
the years, not the least
of which was in 2013
when 37 Pro Mods
showed up to enter
a 16-car field at the
Snowbirds. Keep in
mind this was 17 days
before Christmas!
The turnout was so stellar, track of-
ficials decided to offer not one, but
a pair of 16-car fields of Pro Mods,
which made for a spectacular show.
Another Bradenton highlight for
me personally was getting to shoot
the Chris Rini cover shot during an
early morning photo session in 2015.
The posed shot of Rini would be
used for the cover of the June 2015
edition of the magazine, which was
also Drag Illustrated’s milestone
100th issue.
I’ve had plenty of light-hearted
moments at Bradenton as well, but
none compare to the thrill I used to
get out of seeing the former track
owner, Alan Cherbitz, whenever
he’d put on this crazy-looking fuzzy
wig, then climb behind the wheel
of his 1976 AMC Pacer and tool
around in the pits. He’d routinely
enter the car in burnout contests
and even exploded a tire once. The
Pacer would scorch the quarter-mile
with passes in the high 18-second
zone, which Cherbitz described as
downright “scary.”
Alan’s wife had a general dis-
dain for the curious little car and
wouldn’t let him keep it at their
house. When he bought the thing,
it was consumed with rust and
wouldn’t even run. “Just as soon as
it will crank, you’ve got to get that
thing out of here!” she pleaded. It
was a big hit at the track, though,
where Alan stored the car after it
was finally roadworthy enough to
make the trip.
“We’re in the entertainment busi-
ness, and if we can make someone
smile then we’ve done our job,”
Alan used to tell me. Cherbitz still
comes to the track occasionally, even
though he sold his interest to the
very capable Victor Alvarez, who
recently made the list of DI’s pres-
tigious 30 Under 30.
And so it goes, the annual Snow-
birds event often closes out my sea-
son, but it’s a very short break as
I return to Bradenton in January
for the U.S. Street Nationals, and
more wintertime events quickly fol-
low. Before leaving Florida, I usually
drive up the coastline alongside the
ocean, sometimes stopping in Day-
tona and driving on the beach.
A few years ago, I found a pull-
off in Ormond Beach right beside
the ocean. I thought it would be
an adventurous place to spend the
night, so I rolled out a sleeping bag
inside the Drag Illustrated Sprinter
van and fell asleep to the sounds of
waves crashing onto the shore. I
awoke early enough to see the sun-
rise before hurrying home to see it
snow a few days later.
So, from the spectacular skies
over Bradenton to my beloved Ev-
erglades fishing adventures (not to
mention some really great drag rac-
ing) the past decade of traveling to
Florida has already provided enough
memories to last a lifetime.
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