The Race of Gentlemen aka TROG

The town of Wildwood along the Jersey shore is a place that seems a bit lost in time. Kitschy diners, mid-century hotel architecture, and neon signs galore harken back to another time, when cars sported tailfins and dripped with excessive amounts of chrome adornment.
But one weekend every year, a section of Wildwood Beach takes a step back even further in time, when cars were nearly as primitive as farm tractors, yet there were diehard gearheads that wrenched on them, tuning them to be as fast as a buckboard with an early flathead could be, and pitting them against each other in death-defying races on a deserted stretch of sand. This is the essence of The Race Of Gentlemen.

The rules are simple - cars are to be no newer than 1934, and stripped down for racing. Engines are limited to 4-bangers or Ford flathead V8s. No parts newer than 1953. For motorcycles, nothing newer than 1947. And all are American-made.

The cars and motorcycles race a 1/8-mile strip of sand, pair by pair, all weekend long, until all but the winners are eliminated.

The pits are always abuzz with mechanics and drivers fine-tuning their machines, conversing with spectators, trading tips and tricks, and maybe making the occasional side wager...

After the racing is done for the first day and the sun goes down, the beach lights up with a massive bonfire, and wild rock-n-roll bands play through the night!

The next day, the racing continues through eliminations

All in all, a pretty kickass weekend, and definitely proof that all the best car events do not always happen on the west coast!