Welcome to nostalgia racing. Bakersfield is a great place to race, their safety crew is top notch and it's my favorite track in Calif, Ariz, Nevada. If you make it to the March Meet this year stop by and say high. My son and I race a light blue VW in the Hot Rod bracket class.

Best advice I can give is to build the car to meet or exceed the NHRA safety spec for the speed/ET you plan to run. When you choose to upgrade to a cage you will be required to upgrade other equipment like window nets, or arm restraints like we are in a "cloth sunroof" car. Every track I've run at uses the same NHRA rules as their standard. Make sure you place the shoulder and side bars "as per spec". Also pay close attention to seat mounting and seat belt angles. They cover this in detail in their rule book which you can find online.

Big drum brakes "rear only" will stop a 2900# car just fine. But, without front brakes you will not be as consistant doing your burn out. If you stay with treaded tires do not drive through the water box going to the line. Also many different brake pad materials are available. Softer holds well when cold, but fades when it gets hot. Hard or sintered lining stops great on the big end but is hard to launch with an automatic transmission. Just drag the brakes to warm them while doing the burnout.

Have fun