Alien Youth Plotting To Invade Our Planet!
By Dave Wallace

Twenty-six-year-old hot rodder and aspiring photojournalist Glen Hutchinson lets neither low bucks nor reality get in the way of his dreams.

When Glen showed up at the 1997 Muroc Reunion in a battered, 500-cubic-inch Cadillac Eldorado, we traded him a plate of Linda Tessier's awesome enchiladas for his story of fleeing Kawerau, New Zealand, for the promised land.

His mission: to make as many American drag and rod events as possible. Both his visa and his wallet ran out right after NHRA's Autolite Nationals, but the flat-broke youngster vowed to return as soon as he could save up the bucks for a return trip. True to his word, Hutchinson showed up for Speed Week last summer as a member of Garth Hogan's pit crew.

From Bonneville, he traveled to Indianapolis for the U.S. Nationals. He wasn't prepared for the price of a full-event Indy ticket, but he paid it. Consequently, Glen may have been the only spectator who never left Indianapolis Raceway Park from Wednesday morning through Monday night!

Unable to pay Indy's inflated-for-the-Nationals motel rates, Glen started out sleeping under a tree and eating boxed breakfast cereal. He wasn't complaining, yet the Americans he'd meet all wanted to enhance his enjoyment. The second night, a security guard discovered his sleeping spot — then drove him to the showers, bought dinner, and recommended a sheltered space beneath a vendor's trailer.

Two NHRA executives (who shall remain nameless, to protect the guilty) conspired to provide a one-day suite pass, which entitled Glen to his first hot meal in days. While sitting in the suite, full and happy, he became acquainted with members of the Shoquist family's Shogun Super Comp team, who invited him to share their motor home and home-cooked meals.

His final night in Indiana was spent at the luxurious Adam's Mark Hotel, courtesy of his "adopted dad," Pete LaBarbera of Hot Rod Nostalgia's staff. That's Pete with the Kiwi kid, who invested 20 of his precious U.S. dollars in a breather mask — "because it lets me watch three to four fuel-car fireups without passing out."

An electrician by trade, Hutchinson is honing his considerable writing, photography and upholstery skills in anticipation of a permanent relocation to America.He plans to join an outpost of two dozen fellow Kiwi immigrants in southern California, most of whom work in the racing and rodding industries.

First, he's determined to complete the 150-inch slingshot dragster that he's assembling from photos of a Don Long chassis buildup, published in an obscure, mid-'60s publication entitled Hot Rod Construction. Good luck, Glen, and welcome aboard!

Bunker's Beast