The way Steve Gibbs gets around makes moving around at 82 years old look so effortless. It could be in the genes or the daily regimen of living healthy. Those who know Gibbs understand his passion for preserving what many call drag racing's golden age is the genuine factor.

The former NHRA competition director channels a burning passion into drag racing, keeping him on his toes and feeling younger with each passing year.

Six years have now passed since Gibbs left the NHRA's Heritage Series and created his own deal, a revival of sorts, ensuring once a year, the initial movers and shakers of drag racing can get together and relive what many have declared as the good old days of drag racing.

This weekend's 6th annual Nitro Revival (Irwindale, Ca.) marks the sixth time for the Nitro Revival, an event born out of disrespect. The event wasn't created to disrespect anyone but to honor those who felt they were pushed aside by the NHRA's Heritage Series. As they see it, the CHRR lost the vision of what the event was all about.

The first event was staged in Barona, Ca., before moving to Laguna Seca and now into its home, going on three years in Irwindale, Ca., a city ripe with drag racing history.

"I think there's a need for this kind of event, and the location is perfect," Gibbs said. "So many of the guys that come to this live within an hour or two drive. They can sleep in their own beds. I got over 40 Hall of Fame members coming on that autograph session on Saturday, and the vast majority of them live here."

Gibbs believes one event annually is enough, and it must always be in what many consider the perfect state for classic nitro racing... California. As he sees it, the event is not about the racing or the cars. It's about the atmosphere and the people.

"People call and say, 'Oh, you need to bring your show to Boise, or you need to bring your show to Tucson," or something. I said, I don't," Gibbs said. "I really have a show to bring. I'm just fortunate enough to be in a location where the majority of these guys are. The cars, the cackle cars, the race cars, the people. So it works here. And I think the vibes came out of it good last year."

The Nitro Revival's current location (Irwindale Dragstrip) was sold earlier this year, and a news agency reported the land the strip sits on is slated to be redeveloped away from being a race track. Commercial developers IDS Real Estate Group, a Los Angeles-based developer, purchased the 63-acre site.

"All I can say is the guy that's operating the track tells us this property here has a lot of issues as far as construction that's going to take huge amounts of work, of money to ever make it usable for development," Gibbs explained.

And by the time that gets sorted out, he might have already relinquished the reins of this event to daughter Cindy, who grew up in drag racing and understands the magnitude of the event.

"I'd like to do this a few more years, and then hopefully it's still viable enough to where Cindy can keep the ball rolling," Gibbs said. "We're just taking a year at a time. We don't do this for a living where it has to pay the bills, and we've been pretty successful at doing that and still treating people fair on costs."

This year's Nitro Revival expects to attract 50-something cars for the cackle portion. Gibbs has a treat in store. He expects to give each entry five gallons of nitromethane and a commemorative jug. Redline Oil, who recently sponsored the Nitro Legends exhibition at the NHRA Nevada Nationals, plans to provide oil for participants.

"We're trying to make it where they know we appreciate them being here," Gibbs said. "We're trying to do little things to let these guys know we appreciate them being here with us. We're just trying to keep the mood because the thing last year that impressed me most about the whole day was everybody was in a good frame of mind. Everybody was just happy to be here. It wasn't a perfect event; we could have used a few more Porta toilets, but people come up and say, 'We're not complaining, but it'd sure be nice if they had a couple more Johns back on the back."

"Everybody was in a happy mood, which is rare these days at the drag races. And to us, that's a sign that we must be doing something halfway right anyway."

What Gibbs does right, and some might consider it is babysitting to some level, is he ensures the event stays the proper course.

"It is a social event; it's a gathering," Gibbs said. "Some guys are here that could care less about what cars are here. A lot of guys appreciate the cackle cars because they bring more of the history of the sport. When you can see the cars that raced back in the day and sometimes the same drivers that drove them, that's pretty cool. And they've lost that at [CHRR] Bakersfield.

"They basically forgot that element, and it's a shame. I've never told anybody, 'Hey, don't go up there."

"It saddens me to see that in decline. And with it, I'm afraid the museum because they go hand-in-hand. The Bakersfield event is a huge part of the annual museum financial setup, and if it's not doing well, then that places the museum in question. I worry about it because I got my fingerprints all over that stuff, and I don't want to see it fail. But there's nothing I can do about it. It's other people.