Weekend Rewind! 28th Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals
We’ve all heard of the Texas Two-Step, but is there such a thing as the Texas Three-Step? There should be, because gearheads were dancin’ – and cruisin’ – as Goodguys rolled into Texas for the third time this year for the full-boogie 28th Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals!
The third time in 2021 was most certainly charming as thousands of fine rides rolled into Texas Motor Speedway for three days of fuel-fed fun under sunny Texas skies. The weather was warm, the cars and trucks were hot, and the Goodguys Good Times kept the gathered enthusiasts grinnin’ and movin’ throughout the weekend.
Goodguys has been coming to Texas so long that it almost feels like a second home. The Lone Star State is home to some fantastic vehicles and countless diehard hot rodders. Add in thousands more enthusiasts from surrounding areas and you have the foundation for fantastic car-centric weekend, which got started in fine style during a Thursday evening Kickoff Party hosted by our friends at Painless Performance.
A portion of the Goodguys team had an even longer head start to the weekend by cruising with nearly 50 hard-charging rods, customs, trucks, and muscle cars on the 2021 Hall of Fame Road Tour – a nine-day journey that meandered its way from Salt Lake City to Fort Worth, taking in sights like the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone National Park, and scenic stops throughout the Rocky Mountains along the way. Watch for a more comprehensive recap of this epic trip soon.
One of our Road Tour participants was Harold Chapman from Customs and Hot Rods of Andice, who also had the honor of selecting the Builder’s Choice Top 10 in Texas. His team has built Ridler Award winners and Goodguys Top 12 champions, so he knows quality and style when he sees it. He found plenty at Texas Motor Speedway and put together a fantastic Top 10 lineup.
We had a full slate of finalists for Meguiar’s Top 12 awards, too. We selected Tim Hermes’ LS6 ’70 Chevelle SS for the Billet Specialties Muscle Car of the Year finalist, Richard & Penny Hammer’s ’65 Pontiac Acadian for the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist, Ryan Leblanc’s ’50 Chevy for the Scott’s Hotrods Truck of the Year Early finalist, and Mark Austin’s ’65 C10 for the LMC Truck of the Year Late finalist. A couple of shops also earned finalist spots for the Chevrolet Performance Builder of the Year awards, as well. Steve Cook Creations earned the GM Iron with their ’69 Camaro build, while Martin Brothers Customs debuted a brand-new ’36 Hudson pickup during the weekend and it drove off with the GM Retro Iron finalist spot.
The Goodguys on-site media team also made two feature picks that you’ll see in an upcoming issue of the Gazette and right here on Fuel Curve – Levi Green’s beautiful stepside ’58 Apache was awarded the Goodguys Feature Pick while the as-seen-on-tv ’84 Dodge Rampage built by Jesse James and one of his new Monster Garage crews picked up the Fuel Curve pick.
Texas racers kept the TMS infield active as they roared and raced around the Goodguys CPP AutoCross track. More than 60 drivers vied for the fastest class times and an opportunity to compete in the Big Hoss Shootout on Saturday. The Summit Racing drivers delivered as Josh Leisinger doubled up in the PRO-X class winning the class win with the overall fastest time while also claiming the PRO-X shootout victory. It was a split decision in the PRO class with Ron Scott Jr. claiming the class victory, but Karen Leisinger stepped it up in the shootout action claiming her first win of the season and putting another Summit Racing car in the winner’s circle. Bill Graves Sr. continued his winning ways in the Forgeline Street Machine class and pulled off another double-up weekend. Rob MacGregor did the same in the LMC Truck class pulling off the class win as well as the shootout race. Morgan Martin also placed his ’30 Model A in the winner’s circle claiming the FiTech Challenger class win. On Sunday, Marty Clark drove his 2021 Tesla to a double-up victory in the Wilwood All American Sunday class.
There was a Texas-sized dose of activities happening throughout the weekend, as well, including Team Texas NASCAR rides and our traditional (and much-anticipated) Saturday Track Cruise where participants could get their own rides out on the high-banked oval. Straight-line fans were able to catch a whiff of nitromethane at one of three Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions throughout the event, while the Saturday Burnout competition generated a huge draw in both participants as well as spectators looking on!
Add in a tremendous spread of vendors, live music, kids entertainment, a model car show, and after-hours fun at the host hotel, and you had a Lone Star hot rod party that was tough to top. With Good Times like these, it’s easy to see why we wanted to return for a third dose of Texas-style Goodguys fun.
Photos by Todd Ryden, John Jackson & Steven Bunker
