Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 27th Griot’s Garage Colorado Nationals
Goodguys added some vibrance to the colorful Colorado scenery this weekend as the 27th Griot’s Garage Colorado Nationals welcomed thousands of fine rides in a rainbow of hues to The Ranch Events Complex in Loveland. With beautiful weather signifying the shift from late summer to early autumn, we celebrated three days of Cool Cars, Cool People, and Good Times along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains!
Colorado has always had a strong hot rod scene, and Goodguys has been celebrating the cool cars and trucks from this region for the better part of three decades now. The Ranch Events Complex provides an ideal home for this late-season shindig with a fantastic facility that blends plenty of trees, grass, buildings, and pavement for all our activities. It’s a great environment to show off your ride, hang out with friends, and soak in everything a Goodguys weekend has to offer.
After hosting a spectacular sendoff TGIF party on Friday evening at Pinkee’s Rod Shop and Mash Lab Brewing, Pinkee’s owner Eric Peratt was hard at work on Saturday checking out the fine iron at the show and assembling a list of cars and trucks to receive a custom-machined Builder’s Choice Top 10 trophy. We’ve loved having Eric and his team as an integral part of the Colorado Nationals through the years, and he never fails to assemble an incredible lineup of vehicles. Here’s a look at what caught his eye this year.
The Goodguys team was hard at work choosing awards, too. Among those were several finalists for regional Top 12 Of The Year awards presented by BASF. This included Herb Pavey’s ’66 Corvette as the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist, Galen Bortz’s ’69 Dodge Super Bee as the Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year finalist, and Ralph Ross’s ’35 International as the LMC Truck of the Year Early finalist. The Goodguys media team tapped Tom Ulrich’s ’76 Granada for the Fuel Curve Pick, and Don Hoffman’s ’51 Ford Victoria for the Goodguys Feature Pick.
High-altitude speed and agility were the objectives over on the AutoCross course, where dozens of racers carved corners and dodged cones throughout the weekend and put on a great show for the gathered crowds. Top performers in class competition and the Western States Shootout included: Josh Leisinger in the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class; Christopher Stoner in the Summit Racing PRO class; Andrew Chenoweth in the Forgeline Street Machine class; George Reiss in the No Limit Engineering Truck class; Stacey Herman (class) and Valerie Pichette (shootout) in the Sports Car class; George Gonzalez in the Challenger class; and Gunnison Jones (class) and Mark Golovin (shootout) in the All American Sunday class.
Show car and AutoCross competition are fun, but so is hanging out and simply enjoying the cars, people, and activities during the weekend. The Colorado Nationals schedule of events included a massive swap meet, multiple Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, food trucks, the Auto World family fun zone, dozens of parts and service vendors, Saturday Specialty Parking Areas, live music, and much more. In short, we can’t think of a better spot for any gearhead to have been this weekend.
Thanks to all of you who came out and made it a fun and colorful weekend in Colorado! We love sharing the Goodguys Good Times with you all and can’t wait to do it again next year. We’re also looking forward to more fall fun in Fort Worth in a few weeks when the 32nd Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals rolls into Texas Motor Speedway September 26-28. We’ll see you there, y’all!
Photos by: Damon Lee and Terry Lysak
