A Recap of Goolsby Customs Next Generation Award Winners (so far) for the 2021 Season
The foundation of hot rodding was built by young and inventive enthusiasts in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s with a desire to make their cars faster and more stylish. Through the decades, each generation of new young gearheads has put its stamp on hot rodding, establishing new trends, styles, techniques, and creative standards along the way. The hobby always thrives when there’s a strong contingent of young rodders coming into the fold.
Goodguys has long encouraged and celebrated young rodders in a wide variety of ways. For the past several years, Goolsby Customs has teamed up with us to put a stronger spotlight on young rodders with what was originally known as the YoungGuys award. For 2021, we’ve rechristened the name as the Next Generation Award presented by Goolsby Customs, recognizing the fact that many young women are wrenching on cool cars and trucks, too.
The Next Generation Award recognizes enthusiasts 25 and younger who have been integrally involved in building their car or truck. At each Goodguys National event, two Next Generation finalists are selected from a special parking area on Saturday and photos of both vehicles are posted online for a social media vote-off to help determine an event winner. At the end of the season, these Next Generation Award winners are evaluated to determine a National Champion, who is invited to display their ride with Goodguys at the 2021 SEMA Show.
As we reach the midpoint of the 2021 season, we thought we’d put the spotlight on the Next Generation event winners to date. Since the National Champion is selected in early September – and since there were only three event winners in 2020 – the pool of eligible candidates for this year’s champion dates back to the 2019 Colorado Nationals. The rides showcased on the following pages represent the great diversity of what young rodders are building these days, and we’ll follow up to showcase the second half of this season’s Next Generation candidates when we announce the National Champion.
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- Grant Kroft grew up around hot rods and street rods, so he had plenty of inspiration and knowledge in his mind while building his bitchin’ ’29 Model A coupe. He also had the skills he needed to build the custom chassis, smooth the body, and drop in a rowdy blown 383c.i. stroker engine. The interior is done in white tuck ’n roll, which complements the copper paint and wide-white-wrapped five-spoke wheels.
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- 2021 Goolsby Customs Next Generation National Champion
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- Hunter Detrich has been working on his ’45 Dodge pickup for a number of years and continues to update, improve, and refine it. The truck had a great stance when we saw it at the 2019 Kentucky Nationals, thanks in part to an updated IFS and American Racing five-spoke wheels. A small-block Chevy engine provides power and is now backed by a T5 five-speed, while custom touches like suicide doors, a custom tailgate, and louvered rear pan will set this already-different Dodge apart from the crowd.
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- Nate Cryer nailed the stance on his ’51 Chevy pickup, using a custom chassis to get it nice and low over ET wheels. That helped the weathered hauler earn the YoungGuys award at the 2019 Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals. An LS1 engine gives the Texas truck plenty of power.
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- Beautiful deep purple paint helped Mathew Burton’s ’55 F100 stand out at this year’s Griot’s Garage North Carolina Nationals. The low-down Ford has been a father-and-son project and has a 347c.i. stroker small-block Ford and Tremec five speed under the reverse-opening hood. The smooth body is complemented by American Racing wheels and there’s high-back seats and other custom elements keeping the interior comfortable.
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- Jack Krawiecki tells us he was just 12 when he first got this ’67 Chevy pickup! He was 17 when he won the YoungGuys award at the 2020 RaceDeck Salt Lake Nationals, where the bright blue 4×4 captured a lot of attention. It’s lifted 8-inches and powered by a 383c.i. stroker engine, with beautiful PPG Lemans Blue paint covering the body. There’s Vintage Air keeping the cabin comfortable Moto Metal wheels keeping the appearance on point.
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- We’re sure that 18-year-old Sasha Luich gets plenty of attention from the boys in her school when she’s cruising in her bright red ’79 Corvette. Sasha won the Next Generation Award at the 2021 Spring Lone Star Nationals – the same event where she bought the Corvette in 2019. She has worked to maintain and improve the car over the past two years, drives it daily, and even learned to drive a manual transmission in the four-speed-equipped ’Vette.
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- There’s plenty of sunbaked desert patina on Garrett Roberts’ ’51 Chevy pickup. Garrett is from Benson, Arizona, and earned his Next Generation Award at this year’s FiTech Spring Nationals in Scottsdale. Don’t let the crusty appearance fool you, though – the vintage pickup now rides on an ’85 S10 chassis and is powered by a 2.8-liter Cummins diesel engine backed by a 700R4 transmission.
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- Trucks are popular with the Next Gen crowd, but among those trucks it’s still pretty unusual to see a Dodge like this ’79 Power Wagon belonging to Reeves Stretch. Reeves was just 18 when he won the YounGuys award at the 2019 Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale. He worked on this Dodge over a two-year period and has it running good with a 318c.i. small block backed by a four-speed, and black-spoke wheels. The KC lights on the roll bar are a perfect touch for this desert 4×4.
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- How cool would it be to drive a ’67 Chevelle like this to high school! Jacob Van Camp II was just 17 when he had his Chevelle at the Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals in November 2020. He got the car as a 16th birthday present – it’s his first car and daily driver. The Gunmetal Gray Chevelle runs strong thanks to a 5.3-liter LS engine, with QA1 shocks upgrading the suspension and Boss wheels adding a bit of style.
