Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 15th LMC Truck Spring Lone Star nationals presented by Old Air Products!
Texas-area hot rodders and car enthusiasts two stepped down to Fort Worth for two days of Cool Cars, Cool People, and Good Times when Goodguys took over the infield of Texas Motor Speedway for the 15th LMC Truck Spring Lone Star nationals presented by Old Air Products! The two-day Friday and Saturday timeframe was new, but we packed just as much fun and activity as ever into this late-April celebration of all things automotive, proving once again that there’s no party like a Lone Star party!
Despite questionable forecasts earlier in the week, thousands of faithful enthusiasts cruised through the south TMS entry tunnel and were rewarded with two fantastic days of comfortable temps, sunshine, and an incredible variety of cars and trucks. This year’s event once again coincided with the massive Pate Swap Meet happening outside the track, which provided gearheads a double dose of four-wheeled fun. Whether you were shopping, showin’ off, or simply spectating, there was no shortage of fine rides and cool parts to capture your attention.
Springtime events always seem to be filled with fresh, new builds that have been completed during the offseason, and there were plenty to be found throughout the TMS infield. The Builder’s Choice parking area welcomed many fresh builds on Saturday, as did the jam-packed LMC Truck Trick Truck Corral – an especially popular space for the weekend.
We doubled down on Builder’s Choice awards during this spring celebration and had two Texas-based craftsmen making Top 10 selections. Jason Hill from Hill’s Hot Rods cruised in from Lubbock and scouted out a killer lineup of trick trucks and cars.
We also had KC Matthieu of KC’s Paint Shop on site Saturday. His Builder’s Choice Top 10 selections from the Spring Lone Star Nationals were equally cool and diverse.
Beyond the builders, the Goodguys awards team made finalist selections for five different Goodguys Top 12 Awards presented by BASF. The well-deserving recipients included Odie Hughes’s ’55 Chevy as the LMC Truck of the Year Early finalist; Ricky Bright’s ’68 GMC Suburban as the Dakota Digital Truck of the Year Late finalist; Tony Kondrotis’s ’70 Camaro Z28 as the Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year finalist; David Neill’s ’50 Chevy Bel Air as the Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year finalist; and Darrell Moseley’s ’40 Ford convertible as the Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs Custom of the Year finalist. The Goodguys media team celebrated women rodders with two of their standout award selections – Kimberly Jenkins’s ’67 Chevy C10 as the Fuel Curve Truck Pick, and Christine Hill’s ’81 Corvette as the Goodguys Feature Pick.
The Goodguys AutoCross course witnessed fast-paced, tire-punishing action both days as dozens of racers logged hundreds of laps in class competition and the Speedtech Performance Lone Star Shootout. The Leisinger team came down from South Dakota to claim wins in three classes, with Josh Leisinger, topping the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class, Karen Leisinger winning the Summit Racing PRO class, and Andrew Chenoweth securing the Forgeline Street Machine class win. Josh and Karen won their respective shootouts, too, but Patrick Layden was able to come from behind for the Street Machine shootout victory. The No Limit Engineering Truck class was split, too, with Rob MacGregor taking the class win and Dustin Morrow winning the shootout. Jared Cash, meanwhile, won both the Sports Car class and shootout, while William Mills won the Challenger class and shootout to wrap up the autocross action at the Spring Lone Star Nationals.
Speaking of punishing tires, you could hear rubber being vaporized all weekend during the Urban Drift exhibitions and ride-along opportunities on the TMS road course. Over on the show side, the cruising was much easier and more laid back. A few hits of a Nitro Thunderfest dragster provided some mechanical music, and there was even a live band on Saturday. There were also dozens of parts vendors, great food, a Friday evening track cruise, activities for families and kids, and much more to keep people active and engaged both days.
The two-day format for the Spring Lone Star Nationals culminated in a late-afternoon awards ceremony at 4:44 on Saturday, with a fantastic parade of cool cars and trucks cruising past the stage to collect their hardware. It was a fitting way to celebrate some standout cars and trucks, and a great way to wrap up two incredible days of Goodguys springtime fun in Texas. We’ll be taking a couple weeks off now but look forward to seeing more of you next month when we bring the Good Times to the 19th BASF Nashville Nationals at Nashville Superspeedway May 16-18. See you there!
Photos by Damon Lee, John Jackson and Todd Ryden
