Weekend Rewind! 23rd Summit Racing Nationals presented by PPG

The Big One is back! After 24 months away, Goodguys made a triumphant return to Ohio this weekend for the 23rd Summit Racing Nationals presented by PPG! Rodders rejoiced and the rodding world turned it focus to the Ohio Expo Center for three incredible days of high-octane midsummer fun!

The Summit Racing Nationals presented by PPG is a major highlight on the Goodguys calendar and regularly attracts the best rides in the country and the biggest turnout of hot rods, customs, muscle cars, vintage trucks, classic cruisers, and all other manner of vintage rides. We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting this signature event and it was wonderful to be back with all of you. From the start of the Poker Run on Thursday all through the special indoor winners circle and awards ceremony on Sunday, we were excited to be sharing a weekend of Goodguys Good Times with all of you again!

It’s always great to see familiar rides and friends, but it’s truly exciting to see the fresh builds that show up to compete for Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year and PPG Street Machine of the Year. These competitions always bring out the country’s top rods and machines and offer a snapshot of the latest trends and build styles. The Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year contest attracted more than 15 contenders and generated a tremendous Top Five. When the envelope was unsealed at the Saturday evening awards ceremony, Wes and Vivian Rydell’s gorgeous ’41 Chevy, built by Rad Rides by Troy, was crowned the winner.

The running for PPG Street Machine of the Year was equally compelling, with a wide range of styles exhibited among more than a dozen contenders. The Top Five included three GM F-bodies, a slick Corvette, and a fastback Mustang. When the final announcement was made, Chad Farischon’s ’69 Camaro, built by Mountain Home Street Rods, went home with the PPG Street Machine of the Year title. Watch for features on both the Camaro and the Rydell Fleetline on FuelCurve.com on Monday.

With so many incredible vehicles attending, we’ve made a tradition having two different Builder’s Choice Top 10 selections made in Columbus. We continued that practice this year, with both Roadster Shop and Mike Goldman Customs making a set of picks. Here’s a look at the Roadster Shop selections:

And here are the 10 fine rides that caught the eye of Talbert Goldman from Mike Goldman Customs:

It was a busy weekend for the Goodguys Top 12 awards, as we selected a number of regional Of The Year finalists, too. The one-of-one ’67 Yenko Camaro owned by Doug Perry became our Billet Specialties Muscle Car of the Year finalist, Jedd Schola’s ’69 Camaro was selected as the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist, and the bitchin’ ’69 “Lone Ranger” concept custom crafted by Kyker’s Rod & Kustom, was named the LMC Truck of the Year Late finalist.

We also added two more names to the list of Chevrolet Performance Builder of the Year finalists, too. Big Oak Garage won the GM Iron finalist award for their recently finished ’57 Chevy, while Paul Atkins Hot Rods won the Retro Iron finalist award for Fred Hardee’s ’52 Nash wagon.

The Goodguys media team also crowned a couple award winners, sending Justin Padfield from Scott’s Hotrods ’82 Blazer home with the Fuel Curve Pick and giving Mike and Lynn Connor’s ’71 Ranchero the Goodguys Feature Pick.

This is one of the biggest weekends for Goodguys CPP AutoCross, as well, with nearly 100 lead-footed drivers carving around the course and gunning for the chance to make Saturday’s Buckeye Shootout presented by Forgeline. Josh Leisinger continued his winning ways by claiming the PRO-X class win, but Josh’s cone penalty in the shootout helped allow Robby Unser to take that win. It was a split ticket in PRO, as well, with Ryan Mathews taking the class win and Bob Bertelsen (who won Friday’s Sponsor Shootout) winning the Buckeye Shootout. Chris Jacobs took the class win for Forgeline Street Machine, but Bill Graves Sr. was able to claim the shootout top spot. Rich Carpino grabbed the class win in the FiTech Challenger class, and Rob MacGregor had the only double-up win of the weekend, racing to the LMC Truck class win and winning the Truck/Challenger shootout ladder.

The winning wasn’t limited to the track or the awards stage, as perhaps the biggest winner of all was Hunter Detrich, whose lucky key was the one to start the Designer Street Rods-built ’67 Nova, the Goodguys 2019/2021 Grand Prize Giveaway car! Hunter was beyond surprised when the supercharged Edelbrock crate engine fired to life, and the 22-year-old rodder was looking forward to driving it home to Kentucky! Congratulations, Hunter!

Speaking of giveaways, we were also excited to unveil the freshly finished ’85 Chevy squarebody pickup as our 2021/2022 Grand Prize Giveaway vehicle! Built by Goolsby Customs, the trick truck was unwrapped during our special Saturday evening awards ceremony and on display through the rest of the weekend. Stay tuned for more details on this bitchin’ build both online and in the Gazette and watch for it at events during the coming year!

In addition to great cars, the Summit Racing Nationals presented by PPG also draws the best vendor attendance of the year. We capitalize on that by having a Best New Products Exhibit where manufacturers can show off their latest and greatest. Here are the products that took home awards from that display:

Whew! We’re already winded, and we haven’t even talked about the long list of other great event features, like the massive swap meet, Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, evening cruising at the Crowne Plaza and Hilton Polaris, live music, kids fun, a Goodgals Gallery, and the best Burnout Competition so far this year!

Yes, The Big One is back and hot rodders everywhere are better for it. Thanks so much for the welcome return, Ohio! We can’t wait to get back and do it even bigger and better next year!

Photos by Damon Lee, Steven Bunker & John Jackson