Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 11th LMC Truck Spring Lone Star Nationals
Wow! Ya’ll were ready for a car show, weren’t ya! Judging by the incredible, record-breaking car count and tremendous attendance this weekend at the 11th LMC Truck Spring Lone Star Nationals, it was high time to get the Goodguys 2021 event season underway!
The Lone Star State was ready and waiting with open arms and rumbling exhaust pipes as Goodguys rolled into Texas Motor Speedway for three days of high-octane car and truck fun this weekend! We kicked off with a strong Friday full of cruisin’, showin’ and shinin’, and then the TMS infield completely exploded with cool iron and four-wheeled fun on Saturday. With more than 2400 vehicles registered and more spectators than we’ve ever seen at a spring event, it was one Texas-sized hot rod party!
Trucks took center stage for the weekend, with the LMC Truck Showcase taking over the central part of the event and 1988-98 Chevy and GMC trucks being invited to join in the fun. We also had a truck-focused LMC shootout on the AutoCross track, a special truck-only portion of the Saturday Track Cruise, and did a bonus Builder’s Choice Top 10 with truck picks from Jason Hill of Hill’s Hot Rods. If you like cool haulers, this was the place to be!
Of course, we also had all the regular Goodguys fun you enjoy, with more hot rods, muscle cars, classics, and customs than you could imagine. Following a long draught of car shows, it was cool to see all the fresh builds you’ve all been working on. The Builder’s Choice parking area on pit road was overflowing with killer rides from which K.C. Mathieu of KCs Paint Shop had to select just ten for his Builder’s Choice Top 10. It was an impressive lineup, for sure!
Some more hardware was handed out for Goodguys Top 12 regional “Of The Year” finalist categories this weekend in Texas including Muscle Car of the Year (Tony Kondrotis – 1969 Mustang Mach I), Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year (Brian Baker – 1950 Plymouth Coupe), LMC Truck of the Year Late (Fred Bishop – 1971 Ford F100), and Scott’s Hotrods Truck of the Year Early (George Poteet – 1957 Ford). The Goodguys media team also selected two feature awards that you’ll see in an upcoming issue of the Gazette which were Danny Vandergriff’s 1957 Chrysler earning the Goodguys Feature Pick, and the House of Hot Rods 1964 Dodge Power Wagon getting the Fuel Curve Feature Pick.
Car show guys weren’t the only ones itching to mash the throttle pedal. The CPP AutoCross Series course was rockin’ all weekend long with racers eager to make up for lost track time. There was a great mix of vehicles in all classes, with some familiar faces bringing home some of the top honors. Josh Leisinger topped the PRO-X class and won the PRO-X portion of the Tremec Lone Star Shootout in his Summit-sponsored ’64 Corvette, while his brother Jared won the Pros vs. Joes Shootout on Friday night. Corey Williams drove his second-gen Camaro to the PRO class shootout win; Brill Graves Jr. kept to his winning ways by winning the Street Machine ladder of the shootout; and Brandon Carter won the Truck/Challenger shootout in his D100 Dodge pickup. The bonus LMC Truck Shootout on Saturday was won by Rob MacGregor driving Bill Holt’s squarebody Chevy.
Action and activity could be found from one end of the TMS infield to the other, from the Team Texas ride-alongs around the banked oval track on Friday and Sunday, to the tire-shredding Burnout Competition and Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions – including a flame-throwing twilight Nitro Thunderfest during the LMC Truck Friday Tailgate Party. We also had a massive swap meet, huge vendor area, a full slate of Saturday special parking areas, live music throughout the weekend, kids zone fun, and much more.
By the time we got to Meguiar’s All American Sunday, we had almost hit the rev limiter on good times. We kept our foot in it, though, welcoming cool late-model machines to join in on the show field fun as well as the AutoCross track, where the Wilwood Brakes All American Sunday class and All American Shootout made for exciting late-model action.
We knew people were ready to get out and enjoy some Goodguys good times again, but we were truly overwhelmed by the fantastic reception we received in the Lone Star State. This was one for the record books, ya’ll, and we think it’s a good sign of great things to come this season.
Photos by Damon Lee, Steven Bunker, John Jackson, Dave Cruikshank, & Terry Lysak
