Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 1st Grundy Insurance Mid-Atlantic Nationals Presented by R&M Performance
Let’s cut to the chase and sum things up quickly: Dover was simply delightful! The 1st Grundy Insurance Mid-Atlantic Nationals Presented by R&M Performance was one of the most-anticipated Goodguys debut events in recent memory and delivered just what we hoped it would – a fun-filled hot rod weekend in the Mid-Atlantic region that is sure to become an annual favorite for area hot rodders and car enthusiasts.
There was a positive vibe to this event at Dover Motor Speedway from the very start on Friday morning, as thousands of cars and trucks navigated a portion of the high-banked oval to make their way into the track’s infield. With ample space and a combination of grass, concrete, and asphalt, the facility is a welcoming venue that’s well suited for Goodlguys event happenings. And it was apparent that rodders in the region – from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and beyond – were amped up and ready for three days of Goodguys Good Times!
Goodguys has a long-established connection with Mark Giambalvo from Creative Rod & Kustom, a Goodguys Trendsetter who has served as a Builder’s Choice Top 10 selector at several of our previous events in the Northeast. We invited him down for the weekend to continue that role in Dover, and he enthusiastically agreed. His shop even whittled some bitchin’ custom billet aluminum Top 10 trophies for the fortunate recipients of these awards. As you can see, Mark still knows how to pick ’em and came up with a great lineup of winners.
There were dozens of other awards distributed throughout the weekend, too, including several finalists for several Goodguys Top 12 awards presented by BASF, plus Chevrolet Performance Builder of the Year finalists. Well-deserving recipients included Meade Baldwin’s ’61 Ford Starliner as the Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year finalist; Ed Waples’ chopped ’52 Chevy as the Fuel Curve Custom of the Year finalist; Steve Hornbaker’s ’69 Mercury Cougar Eliminator as the Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year finalist; and Tom Schwenzer’s ’90 Mustang as the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist. Korek Designs claimed the finalist spot for the Chevrolet Performance GM Iron Builder of the Year for the ’58 Impala built for Ted Stoneburner; and Ludwig’s Custom Auto earned the Chevrolet Performance GM Retro Iron Builder of the Year finalist nod for the 409-powered ’32 Ford built for Bill Cheek. The Goodguys media team, meanwhile, was blown away by the huge turnout of pro street cars and selected George Clampet’s standout fat-tire ’63 Corvette for the Goodguys Feature Pick.
The Goodguys CPP AutoCross Series got some dedicated space in Turn Three, where a tight and fun course was laid out and raced by more than two dozen competitors, culminating in Saturday’s Duel in Dover Shootout. Top performers included Chris Smith in his ’70 Camaro winning the Summit Racing PRO class and shootout; the ’69 Corvette of Angela Payne winning the Forgeline Street Machine class and shootout; Kenny Goodman winning the Sports Car class and shootout in his ’95 Camaro; and Rob MacGregor winning the No Limit Engineering Truck class and shootout in Bill Holt’s ’84 Blazer. Bret Wise won the Challenger class and shootout in his ’65 GTO, and Nelson Marrotte claimed the All American Sunday class and shootout in his 2018 Camaro.
The weather couldn’t have been better for the weekend, as we enjoyed sunny skies and comfortable temperatures with 80-degree highs all three days. Participants made the most of it, basking in the sun during the day at the track and hanging out well into the evening at the Bally’s host hotel parking lot. Mix in some of the usual Goodguys features and happenings like vendor booths, live music, family activities, good food, and cruising, and it made for a picture-perfect event. We even had a Track Cruise around Dover Motor Speedway’s banked oval on Saturday evening!
Goodguys would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out and made this a fantastic first-time event in the First State of Delaware! Your enthusiasm and gratitude were infectious and have us already thinking about how we can make improvements to host an even better event next year. We’re looking forward to more Mid-Atlantic Nationals in the future and hope to see you all again in the future!
