Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 30th Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals presented by BASF
Goodguys reached a major milestone this weekend as we celebrated three decades of Texas Good Times at the 30th Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals presented by BASF! That’s right, we’ve been bringing our special brand of automotive fun to the greater Fort Worth area for more than 30 years now, with venues ranging from the scenic Southfork Ranch to our current home at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s been a great ride, and we partied in style this weekend with three days of warm-weather hot rod fun in the TMS infield!
With toasty temperatures and plenty of sun, enthusiasts treated the weekend like an extension of summer and acted accordingly with lots of cruising, cold beverages, and hanging out with friends all day and well into the evening at the host hotel. These hearty gearheads took the heat in stride and turned up the fun factor to a level that matched the mercury in the thermometer!
For the first time ever, the Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals hosted the BASF America’s Most Beautiful competition – an elite Goodguys Top 12 award that has previously been bestowed at the West Coast Nationals. The move brought out some intense competition, with a fantastic pool of fine rides. The Top Five announced on Saturday consisted of Dennis and Beth Kilpatrick’s ’29 Model A coupe, Robert and Terri Carpenter’s ’68 Chevy C10, David Pilgrim’s ’52 Chevy Suburban, Casey Shires’ ’63 Corvette, and Matthew Forst’s ’69 Dodge A108 van. We had to wait until Sunday afternoon to learn the winning vehicle, which was ultimately revealed as David Pilgrim’s stellar black ’52 Chevy Suburban built by the team at Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop.
Harold Chapman of Customs and Hot Rods of Andice knows a thing or two about winning rods and customs and scoured the grounds to find deserving rides for his custom-machined Builder’s Choice Top 10 awards. His selections were as sharp and cool as the builds we’ve come to expect from this seasoned builder, as you can easily see in the final lineup.
The Goodguys team also selected dozens of awards, including finalists for several regional Top 12 awards. These included Stan Stafford’s ’70 Mach 1 Mustang as the Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year finalist; Jim Meyer’s ’67 Nova for Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist; Ryan LeBlanc’s ’50 Chevy for Scott’s Hotrods Truck of the Year Early finalist; and Rod Parsons’ ’67 C10 as the Dakota Digital Truck of the Year Late finalist. Hot Rod Garage picked up a Chevrolet Performance GM Iron Builder of the Year finalist award for Casey Shires’ ’63 Corvette, while Custom Auto earned one for the ’29 Model A roadster now owned by Jerry and Rosalind Payne. The Goodguys media team selected Heath Murray’s ground-scraping ’61 Cadillac for the Goodguys Feature Pick, and Francisco Murillo’s hard-charging ’88 Camaro for the Fuel Curve Pick.
The warm air temperature was no match for the heat generated in the tires of racers on the Goodguys CPP AutoCross course. They went hard and heavy all weekend, dodging cones and carving corners in a quest for fast class times and winning finishes in the Summit Racing Big Hoss Shootout. There were many usual suspects in the winners’ circle, with Josh Leisinger winning the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class, and brother Jared Leisinger capturing the PRO-X shootout win. Chris Smith piloted his ’70 Camaro to victory in the Summit Racing PRO class and shootout, while Tim Molzen pulled the same double-up trick driving a C5 Corvette in the Sports Car Class. Molzen also won the street machine portion of the Big Hoss Shootout driving his ’63 Dart, topping Forgeline Street Machine class winner Roger Burman. The No Limit Engineering Truck class also saw a split win, with Rob MacGregor winning the class and Jim Fields securing the shootout victory. Gunnison Jones conquered All American Sunday, winning both the class and shootout in his 2006 Corvette.
If your weekend included looking for new parts, this was the place to be. The Summit Super Shopping Experience brought together dozens of top-name manufacturers showcasing their latest products and offering great deals. Many other businesses and shops could also be found in both our indoor and outdoor vendor areas, giving gearheads plenty of cool parts and first-rate builds to check out.
The Summit Racing Lone Star Nationals also wouldn’t be complete without some other signature Goodguys features, like a sizeable swap meet, Team Texas ride-alongs, and our Saturday evening Track Cruise! We had a full slate of other activities, as well, like a smokin’ Burnout Competition, multiple ground-shaking Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, live music, and activities for the kids.
The hot times just keep comin’ from Goodguys, and we couldn’t have asked for a better weekend here in the Lone Star State. Thanks to all of you who came out to this Texas-sized hot rod party. We can’t wait to return to Fort Worth again next spring, but we have plenty to look forward to until then – namely the 33rd Fuel Curve Autumn Get-Together in Pleasanton November 11-12, and the 26th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale November 17-19. We’ll see you there!
Photos by Damon Lee, Todd Ryden, John Jackson & Terry Lysak
