Weekend Rewind! Goodguys 35th Speedway Motors Heartland Nationals presented by FiTech Fuel Injection
Our nation marked its momentous 250th birthday over the weekend, and we couldn’t think of a better way for all-American gearheads and hot rodders to celebrate that milestone than by gathering with thousands of like-minded friends in the heartland of our great country! That’s exactly what Goodguys did by hosting our biggest event of the year so far – the massive 35th Speedway Motors Heartland Nationals presented by FiTech Fuel Injection at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines!
Yes, it was a weekend of joyous anniversaries as the USA commemorated two-and-a-half centuries of freedom and Goodguys participants and spectators marked three-and-a-half decades of one of our favorite summertime showcases of hot rods, horsepower, and the free spirit of the open road. And once again, Des Moines did not disappoint. The fairgrounds was packed with incredible cars, trucks, and fun-loving enthusiasts who were excited to celebrate and cruise.
Following our customary Thursday Poker Run and Kickoff Party, Friday kicked off with a bang – literally. An early morning thunderstorm offered a free car wash to early arrivers at the fairgrounds. It was all over by 8am, though, and soon the sun broke out to deliver a warm and inviting day to show off the color, chrome, and character of the thousands of cool rides decorating the grounds. That scene spilled over into a spectacular Saturday, were we stuffed even more cars, people, and Good Times onto Grand Avenue and the surrounding fairground property.
We welcomed a new member to the fraternity of Builder’s Choice Top 10 selectors this year in Des Moines, as Tyler Nelson from Revision Rods & Rides came on board to send a selection of top-quality rides home with one of his custom-crafted trophies. Tyler was the Goodguys Trendsetter in 2024 and has been making his mark in the industry for nearly a decade now with Revision Rods & Rides, a shop known for building high-impact cars and trucks with distinctive style, big performance, and lots of custom touches. His award recipients shared all those same qualities.
Dozens of other amazing car and trucks took home some hardware from the weekend, too, including a full slate of fine rides earning finalist spots our regional Goodguys Top 12 Awards presented by BASF. The finalist lineup consisted of: Skip Miller’s ’50 Chevy as the Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs Custom of the Year finalist; Mark Morehouse’s ’58 Rambler as the Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year finalist; Thomas and Ashley Cauthen’s ’56 F100 as the LMC Truck of the Year Early finalist; Brian Wojcik’s ’95 Chevy as the Dakota Digital Truck of the Year Late finalist; TJ Thompson’s ’57 Chevy as the Roadster Shop 4X4 of the Year finalist; Keith Sasich’s ’67 Firebird as the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist; and Mark Anderson’s ’69 Olds 442 as the Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year finalist. Our media team selected Rob Walker’s sharp-dressed ’48 Chevy panel truck for the Goodguys Feature Pick.
The Goodguys AutoCross track welcomed the largest field of racers so far this season and brought hard-charging action to the event all weekend long, culminating with an intense Optima Batteries Duel in Des Moines Shootout on Saturday afternoon. Top finishers included Robby Unser winning the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class and shootout, Mark Golovin topping the Summit Racing PRO class and shootout, Tim Molzen claiming the double win in the Forgeline Street Machine class, Preston Folkstad topping the No Limit Engineering Truck class and shootout, Andrew Chenoweth securing the wins in the Corvette class, and Daryn Swails finishing first in the Challenger class and shootout. The All American Sunday competition was led by Gabe Korte, who won both the class and shootout.
The cars brought us all together in Des Moines, but the weekend was filled with an incredible range of activities, including old-fashioned Fourth of July fun with a pie baking contest and watermelon eating contest on Saturday. There was also our second-ever pinup girl competition providing a little more variety and flavor for the weekend.
Of course, we had so many other four-wheel-focused Goodguys happenings, too, like a massive swap meet and Cars 4 Sale Corral, a smokin’ Burnout Competition, monster truck rides, radio-controlled car demonstrations from the Central Iowa RC Addicts, and multiple Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, including nighttime nitro right before our annual Saturday Night Fireworks Extravaganza. Add in some live music, great fair food, and lots of cruising all weekend long, and you had the sort of celebration that any gearhead could get behind.
Hot rod weekends and anniversaries like this don’t come around very often, so you’ve got to celebrate them when you can! Goodguys is grateful for all of you who elected to spend the 250th Independence Day weekend with us in Des Moines! It was a star-spangled, flag-waving, engine-revving good time, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Let’s take some of that same spirit and energy and channel it into the next weekend of Goodguys Good Times, which is coming up in just a few short days at the 28th Summit Racing Nationals presented by Grundy Insurance. We’ll see you there!
Photos by: Damon Lee, Terry Lysak, John Jackson
