Jeff Norton to Serve as Race Director for 2010 Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing Events

Pleasanton, CA – Veteran tech man Jeff Norton has been retained as race director for all 2010 Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing events. Norton worked tech, scales and served as assistant race director with Goodguys/VRA during the West Coast Championship Series for west coast vintage drag racers from 1994 to 2006 and remains active in the West Coast vintage racing scene as a tech inspector for the NHRA Heritage Series.

In his new role as Goodguys race director Norton will oversee and manage all phases of vintage drag racing competition and tech for Goodguys. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of drag racing as well as superior management skills. “I’m excited to wear the Goodguys colors again,” Norton said. “I cut my teeth in tech and race management with Goodguys in the 90s along with my father Mike and the rest of the Goodguys/VRA team. It’s a great organization and with the Goodguys drag racing events being in the Midwest and East, I’ll have an exciting opportunity to meet a lot of new racers, see some different cars and see some great racing! I can’t wait to get started!”

Donnie Irvin, Robert Kornegay, Jeff Lawson, David “Sugar Bear” Lyons and “T-Bone” Tommy Keane return in their roles on the 2010 Goodguys/VRA Team.

To reach Norton, you can call the Goodguys tech line at (925) 895-7878. For a look at the classes, race dates and schedules for the 2010 Goodguys/VRA season, visit www.ggvintagedragracing.com

STREET RODDER TOP 100 Program to Visit 8 2010 Goodguys Events

STREET RODDER Magazine’s Top 100 Program returns to eight Goodguys events in 2010, with a new presenting sponsor: Painless Performance Products. STREET RODDER photographers will be at the Goodguys National events listed below looking for their favorite rods and custom cars. At each of the events, STREET RODDER’S editors will select 10 vehicles, to be prominently presented in magazine’s event coverage and on the Street Rodder website. Every winner, 100 in all, will receive an exclusive custom jacket stitched with a distinctive “Painless Performance Presents Street Rodder Magazine Top 100” logo.

At the end of the year, the 100 finalists from each of these events (plus two other events – Cruisin’ Ocean City and Syracuse Nationals) will be judged by a panel of pros consisting of STREET RODDER editors and experts from Painless Performance. One vehicle will be selected as the Painless Performance/STREET RODDER Magazine Street Rod of the Year. The winning car, maybe yours, will be highlighted on the pages of ASTREET RODDER and its owner, maybe you, will receive a trophy and a one-of-a-kind Painless Performance/STREET RODDER Magazine Street Rod of the Year letterman jacket.

Eighty of the Top 100 finalists will be selected at these Goodguys events:
May 20, 21, 21, 23 – 5th Bridgestone Nashville Nationals, Nashville, TN
July 9, 10, 11 – 13th PPG Nationals, Columbus, OH
July 23, 24, 25 – 23rd Pacific Northwest Nationals, Puyallup, WA
August 27, 28, 29 – 24th West Coast Nationals, Pleasanton, CA
September 3, 4, 5 – 9th Mid-Western Nationals, Kansas City, KS
October 29, 30, 31 – 17th Southeastern Nationals, Charlotte, NC
November 19, 20, 21 – 13th Southwest Nationals, Scottsdale, AZ

For a complete listing of Top 100 events visit www.streetrodderweb.com

Tom Medley, Creator of Stroker McGurk, to be Honored at 24th West Coast Nationals

Tom Medley, father of the “Stroker McGurk” hot rod cartoon, co-founder of the Street Rod Nationals and former publisher of Rod & Custom Magazine, will be honored as the “Hot Rod Hero” of the Goodguys 24th West Coast Nationals, August 27, 28 & 29 at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds.

A cartoonist, photographer, and magazine publishing veteran, Medley joined Hot Rod magazine on its third issue in 1948 as “humor editor.”. He was instrumental in creating Hot Rod’s success, juggling cartooning – the Stroker McGurk cartoon – photography (innumerable cover shots), how-to articles, even advertising sales and design. In the mid-1960s he took over as publisher of Rod & Custom, steering the book’s editorial direction toward street rods and “vintage tin” – thus ushering in the modern era of street rodding. In 1969, Medley and friend/writer Leroi “Tex” Smith organized the first Street Rod Nationals in Peoria, Ill.

Medley, a native of Oregon, moved to southern California after serving in the Army during WWII to attend Los Angeles Art Center College of Design. While attending college, he became involved in the local, burgeoning hot rod scene. It was his hot-rod-themed sketches, pinned on the bulletin board at Blair’s Speed Shop in Pasadena, that caught the attention of one Robert E. Petersen – who had just started a magazine called Hot Rod.

Ever the hot rodder at heart, Medley will drive to the event from his Southern California home in his hammered down ’40 Ford coupe accompanied by his son Gary. He will be honored by his editorial peers in a special ceremony on the awards stage Saturday afternoon, August 28th at 4:30pm. Medley will personally select the “Stroker McGurk” award (which goes to a hot rod roadster on an annual basis at Pleasanton) as well as the “’40 Fords Forever Pick.”

For additional information on the 24th West Coast Nationals visit www.ggwestcoastnats.com

Swap Spaces now available online!

Attention Swappers! Goodguys is excited to announce online registration for each of the three remaining 2010 swap meets at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds! With a click of your mouse you can reserve your space today! It’s simple and convenient!

Available now for the Summer Get-Together, June 5 & 6, you can not only reserve a space, but you can actually see which spaces are available and choose the one(s) you would like.

While specific space assignment is not yet available for the West Coast Nationals, August 27-29, and the Autumn Get-Together, November 13 & 14, you can get in early to make sure that you do reserve a space. By pre-registering for the swap meet you will moved to the top of the list when spaces are assigned closer to the event.

The All American Get-Together swap meet in sold out in March and vendors had to be turned away. Don’t get left out for the big three that remain!

To register as a swapper for the 17th Summer Get-Together click here!

For the 24th West Coast Nationals click here!

For the 21st Autumn Get-Together click here!

Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year 2010 presented by Gearstar…Who’s it gonna be?

The Goodguys 2010 Hot Rod of the Year award will be selected this year at the 22nd Hot Rod Nationals, June 11, 12 & 13 at O’Reilly Raceway Park just outside Indianapolis, IN. Below is a complete description on what the award criteria calls for and how to enter:

Award Criteria:
Open to hot rods 1948 and earlier. It makes noise; it’s regularly street driven and has a mean attitude! No cream puffs! Remember – The true spirit of hot rodding is for the owner to enjoy driving his hot rod!

How to Enter:
Cars interested in competing for this award should report to the “Hot Rod of the Year” staging area, Friday, June 11th at ORP at 9am sharp (North tower area at O’Reilly Raceway Park). You will be signed in, receive a special window sticker and be given route maps for the day’s festivities.

The HROY Competition:
After everyone is signed in Friday morning, the hot rods will leave ORP and visit Indianapolis Motor Speedway to take the special Indy Track Cruise. From the Indy Motor Speedway, the cars will take a scenic drive through the country side as a reliability run. After the reliability run, the cars will head back to O’Reilly Raceway Park and immediately report to the drag strip staging lanes. All HROY candidates will participate in a 1/8th mile heads-up drag & brag fun run on the IRP quarter mile. Times and speeds posted during the 1/8th mile drag & brag fun run will not determine the overall winner as the runs are simply a way to help establish that the Hot Rod of the Year is a true hot rod fully capable of smoking the tires and romping through the 1/8 mile!

The Selection Process:
Five HROY finalists will be selected from the overall pool of entrants. The five finalists will then be displayed at the Wyndham Indy West (formerly Adam’s Mark) Hotel Saturday night, June 12th where the overall winner will be announced during a special ceremony.

The Prize:
The winner will receive a special milled billet aluminum award, a full color photo feature in the Goodguys Gazette and Goodtimes Yearbook, national bragging rights and travel accommodations to attend the 2010 season-ending Southwest Nationals, November 19, 20 & 21 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

17th Summer Get-Together News and Notes

The 17th Summer Get-Together is shaping up to be quite an event June 5 & 6 at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds! In addition to the outdoor show & shine, the swap meet & car corral, vendor exhibits and arts & crafts, several other marquee attractions await show goers! Here’s a look at some of the excitement!

Concours d’Elegance
Inside the spacious Young California Building Goodguys will hold the Concours d’Elegance exhibit featuring regal 30’s era Packards, Bentley’s, Cadillac La Salles and other concourse style beauties. A collection of vehicles from the nearby Blackhawk Automotive Museum will also be exhibited.

The NoCal Packard Club, Early V8 Ford Club and the Classic Car Club of America will participate in the event. Northern California has long been a hotbed for classic cars and concours style events, led by the grand daddy of them all – the Pebble Beach Concours which celebrates the 75th anniversary of Jaguar this August on the Monterey Peninsula.

The exclusive exhibit is being managed by Fred Zimmerman. For more information or to participate, contact: f.zimmerman@comcast.net

Street Challenge Autocross
The autocross will be moved to the paved lot and share space with the swap meet. This marks the first time Goodguys will run an autocross on the famous stretch of asphalt! Back in the 1970s, the SCCA used the entire patch of paved lot holding some of the west coast’s most exciting autocross events!

Competition will be held in 4 categories – Vendor class, Street Machine (’55 & newer), Street Rod (’54 & older) and the truck class (no year cut off for this event). The autocross is free to all event participants. Tech will be held starting at 8:30am both days with timed runs 9am to noon, 1-4pm Saturday and 9am to 1pm Sunday.

Tri-Valley Quarter Midgets
The club of junior midget racers will hold racing exhibitions both days. A field of 15 to 20 cars will enter the competition which will feature a selection of different age groups and classes. The track will be located in the paved lot behind the amphitheater. Session times are 9am to noon and 1pm to 4pm both days.

Tracy Clutchburners Exhibit
The Tracy Clutchburners, who later this summer will be celebrating their 20th annual “Picnic in the Park” will be the featured Club at the 17th Summer Get-Together. Twenty cars belonging to club members will be displayed throughout the weekend inside the Hall of Commerce building.

These guys know how to have fun. Their Picnic is one of the “can’t miss” summer events on the hot rodding calendar. Stop by and introduce yourself and check out their sweet rides!

Of course an entire weekend of traditional Goodguys activities await you plus a chance to win a 1965 Mustang from Live 105 as well as the brand new GT Mustang! For complete event details visit www.summergettogether.com

Brand New Indoor Car Show @ Meguiar’s Orange County Get-Together

Would you like to be included in the first-ever indoor car show at the Goodguys Orange County Get-Together? New to this year’s event, scheduled for the weekend of May 15 & 16 at the O.C. Fair & Event Center is a spectacular indoor show inside the 20,000 square foot Building #12.

We’re looking for some beautiful rods, customs, muscle cars and classics for the indoor show! All indoor entries will receive an Award of Excellence, dash plaque and custom window cards for their participation! All indoor entries will also be eligible for all other event awards. Set up day will be Friday, May 14th from NOON to 5pm. The vehicles will remain inoors throughout the weekend once set up and will be moved out starting at 4pm, Sunday the 16th.

To reserve your indoor spot in Costa Mesa, please send an entry from and some photos of your car to:
Harry Daviess
C/O Goodguys
P.O. Box 9132
Pleasanton, CA 94566
Or you can e-mail your entry information and some pictures to harryd@good-guys.com

Entries Now Being Taken for Puyallup Indoor Show!

Goodguys are looking for some beautiful rods, customs, muscle cars and classics for the indoor car show at this year’s 23rd Pacific Northwest Nationals, July 23, 24 & 25! The Puayllup indoor car show will be held inside the spectacular “Showplex” building – the main exhibit building and the Puyallup Fair & Expo Center.

All indoor entries will receive an Award of Excellence, dash plaque and custom window cards for their participation! All indoor entries will also be eligible for all other event awards. Set up day will be Thursday, July 22nd from NOON to 5pm. The vehicles will remain inside throughout the weekend once set up and will be moved out of the Showplex Building starting at 3pm, Sunday the 25th.

To reserve your spot indoors at Puyallup, please send an entry from and some photos of your car to:
Harry Daviess
C/O Goodguys
P.O.Box 9132
Pleasanton, CA 94566

Or you can e-mail your entry information and some pictures to harryd@good-guys.com
For more event information, visit the official Pacific Northwest Nationals website http://www.pacificnorthwestnats.com/

Gearstar Presents Goodguys 2010 Hot Rod of the Year!

Goodguys is proud to announce Gearstar Performance Transmissions as the presenting sponsor of the coveted Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year award. The Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year is presented annually at the Hot Rod Nationals in Indianapolis. This year’s event is scheduled for June 11, 12 & 13 at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

The Hot Rod of the Year competition is just that – a two day competition for ’48 and earlier Hot Rods which seeks a true street driven machine that stands above the rest. Award criteria calls for a lap around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 100 mile drive, and a 1/8th mile dragstrip run. The winning Hot Rod must be loud, regularly street driven, have a mean attitude and scream the words “Hot Rod.” No cream puffs need apply! That philosophy is mirrored by the Gearstar Company.

Gearstar offers hi performance automatic transmissions and converters for Ford, GM and Mopar automobiles. Each Gearstar hi performance transmission is built to the customer’s exact specifications from start to finish by one of the industry’s top expert technicians using only the best US made performance parts available. Gearstar’s owner and founder Zack Farah understands that Hot Rods are sometime’s a life’s work by the owner. “A transmission is what your wife has in her minivan. What we are building are horsepower transferring systems. Whether it is a Turbo 350 going behind a mild small block or a 4L85E built for a 528 Hemi, we approach each transmission as if it was going into our own personal car.”

To see Gearstar’s extensive line of hi performance transmissions and converters or to speak to one of their tech’s, visit www.gearstar.net or call 1-800-633-2353

Truckin’ Along – LMC Truck to present 2010 Truck of the Year

LMC Truck, the world’s largest truck parts source for Chevy, GMC, Ford and Dodge trucks and SUVs will be the presenting sponsor for the 2010 Goodguys Truck of the Year “Late” award. The Truck of the Year “Late” is presented annually to an outstanding 1953-1972 vintage truck.

Regional finalists for the 2010 Truck of the Year “Late” will be selected at Goodguys national events in Del Mar, Colorado, Nashville, Des Moines, Pleasanton, Pocono and Ft Worth before the overall winner is announced Friday, October 8th on www.good-guys.com

With over 25 years of experience helping truck and SUV owners restore and modify their rides, LMC Truck offers their customers great prices with the convenience of thousands of original equipment, reproduction and high performance parts plus accessories, upholstery, rubber and chrome trim. Their FREE catalog is fully illustrated to help make ordering easy. A huge inventory provides the specific parts you need in the shortest time possible, delivered direct to your door!

To order your FREE catalog, call toll free 1-800-LMC-TRUCK (562-8782) or visit them online here: www.lmctruck.com

“Magnatude” takes Street Rod d’Elegance crown

Jerry Magnuson has it pretty well figured out. His day job is building super chargers for most anything that has wheels, but his passion these past few years has been building “Magnitude” – a sleek, stylish and oh-so elegant ’32 Muroc roadster hand formed by Marcel, designed by Chip Foose. The car was crowned the 2010 Goodguys Street Rod d’Elegance here at the 10th Del Mar Nationals presented by Meguiar’s.

Features include an LS-1 Chevy with a intercooled Magnacharger (of course!), Tremec 6 speed transmission w/ polished Kugel 9”, Kugel I.F.S & I.R.S., custom Kugel chassis, chopped Carson top, DuVall windshield, hidden headlights, custom dash by Magnuson, Jim Griffin upholstery, tunneled seats and countless other subtle tricks. The paint is two-tone butterscotch pearl with champagne metallic. In traditional So-Cal hot rod fashion, the car features one off Foose designed “bigs and littles” – 17×7” in front and 20×10” out back wrapped in Scorpion Zero rubber.

The field of street rods gathered here in Del Mar was the finest crop seen in years. It was a national lineup featuring a 5-pack of gorgeous, elegant ‘pre ’49 machines.

The top 5 finalists award included Brent Scheider, Pleasanton, CA (’37 Ford Cabriolet), Harold & Rhea Schrader, ’35 Ford (Franklin Lakes, NJ), Jerry Magnuson, Ventura, CA (’32 Ford roadster), Bill West, Terry, CA (’39 LaSalle) and Sean Wilson, Alpine, CA (’37 Ford).

In winning the Street Rod d’Elegance award, Magnuson will be presented with a custom toolbox from Snap On wrapped with a vinyl picture of the award winning car. He was also presented with a gorgeous billet aluminum plate designed and machined by Goodguys and Pleasanton Tool.

The car will be featured in full color in an upcoming issue of the Goodguys Gazette.

10th Del Mar Nationals Presented by Meguiar’s Brings Thousands of hot rodders to seaside community this weekend!

The 10th Del Mar Nationals presented by Meguiar’s gets underway Friday at the scenic Del Mar Fairgrounds! The event runs through Sunday April11th and features over 2,000 rods, customs and classics! For one low admission price you’ll see indoor and outdoor car shows, hundreds of vendor exhibits, the tire-screeching Street Challenge Autocross, a swap meet & cars for sale corral, hot rod seminars, live entertainment and much more!

If you’ll be participating with your pre –’73 rod, custom, classic, trick truck or muscle car, the action gets started Thursday with a Poker Run around the greater San Diego area! The run leaves registration at 10:30am so if you’re in town a little early and want to hit the road and see the sights – check out the Poker Run!

Other event attractions include the Southern California debut of the BOSS SNAKE Giveaway Car, live entertainment featuring “The Trip Band” as well as latin rockers “Soul Diego”, special parking areas including the always popular “Good Wood” featuring all woodie’s and so much more! Celebrate a decade of Goodguys good times in ol’ Del Mar!

Goodguys 10th Del Mar Nationals Presented by Meguiar’s:
Event Hours:
Friday, April 9th 8am to 5pm,
Saturday, April 10th 8am to 5pm
Sunday, April 11th 8am to 3pm.
General admission
Adults $18
Kids 7-12 $6
Kids 6 and under FREE
Fairgrounds parking is $9.
Participant Fees:
Weekend Registration $75 (includes the car & two people for the weekend)
Sunday Only Registration $40 (includes the car & two people for the day)
Swap Meet – $55 at the gate. Same price for Car Corral

For complete event details visit www.delmarnationals.com

1st Annual Spring Nationals Photos Now Available!

The 1st Annual Goodguys Spring Nationals photogalleries are now available. All photos are taken by the Goodguys Gazette crew.

The Mini Gallery – 24 Highlighted Participators

The Full Gallery – 300+ event photos

Look for the All American Get-Together Photos to be posted shortly!