BG GS Nats... Friday

[Royal-T-Ltd]

This was my first year in attendance of the GSNats... i am a looong time Buick owner and think part of the reason was due to poor timing. With the change in date from May to October, it really helped me free up some time to go... also i have to thank my lovely wife, who went with me on HER Bday weekend to spend the day with me at a Drag Race & Car Show .... she's a keeper for sure and the best co-pilot a man could ask for. I really enjoyed meeting some people i have dealt with for years and years.... i got the chance to meet [in person] Scot W. from GNS, just as cool of a guy as you would think he is, also talked with Jason Cramer for a while.... great guy and great parts... i met Tom from Champion, Paul from H&R, talked a looong time to Glen at NOS4gn.com [extremely nice guy], said hi to Brian Weaver.... I must say we are extremely lucky to have all these great people in our "tight-knit" community and am utterly disgusted to find out about all the thefts thereafter..... well i thoroughly enjoyed myself during the short time i was at the event... didn't really understand all the fees to get in and participate in certain things but whatever.... all in all a great time. Here are a few photos i snapped along the way... hope you enjoy.

aaron

 

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Engine Porn 8^D

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Now whoever owns this car needs a round of applause, the attention to detail was amazing, i don't know if he won any awards at the car show but he definitely had my vote.... take a look and if anyone knows anymore info let me know.... hopefully it runs as good as it looks.....

 

[11.20n1320]

You should have come to our pit area and looked us up.
DDay

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Dave, i was lookin for familiar faces... Where were you guys? oh and CONGRATS!!!

aaron

 

[jevans]

Now whoever owns this car needs a round of applause, the attention to detail was amazing, i don't know if he won any awards at the car show but he definitely had my vote.... take a look and if anyone knows anymore info let me know.... hopefully it runs as good as it looks.....

Hey Aaron,

My car, Thanks for the compliments...

The car has been "work in progress" since I purchased it. I blame Bent6(Will Wilkerson), for all the crazy modifications, he just keeps twisting my arm making me upgrade things...lol

It's not as fast as it looks, at least not right now. Still shaking down the new combination. The GS Nat's was the first time out with the new engine parts since I started bolting on all the new stuff.

As far as the Car Show, didn't win any awards or anything. From what I gather the judges are looking for a near perfect car to win. My car is well built and engineered, but there's no awards for that. Who knows, maybe next year. The suspension has serious platform for some big power, which will come soon.

We did have have blast at the GS Nat's, met up with some good friends and even got to make a few shake down passes to sort out the new parts.

John

 

[Bent6]

Hey Aaron,

My car, Thanks for the compliments...

The car has been "work in progress" since I purchased it. I blame Bent6(Will Wilkerson), for all the crazy modifications, he just keeps twisting my arm making me upgrade things...lol

It's not as fast as it looks, at least not right now. Still shaking down the new combination. The GS Nat's was the first time out with the new engine parts since I started bolting on all the new stuff.

As far as the Car Show, didn't win any awards or anything. From what I gather the judges are looking for a near perfect car to win. My car is well built and engineered, but there's no awards for that. Who knows, maybe next year. The suspension has serious platform for some big power, which will come soon.

We did have have blast at the GS Nat's, met up with some good friends and even got to make a few shake down passes to sort out the new parts.

John

I'll take SOME of the blame for the engine mods but the chassis madness is all you buddy!

Seriously - having cars on both sides of the fence (race and street) I can honestly say this is one of the best engineered and executed cars you will see anywhere. Sad thing is most folks at this event cant'/don't appreciate the amount of time and work that went into this car - it's far from the bolt on stuff most are accustomed to. We learned that the car show portion of this event is a bunch of crap but that didn't stop us from having a good time. Trust me, John will go completely stupid with the engine program on this car sooner or later - with a little arm twisting of course.

But it won't be my fault dude - I ain't got a dime in it - just sayin'! :biggrin:

 

[MeanBuicks]

As far as the Car Show, didn't win any awards or anything. From what I gather the judges are looking for a near perfect car to win. My car is well built and engineered, but there's no awards for that. Who knows, maybe next year. The suspension has serious platform for some big power, which will come soon.

John, I volunteered to help with judging this year and wound up judging your class. I will tell you that we we're all extremely impressed with your car. It scored very well, but admittedly, this was a very tough class with some stiff competition (& I think they only award 1st and 2nd places). Sorry you didn't fare better but I can assure you that the judges are just fellow volunteer GSCA members doing the best they can to be fair & impartial.

FWIW, I've entered the show with a couple near stock GNs over the years and never won a thing. I've given up since I can't hang with the big dogs.

 

[jevans]

John, I volunteered to help with judging this year and wound up judging your class. I will tell you that we we're all extremely impressed with your car. It scored very well, but admittedly, this was a very tough class with some stiff competition (& I think they only award 1st and 2nd places). Sorry you didn't fare better but I can assure you that the judges are just fellow volunteer GSCA members doing the best they can to be fair & impartial.

Greg,

I have no problem with the results of the class I was in. There were several cars that showed better than mine. My car is no show car, it's got better than 130,000 miles on it, and shows it in quite a few area's. I'm about as critical as one can get about the details on a car. I'm pretty sure the car I was parked next to had less than 30,000 miles on it and still had the original paint, it looked as it did when it rolled off the showroom floor 25 years ago.

I can and do appreciate what the judges are up against judging the cars.

It's all good, can't wait till next year...

John

 

[Bent6]

Less than 20k to be exact.

Nobody's fault here but..........My car didn't even get judged due to a lack of communication on how the registration process was supposed to go. To make a long story short, I paid to be in the show but when I got my car over there I was told it wouldn't be judged because it wasn't on "the list". I was welcome to park my car over there but it would not be judged and NO REFUND - what a crock. One of the judges even asked why they couldn't just put my car on "the list" and let them judge it. I went and asked again and was again told NO. To say I was a bit upset is an understatement. There was no reason other than she (the show organizer) didn't want to make it happen. This is the type of crap that gives this event a bad rep. Sorry for the rant....

I've been attending the GS Nats since the beginning - back in the mid-80s and I remember when everyone got a card and voted on their favorites in each class - a people's choice type of show. No disrespect to those judging as I realize they were volunteers doing the best they could BUT the judging criteria seems a bit picky to me considering there is a concours class for the perfect cars. I don't think I'm the only person who feels this way and it seems to prevent some folks from showing their cars at all which is sad in itself. It all goes back to the fact that this event needs an overhaul if it is going to be able to continue much longer. This is JMO of course.

I can't wait for next year but I think I'll skip the show.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Yeah in my original post at top the: didn't really understand all the fees to get in and participate in certain things but whatever.... i was referring to exact same problem... i initially went through the gate with my wife and car and paid $40, then i asked where the show was, they said i had to preregister, then they said there was time to register at the table, i went to the table and they wanted another $50.... NEEDLESS TO SAY I didnt participate... the fee schedule was IMHO ridiculous... i have been to a lot of car shows and do a lot of PowerTours... for example the PowerTour i pay around 65-75 for a WEEKs worth of car shows and some racing [2 people+Car] ... i have drag raced and understand that you must prep the track and split the pot but $90 for 1 day, 1 car and 2 people with no pot is freakin' ludicrous. Maybe they were just trying to take advantage of my ignorance to the charges...

aaron

 

[Bent6]

I realize it costs $$ to put on an event this size BUT this one has gotten a little out of hand.

What was it - like $27 to enter the car show in addition to the entrance fee? A bit steep IMO.

There were SEVERAL people who felt like they turned upside down at the registration tent and shook by thier ankles.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

I realize it costs $$ to put on an event this size BUT this one has gotten a little out of hand.

What was it - like $27 to enter the car show in addition to the entrance fee? A bit steep IMO.

There were SEVERAL people who felt like they turned upside down at the registration tent and shook by thier ankles.

Was there a Ca$h prize for the car show? Also what were the classes? What exactly was in John's class?

aaron

P.S. on another note i understand there is cost incurred for the setup and running of a major event but, IMO do not try to make ALL of the money on the "little guy" who actually supports and shows up and makes the events, nor the "medium guy" [ie our beloved vendors].... has the GSCA ever approached any of the BIG companies like a Budweiser, Coca Cola, Pepsi or some of the bigger auto companies [Mickey Thompson, Toyo, Hoosier, General Motors] i am just wondering? I am sure attendance would go up if the the price didn't go up and up and up and people could actually afford to miss a few days of work as well as pay the gate fees and participation fees....
...maybe this is why i continue to go on the PowerTour.... ~$70 for entrance and i get in all over the country with my Wife and Car....... hell the gas and hotels is enough, if i had to pay $40-50 per venue i would just stay home and surf the net... 8^P

 

[Bent6]

Cash prize - that's a joke right?

The class was TR Heavily Modified or something like that.

My car was parked next to John's but I don't guess it was in the class technically since it wasn't being judged.

John's car........

Mine and John's car at the line......

Don't worrry John - I won't post up that other picture of our cars at the line.

Jim Lauer's old car - the awesome silver T-Type - was also in this class. Hard to beat that one for sure.

Probably the nicest TR built to date but I'm betting on my buddy Johnboy to up the ante once his is done - if he's ever DONE that is.

 

[MeanBuicks]

Will, I agree, you did get shafted. You paid the fee and didn't get signed up and they make like it's an act of congress to add you to the judging sheet! WTF??! With ever dwindling attendance, the last thing they need to be doing is alienating people; especially out of laziness. The exhorbitant fees are what keep my car out of the show. If it were more reasonable, I'd still participate knowing I don't have a snowball's chance in hell with the ol' 113,000-mile daily driver.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Cash prize - that's a joke right?.

Yeah Will that was sarcasm 8^D

i thought that [your] car looked familiar... was the hood opened or was it shut... i cant remember.. i do remember the plates though.


aaron