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Goodguys All American Nationals June 6-8, 2014
Click on the Thumbnails Below to Enlarge  by Wild About Cars  and AHPS staff - Reprint with Permission Only The Goodguys All American Nationals in Indianapolis is held over three days to include over 2,500 American Made or Powered Hot Rods, Customs, Classics, Muscle Cars and Trucks of All Years. Included are Friday Nite Vintage Drags, Saturday Night Demolition Derby as well as all the events and exhibits that the Goodguys bring to their National events. To try and give you an idea of how much there is to do and see, we will cover what we did on each day: Thursday arrival at the Indianapolis Goodguys show found a beautiful sunny afternoon and a finely manicured Indiana State Fairgrounds. Upon arriving we got tour the whole fairgrounds and got to drive over their famous covered bridge as well as tour all of the outside display areas that will soon be filled with street rods, muscle cars, and classic cars. Looks like it's going to be an exciting weekend of fun filled activities for cars and families. it all kicks off tonight with a welcoming party down at the Ray Skillman museum and race car shop in southern Indianapolis. Action will become hot and heavy starting at 5 o'clock in the morning with registration as the cars will be pouring in all day. three to five thousand cars are expected. Many displays are set up by Specialty hot rod and speed equipment manufacturers and a plethora of food court vendors. It looks like The Goodguys are going to outdo themselves once again. Fabulous Friday is the only thing that comes to mind when attempting to describe the opening day of the Indy Goodguys Rod and Muscle car show.  Entries began filing in early in the morning and kept on coming the whole day long.  The DJ had the music rockin and motors were a-rumblin and making their own music. Over by the Goodguys main event tent the contenders for the best street rod were being staged and the show field was filled with classics of all kinds, shapes, and sizes!  Hemis, Cammers, Rat Motors and even a few diesel thundrerers were cackling their own music. Over in the swap meet area there were vendors with everything from license plates to clutch plates. Parts of motors to complete motors were available to any of the shoppers. Strolling along manufacturers row we saw chassis parts, engines, transmissions, automotive plumbing , and even batteries. Battery chargers, and generators. The hot sun reached 86 degrees in the mid afternoon and it was the right time to take a stroll through the indoor show area in the exposition center hall. Visitors to this bldg. were treated to some outrageous beauties that any car buff were to “die for”.  From a unbelievably restored 34 “Woody” wagon complete with a surfboard rack, to a “bubble top” original 62 Chevy 409, to fuel injected 57 Chevy, to a host of street rods, all with paint jobs that almost defy the imagination. It was then off to Lucas Oil Raceway for Goodguys Friday night Drags where the fans were treated to a great match race between to nostalgia front-engined funny cars driven by none other than Cruz Pedrogon and Ron Capps. Man did they put on a show, and for toppers TV Tommy Ivo had his  Rod Shop Nostalgia Funny car for some exhibition runs too. Saturday: The sun rising over the Indiana State Faigrounds brought a steady stream of entrants for the 2nd day of this hot rod and muscle car extravaganza . By noon most all of the prime parking locations were filled with some type of a 4- wheeled vehicle beckoning the spectators to stop and take a second look  “at me”. Over at the main midway of attractions the Goodguys promoters has some specially designated areas for some special vehicles ---   ‘ya gotta drive em’ area was designated for any car/hotrod that was driven more than 300 miles to attend the show. “ I built it myself” area was reserved for hot rods that were virtually built from scratch by its owner.  Another area was reserved for registrants that were under 25 years old. Then the ‘Mighty Muscle” area was for factory muscle cars. They even reserved an area just for “deuces”  -- any rod built using a 32 Ford body.  Of course there were long lines at the concession stands, especially the ice cream vendors with the temp hovering the 90 degree mark. The Engine Builders Challenge was the highlight of the afternoon. The Challenge pits teams of high school students trying to see which team could  completely disassemble and then reassemble a complete V-8 engine.  When the dust settled the team of highly skilled girls had firmly defeated their male counterparts to take the honors. These kids are our next generation of “gearheads” and hot rod fanatics – We wish them all a prosperous career in the automotive industry While everything else was going on  the Auto-cross course continued to get a workout with lots of drivers trying their hand at maneuvering the timed course. The evening was capped off with a huge demolition derby in front of the main Fairgrounds Grandstand.  It appears that all the showgoers and families too had a great day here at the All American Goodguys show. Sunday: Who said it doesn't rain in Indianapolis? Sunday morning started out  very overcast with drizzling rain but by noon the rain was gone and the sun started to peek through the clouds. All the cars that received awards from Saturday judging and the Goodguys picks started filing into the Winners Circle area to be on display for all to see until the time for the award ceremony to start. It was awesome site to file past each and every one of those winners! From a 1000 points 69 Hemi-Charger 4-speed to a Deuce Coupe that was named Hot Rod of the Year. Owned by Tony Lombardi, Niles Ohio , the 30 Ford is powered by Olds 371 with a GMC 4-71 blower . He and his father Ross Lombardi own and operate Ross Automotive and Racing in Niles Ohio. For a complete list of all the winners -- click here   Pictures of the entire 3-day show Including Tony Lombardi's Hot Rod of The Year 2014 can be viewed at the link below. Click here for Tony Lombardi's Hot Rod of the Year photos: Click here for all the photos of the event: Covered bridge at Indiana Fairgrounds A beautifully restored 34 "Woodie" This 57 was bought new by its owner and he still owns it ! TV Tommy Ivo's Rod shop Funny Car A sweet 63 Dodge SS/A car w/ Cross ram intake Ross Lombardi's Hot Rod of the Year