1st Goodguys Spring Nationals 2010 Street Challenge Autocross
March 3, 2010 by Hechtspeed · 2 Comments
Goodguys Spring Nationals, March 12-14
Street Challenge Autocross
To see all the juicy event details, check below. What we are excited about and wanted to point out to you readers is the new event they’re having this year. The “Street Challenge Autocross”! Take your hot rod and bash some cones and yank that steering wheel around and put a hurtin’ on your tires and brakes. Check out these 2 hot rods showing you how autocross is done!
Check out this CRC Vette getting it on in the twisties. Man that looks fun!
…or maybe Corner Carving Muscle is your thing, check out Bryan Frank’s Trans-Am.
I’d love to see some lead sleds or kustoms out on the course. Or maybe a 32 roadster!
Details of the event below:
The Goodguys Spring Nationals is a new hot rod and custom car festival featuring the Southwest’s premier custom vintage automobiles! The event will feature over 2,000 1972 & earlier hot rods, customs, classics, street rods, muscle cars, & trick trucks as well as manufacturer and vendor exhibits, a swap meet and cars for sale area, special “themed” parking areas, model car & pedal car expo, kids play area and lots of fun for the entire family.
A special Autocross will also be featured, allowing event participants to test their car’s performance levels on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 12, 13 & 14. Event hours are: Friday and Saturday 8 am to 5 pm and Sunday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. Where: WestWorld Equestrian Park, 16601 W. Pima Rd., Scottsdale, AZ, Tickets: General admission: $18 per day, Kids (7-12) $6. $5 spectator parking fee charged by WestWorld. Phone: WestWorld 480/312-6802 or Goodguys: 925/838-9876. Web: www.ggspringnats.com
Event Highlights: Outdoor Show n’ Shine: The Goodguys Spring Nationals officially kicks off Goodguys’ 23-event 2010 season. With an outdoor show n’ shine of over 2,000 vintage classics through 1972, WestWorld will be landscaped with acres of gleaming, candy-colored cars. Lil’ deuce coupes, hot rod roadsters, lead-sled 50’s Merc customs, ‘55-’57 Chevy’s, Camaros, Barracuda’s & Mustangs and other timeless beauties will fill the entire outdoor acreage of WestWorld.
Street Challenge Autocross: Hot rods and muscle cars will be in action both Friday and Saturday making runs through the electronically timed “Street Challenge” Autocross course. The course is approx. 1000 ft in length and features tight turns with rapid acceleration and deceleration. Speeds average 20-30mph while testing to extreme limits the vehicle’s performance capabilities. Winners receive gift certificates from sponsors including tires and suspension equipment and other performance goodies.
Commercial Exhibits/Swap Meet/Car Corral: Commercial and vendor exhibits will fill a large circus-style tent and the areas outside the tent. The swap meet and cars for sale corral offers unlimited bargain hunting and shopping for rare car parts.
Special Feature Areas: Held on Saturday from the 8 am to 2 pm, these areas will include: Timberland PRO’s Homebuilt Heaven, Young Guys—(for participants 25 and younger), Mighty Muscle (1955 through 1972 muscle cars), Ya Gotta Drive ‘Em (for participants who’ve driven their car more than 500 miles to the event), and the Trick Truck Corral for pickup trucks. The Goodguys “Builder’s Choice” area will feature the event’s top cars vying for 10 special awards.
Model Car Show: On Saturday, Revell Monogram will be sponsoring the Make n’ Take session at 1 pm. Model car kits will be available for the kids to build the kits and take them home. A full scale model car show and vintage pedal car exhibit will also be featured. Entertainment: Rock & roll music will fill the desert air all weekend long. Awards Ceremony: The culmination of the weekend will be Sunday’s official awards ceremony which takes place at 2:22pm. It’s a great way to see the best of the best! Additional Event Info: Visit www.ggspringnats.com or call 925/838-9876.
2009 Goodguys Southwest Nationals Picture Wrap-up
December 20, 2009 by pikesan · 2 Comments
If you can’t wait until summer time Goodguys Gazette, scratch that now-time itch and check out MyRideisMe.com’s pictures from the 2009 Goodguys Southwest Nationals! Did we shoot your car?
Have you’ve ever worked at something and thought you were making progress improving your skill, then found out you were still way behind? That’s happening to me with my photography. I didn’t shoot alot of pictures at Goodguys, but I shot a few and thought a couple of them were pretty good!
But then, just after I sent the, “Hey Swanee, you gonna load your shots?” email, I noticed he’d already loaded them in the events picture gallery. You’re good people Swanee! ‘Cept for the fact that your images kill mine, that is… You can tell by the logo, that slammed Caddy riding on twenty-plus wires photo above is from our Alaska-raised Director of Photography.
Shown here is one of my best shots. This is the 1957 Chevy Custom that won the Goodguy/Grundy Kustom of the Year. Sunset in Arizona is frequently a, “Damn it’s good to be alive” event and this Saturday evening in Scottsdale made for some great shots. Learn more about this car from an article by our friends at Goodguys. More about the 57 Chevy Custom
Here’s a few more from Swanee’s lens. The complete collection (sounds official don’t it?) is available in the Car Show and Events Picture Gallery under Goodguys Southwest Nationals.

As you can see, the sky and reflections from the low setting sun do it for me on the Tall T and Mercury Cougar. Ford genus Puma concolor like this on are on my short but growing list of cars that didn’t TOTALLY SUCK from the 1970′s.
Striking back, I got some of that low-lying sun for myself shooting some other “of the Year” winners that always make their way to Scottsdale, the last show of the year for Goodguys. This is also the start of the, “That guy’s a MyRideisMe.com member” shots. These first two shots are Kirk Johnson’s Truck of the Year-late 1968 F100. Kirk’s from my old stomp’n grounds in Sacramento, CA and a new member, so go say hi and learn more about his truck. He’s got another F100 he calls, “The Beater” shredd’n some rubber.
Swanee grabbed a few more member ride shots including this 1967 RS SS Camaro from Mesa.

Not sure what award this supurbly detailed Camaro won, but with the Shafiroff built 540 large-block churning out a ridiculous 700 ponies through a Tremec 6 speed, don’t be fooled. This baby’s show and GO!
Swanee snapped a few members running their classic trucks at Goodguys, too. On it’s near maiden voyage, Rob’s bumper-scrap’n ‘burb got pinstriped and broke-in some driving in from Mesa with his son riding shotgun. I know Rob, like me, loves it when the boys get involved.
Then up in the winner’s area, the “Unbound Scout” was collecting a prize. This truck’s made heartfelt impression on the IH guys who are coming over from some devoted forums to see the pics and build info.
Another fun and sunny Goodguys Southwest Nationals comes to an end. As usual, we had perfect weather and over 2400 cars. The Goodguys folks took note that AZ’s the place to be when it’s too cold to be anywhere else and scheduled another show for Scottsdale in March. Now AZ’s got the first and last show of the year! Anyone planning to come in from out of town, book your hotel NOW! March’s prime golf weather when the greens are frozen across the US, so Scottsdale hotels fill up quickly.
We’ll see you there! Make sure to Join MyRideisMe.com so we can feature your car next time!
Any comments? Which shot is your favorite? Leave comments below. (Or I’ll assume my writing’s perfect and every word’s spot-on!)
Best Pinstriping Pictures from Goodguys Southwest
December 13, 2009 by pikesan · 5 Comments
As always, MyRideisMe.com is on the lookout for pinstriping at races or car shows so you can see what’s out there and decide what to do on your own ride. Here’s a few from the Goodguys Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale, AZ.
All Photos by my man and Director of Photography at MyRideisMe.com, Swanee…
To see all of Swanee’s pinstriping pictures from Goodguys, please go to the Pinstriping Picture Gallery
This Arizona Pinstriper Joel from 1320designs.com doing his thing on MyRideisMe.com member Mr. Freeze’s slammed Suburban he recently picked up. Joel’s rates are very reasonable for striping and he’s also an up-and-coming designer as well. Make sure to check out his website and let him know MyRideisMe.com sent you!
What do you think? If this is YOUR pinstriping work (or your car!), please let us know and we’ll say so next to the picture.
Leave your comments below and don’t forget to see all the pinstriping pics in the:
Pinstriping Picture Gallery
Unforgettable Gold/Copper 1929 Ford Sedan
July 12, 2009 by pikesan · 9 Comments
Cruising any car show with buddies, there’s always one car that even weeks later, you’re still talking about it: “Remember that one car?” and you all do. That happened cruising the Scottsdale Goodguys show in November and I never forgot, even though Otis Schmidt, the owner of this bad hot rod may have thought I did!
Otis, a hot rod, custom car and racing fan since he started building model cars at 12 years old, is now living in Moore, Oklahoma. He bought his 1929 Ford Sedan from Mark Riojas of Bridge Creek, Oklahoma after finding it parked right next to him at an NSRA show in Oklahoma City. Otis immediately dug the car cause it reminded him of a similar-styled 1934 Ford Sedan he’d recently, and regrettably sold . Between missing his 34 and the gold teaser parked right next to him, Otis contacted Mark soon after the show and a deal was struck on the phone.
The first thing you notice about Otis’s 1929 Sedan, called the “Corrugated Flyer” is the wild gold/copper color. The color’s officially Gold Acrylic enamel. From there, throw in some flattener and mix in this-n-that to get a color that, in the sun, is really striking. The paint and most of the build were done by Mark.
Looking past Mark’s slick paint, the custom touches are found all over the sedan. The body’s chopped a full 8 inches, including the 1932 window frame, then set down on deuce rails. Looking closer at the back end, you’ll see the rear was pie cut to fit a 1932 tank . (Click the image to make it bigger) Move forward just a bit to see the wheel wells from a model A roadster cleverly grafted in to tuck the big 8.90-16 Firstones mounted on steelies. The front wheels are off a vintage carnival ride to get’m only 4″ wide.
Inside, Mark put his custom casting skills to use. Along with his other talents, he also casts custom hot rod parts in his backyard! The steering wheel’s custom made to duplicate a 1940 Ford wheel and the instrument cluster’s made to look like a 1932 piece with a little patina cast right in. Subtle black pinstriping finishes the at the time unfinished interior.
Up front, the induction’s pretty hard to miss, too. Cruising home for the first time, the 29′s Chevy LS1 was acting up and Otis blamed it on the original Stromberg 97′s and a vintage mag setup. Right then, Otis decided to run the new-stalgia look of 4 Demon carbs. After getting it running again with the Demon’s, the real devil turned out to be a couple flattened cam lobes. The old school true Stromberg’s weren’t running bad, after all!
Otis and his hot rod made the long trip to Scottsdale to visit his nephew over in the small Arizona town of Wadell. Along for the ride is Otis’ close friend Bob Starks and his equally bitch’n Gasser-style 1966 Chevy Nova done in pink murano pearl. Bob and Otis have been buddies since high school. I guess they’re glad they made the trip; Bob’s Nova got a “Period Perfect” award and Otis came away with a “Street Rodder Top 10″.
No I haven’t forgotten Otis’ sedan, and I probably won’t. Otis sent over some in-progress pictures of the interior going in and when this car’s done, look for it on the cover of your favorite print magazines.
If you remember this unforgettable 1929 Ford Sedan, let us know!
Please leave a comment.
Squeeg’s Kustom Goodguys Lunch Stop
December 12, 2008 by pikesan · Leave a Comment
The Goodguys Southwest Nationals rolls into Scottsdale, AZ only once a year and with it comes a mad thrash to get your car ready and some great chances to roll your car out (even a roadster since it was in the 80′s that week!) have some fun and meet some other rodders in the area.
Doug Jerger the owner of Squeeg’s Kustoms in Mesa, Arizona landed the lunch stop for the Goodguys Show. Doug was kind enough to let me take up some space at his shop and hand out some of the posters we made.

Right click to save as
The open house came at a perfect time as Squeeg’s was debuting 3 trick hot rods. Doug’s shop can build and paint anything you want and do it to near perfection. The 34 Ford Roadster shown above was one of the cars. Everything on this car screams professional builder and the style and execution let you know this car had a solid plan right from the start.
The other 2 hot rods finshed were a 32 Ford Roadster and a 40 Ford coupe. I’m not showing the 40 Ford right now because we’re all hoping the coming out part for the 40 will be on the pages of Rodder’s Journal.
Make sure to look closely at the pictures below. Maybe I got a shot of you or your car? If so, let me know.
Until then, right click and save the image of the poster we made and use it as your wall paper. It’s a good size file and should look great as your screen saver.
Special thanks to Doug and all the guys at Squeeg’s.





















