Texas Weekend Rewind! The 7th Spring Lone Star Nationals Delivers Big!
March 19, 2017
Written by
Steven Bunker
Texas Motor Speedway has never looked so good! The seventh running of the Spring Lone Star Nationals in Fort Worth, TX was one for the books with record breaking numbers for both cars and crowds. A beautiful three-day weekend weather forecast attributed to that success making for 72 non-stop hours of mechanical mayhem.
Our engines were bouncing off the limiter early on Friday morning as the event quickly went from 0 to 100 mph the moment the gates swung open. Hot rods, customs, muscle cars, and of course some of the finest pickups the Lone Star State has to offer flooded the infield at Texas Motor Speedway casting an exciting vibe throughout the event giving hints that we were in store for a huge weekend.
After a full fill day of cruisin’ and schmoozin’ on Friday, the Marriott host hotel held a stellar TGIF kickoff party with live tunes from our own DJ Axle playing long into the evening — it was the perfect way to unwind and kick back with old friends and new!
The folks at PPG couldn’t walk past Tracy Chapman’s 1949 Caddy named “Pearl”. They gave Pearl the nod of approval and awarded it as their Dream Car which will receive a full feature in an upcoming issue of the Gazette.
Saturday rolled out the red carpet for the Specialty Parking Areas and along with the Builders Choice area, many others were busting at the seams. The new 50th Anniversary Camaro Corral and Tri-Five Chevy areas offered big fun while the Trick Truck Corral brought out the region’s hottest haulers.
While that was all happening, we had the chance to shine the spotlight on the North Texas Camaros – a local Camaro club featuring killer cars with over 70 first-generation Camaros filling their special featured club area near the popular Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in the TMS infield. The North Texas Camaros were also the first group of cars to hit the TMS oval for Saturday evening’s track cruise. Hundreds of cars made their laps until the last group exited the high banks off turn four – it’s a highlight of the year for many!
If horsepower is what you’re looking for, the Spring Lone Star Nationals had you covered! A total of eight nitro burning vintage dragsters and funny cars fired up three times over the course of the weekend for our Nitro Thunderfest. Paired with the rumblings of the Team Texas NASCAR rides taking place throughout the weekend on the TMS oval, things got loud! Add in Goodguys AutoCross and all the bases were covered. Chris “Smitty” Smith picked up an AutoCross PRO class win and was joined by Kevin Diagle (Street Machine), Duke Roddy (Truck), Morgan Martin (Hot Rod), and Josh Leisinger (Shootout) in Sunday’s winners circle.
Street Machine class winner Kevin Diagle experienced some problems last weekend in Scottsdale resulting in an early departure. Diagle put in a couple long days to make the needed repairs and is leaving Texas with the Street Machine class win and the bump into the PRO class for the remainder of the year
Sunday brought out the late models for the K&N Filters All American Sunday portion of the event. Late model show cars from 1973 vintage to brand new 2017 models filled the grounds to strut their stuff. On the AutoCross track, Relle Howard drove his 2010 Corvette into the winners circle with a 43.451 fast lap.
Next up, we head back home to Pleasanton for the 35th annual All American Get Together March 25th & 26. A big Northern California weekend is on tap! We will pick our first Top 12 car of the season – the Goodguys 2017 Street Rod Headquarters Custom of the Year!
Until then, check out our gallery of award winners and some of our favorites from the 7th Spring Lone Star Nationals weekend!
Team Texas NASCAR rides were a huge hit as always. Both the 100+ mph stock cars as well as the NASCAR limo
Memory Lane - J.B. West - Keller, TX -1955 Pontiac Starchief
Meguiar's Magnificent Masterpiece - James & Tracy Bernard - Almia, AR - 1959 Chevy Bel Air
Mighty Mustang - Jim & Carol Lons - Weatherford, Texas - 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
Modern Muscle Award (sponsored by Hurst Shifters) - Kevin King - Fort Worth, TX - 2013 Ford Mustang
Ya Gotta Drive 'Em (sponsored by Sprayway) - Stan Henton - Bartlesville, OK - 1932 Ford
Huge thanks to the Lone Star Corvette Club - our host club for the weekend. They put in 12-hour days ensuring the event ran so smoothly!
The folks at PPG couldn't walk past Tracy Chapman's 1949 Caddy named "Pearl". They gave Pearl the nod of approval and awarded it as their Dream Car which will receive a full feature in an upcoming issue of the Gazette.
Meguiar's Magnificent Masterpiece - May Baker - Oklahoma City, OK - 1967 Buick Riviera
Hot Hauler - Tommy Divish - Wamego, KS - 1946 Chevy Panel truck
Brice Graham nabbed a finalist spot for the 2017 Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year running with his uniquely bitchin' 1957 Chrysler Saratoga
Builders Choice - Paul & Sheryl Wolf - San Antonio, TX - 1959 Corvette
Chevy Muscle Pick - Kevin Chirafis - Waco, TX - 1969 Chevelle SS
Homebuilt Heaven (sponsored by Speedway Motors) - Tim Roper - Hurst, TX - 1967 Ford F-100
The Nitro Thunderfest vintage diggers and funny cars fired up three times over the course of the weekend spewing the sweet smell of nitromethane fumes into the air
It was a PACKED weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for the 7th Spring Lone Star Nationals
Camaros were well represented by the North Texas Camaros car club! They were our featured club for the weekend and brought out over 70 first generation Camaros!
Ken & Chris Jacobs added their 1967 Z/28 Camaro into the 2017 MSD Muscle Car of the Year runnings
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