Good Guys Meguiar’s Del Mar Nationals
Del Mar (San Diego) CA
Reported by Damon Lee – Editor, Goodguys Gazette
California knows how to party, and the SoCal car community demonstrated that once again as the Goodguys 24th Del Mar Nationals brought a little automotive sunshine to the West Coast! The cars and trucks were shining, the vibe was warm and bright, and the cruisin’ was off the charts at the Del Mar Fairgrounds as thousands of fine rides celebrated California car culture under sunny SoCal skies. JBA Speed Shop was there through it all from our spectacular booth at the main corner of O’Brien Hall. Just outside our rides lined the street with a display of classic American Muscle. Our booth featured Blake’s very special JBA built 1966 Mustang GT Fastback (the Burgundy Beast) and a JBA Built Small Block Ford engine.
Among the dozens of other awards distributed throughout the weekend was a full slate of regional BASF Top 12 finalist winners. This included longtime JBA customer Jim Thomson’s ’68 Pontiac Firebird as the Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year finalist; Jerimiah Belk’s ’66 Nova as the Griot’s Garage Muscle Machine of the Year finalist; Jerry Rodriguez’s ’56 Mercury as the Fuel Curve Custom of the Year finalist; Homer Zamora’s ’57 Pontiac Safari as the Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year finalist; Larry
Jacinto’s ’41 Willys as the LMC Truck of the Year Early; and Frank Walsh’s ’75 Chevy C10 as the Dakota Digital Truck of the Year Late. The Goodguys media team went with the beachside vibe and tapped Sid Chavers’s ’40 Ford woodie for the Goodguys Feature Pick.
Over on the far west side of the fairgrounds, the Goodguys AutoCross Series filled the air with the sounds of engine strain and tire punishment as racers put their skills and their cars’ abilities to the test around a tight and challenging track. The action was fast and frenetic, with racers charging hard to earn class points and a chance to race in Saturday’s CPP Duel in Del Mar Shootout. Top performers included: Tom Kamman winning the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class and shootout; Eric Sheely winning the Summit Racing PRO class and shootout; Ken Yeo topping the Forgeline Street Machine class and shootout, JBA’s own Randy Alldredge winning the Sports Car class and Mark Golovin topping the Sports Car shootout; George Reiss winning the No Limit Engineering Truck class and shootout; Phil Hoffman winning the Challenger class and Mike Russell winning the Challenger shootout; and Eric Sheely topping All American Sunday class and shootout.
The winning went well beyond trophies and awards, though. Every car enthusiast in attendance came out ahead with a wealth of great activities and attractions.
There were three buildings of indoor show vehicles – including the PPG Lowrider Palace and the Suede & Chrome display – plus a lowrider pickup bed dancing exhibition and limbo contest. There was also a sizable swap meet, fun family activities, dozens of vendors including the JBA Speed Shop booth located in the center of it all, great food, and much more.
Of course, one of the best parts of the Del Mar Nationals is the cruising. The central cruising lane that cuts right through the show grounds and leads toward the coast, which delivered cool breezes all three days. A stream of cool cars and trucks kept the lane and the Good Times flowing all weekend, and there was always an audience to soak in the action. Like we said, this is a California party where cars and trucks are the stars, and JBA Speed Shop would have it no other way.
Check out our video wrap-up of all the JBA fun at the Goodguys 24th Del Mar Nationals.
