Goodguys Nationals, Del Mar, CA

The ninth annual Goodguys Nationals held over the weekend of April 3-5 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, honored California Roadsters' member and street rod pioneer Jerry Kugel as their hot rod hero.  Jerry and his family were prominently located in the center of the show at the clock tower on the main boulevard.  Jerry had several of his Bonneville race cars on display for everyone to look at and enjoy.  Jerry was supported by his entire family, including some in-laws and grandchildren; and got to talk to a large number of old friends and other street rod notables that stopped by for a chat.

At 12 noon on Saturday Goodguys held a “getting to know you” session where Jerry and others described how and when his hot rod career began.  Many of us who have known Jerry for many years learned something about him and his beginning in this hobby.  He related stories about his early days working for Ack Miller and his first shop on Whittier Boulevard, how he became enamored with the Bonneville Salt Flats, the growth of his fledgling business and all of the help that he got from the hot rod community.  Club member Brian Brennan and GoodGuy Gary Meadors also shared a few stories about the early days with Jerry.  A wonderful tribute to one of the good guys in our hobby!

Sixteen members of the CR's made their way south for the weekend to support Jerry and his family. What started as a very cold Friday morning, with threat of rain, turned out to be a beautiful weekend in Del Mar.  Most of us stayed at the host hotel and got a chance to meet fellow rodders, relax and enjoy some drinks and good eats. 

Over 2,000 street rods, hot rods and customs were registered for the event, with the spectator crowd exceeding 10,000 people.  Who says there is a recession, certainly not in the hot rodding community.  This event also featured the Goodguys Street Challenge Autocross, which is gaining in popularity and hooked our very own Tony Correia seen turning hot laps in his trick out 66 Ford Mustang Fastback.  This sport is predominated by a number of SCSCA members with years of experience and even a Craftsman Truck driver was spotted taking hot laps.  Tony's best time was a respectable 34.1 seconds and he has plans to try and better his time at the next Goodguys event.