32nd Pacific Northwest Nationals Weekend Rewind!
We’ve had some much-needed northern exposure this weekend as Goodguys kept a three-decade tradition alive and packed the Washington State Fair Events Center with thousands of cool rides for the 32nd Pacific Northwest Nationals presented by Griot’s Garage. Three days of fantastic weather, incredible cars, and non-stop action made this one of the best Pacific Northwest Nationals ever!
Late July is always a great time to head for the Pacific Northwest. The days are warm, the skies are sunny, and the Northwest hot rodders are primed and ready for a party. True to form, we got our Goodguys weekend started with a fun Poker Run on Thursday followed by a great kickoff party at the Griot’s Garage world headquarters. Cool back-roads cruisin’ and fun festivities – can you think of a better Thursday?
As Friday dawned, the gathered gearheads were more than ready to swarm the spacious and scenic Washington State Fair Events Center. Cool cars and trucks were getting wiped down and shown off in every corner of the facility and, even better, they were cruisin’ the loop non-stop! A full day of activities kept both participants and spectators occupied, from the Pinstriper’s Brush Bash, to the expansive Swap Meet, to the afternoon Nitro Thunderfest exhibition.
The nitro cars did more than just cackle that evening as the annual Goodguys Friday Night Drags took over Pacific Raceways down the road. More than 200 racers battled it out in five bracket classes, with even more action coming from a pair of high-profile match races and an eight-car field of Nitro Funny Cars from the United Nitro Funny Cars association. It was an old-school night of drag-racing action that had the crowd on its feet!
Back at the Events Center on Saturday, Art and Craig Morrison teamed up to select the Builder’s Choice Top 10, while the Goodguys team found dozens of other picks and award winners from throughout the grounds. Among those was a finalist for Muscle Car of the Year going to Phil Mitchell’s 1970 Pontiac Judge Convertible. We also had Gary & Lori Munsch’s 1964.5 Mustang selected as a PPG Dream Car, and the Gazette team chose Kim Brynn’s 8-stack Hemi powered 1965 Dodge Dart for the Fuel Curve Pick.
Awards aside, there was plenty of action no matter which direction you turned, from our first-ever Pacific Northwest Nationals Burnout Competition, to a great variety of special parking areas – including a massive Air-Cooled Corral. Two more Nitro Thunderfest sound-offs rocked the facility, as did the live music and Saturday Night Party that had folks cruising until well after dark.
All-American Sunday and our weekend awards ceremony helped keep the momentum going right through the final minutes in Puyallup. Reflecting back on the weekend, there are plenty of reasons this is the second-longest-running Goodguys national event: the location, the scenery, the cars, the people, and the good-time vibes all make it something special. Check out the images and see if you don’t agree, then plan to join us next year for number 33!
Photos by Steven Bunker, John Jackson, and Todd Ryden
