Weekend Rewind! 22nd Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals
Always leave on a high note. That’s exactly what Goodguys did this weekend in Scottsdale as we wrapped up another high-octane event season with a fantastic finale at the 22nd Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals presented by Barrett-Jackson. We brought the year to a close with an amazing weekend at WestWorld filled with incredible cars, beautiful weather, fun times, and the good vibes of gearheads gathering to celebrate the shared passion of hot rodding.
We kicked the weekend off in high gear on Thursday with our traditional Hot Rod Cruse caravanning around the greater Phoenix area with stops at Airpark Motorsports, Ram Jet’s Speed Shop, and the new Speedway Motors fulfillment center in Tolleson. The cruising got us primed for a fantastic Friday, when thousands of cool rides streamed into Westworld. Each incoming participant rolled past one of our star-studded weekend highlights – the amazing Goodguys Top 12 winner lineup. It was an impressive collection of award-winning machines that all looked fantastic displayed on RaceDeck flooring and showcasing new personalized Snap-on toolboxes. If you wanted a snapshot of the best the hobby had to offer in 2019, this was it!
The only Top 12 winner undecided on Friday was FAST AutoCrosser of the year, a title that’s determined by the winner of Saturday’s 32-car Duel in the Desert. Scott Fraser came to defend his 2018 title in Bruce Cambern’s ’66 Cobra, but had a bit of a rough start – not to mention stiff competition from PRO-X season champion Josh Leisinger, his brother Jared, and a field of strong competitors all gunning for him. Fraser dialed things in to become the number-one qualifier in the shootout and dispatched his competitors one-by-one, ultimately meeting up with Ryan Mathews in the final round. Mathews, who had never made it beyond the final four in the Duel, kicked over one cone during his final run, taking a little pressure off Fraser. Fraser still ripped off the fastest run of the weekend – a 34.999 – for his final run to claim his victory in commanding style.
There were plenty of winners in the car show portion of the event, with dozens of fine rides vying for a Builder’s Choice Top 10 selected by Dean Livermore of Hot Rods by Dean. We didn’t envy his task of narrowing down a favorite 10, but we were certainly impressed with the final selections he made.
The Goodguys awards team spread the love by also making dozens of picks and selections for weekend awards, which were all presented during our traditional Sunday afternoon ceremony. Several highlights included Kenny Seresun’s ’34 Ford Tudor for the PPG Dream Car and James Martin’s ’78 Jeep J10 winning the Fuel Curve Pick. We also selected a finalist for the 2020 Muscle Car of the Year competition – Stephen Burke’s Hemi-powered ’68 Dodge Super Bee.
One extra-special award went to Deane and Robin Wilson in their ’61 Impala. They earned the Gary’s Pick award, given in honor of Goodguys founder Gary Meadors. Deane set out at the beginning of 2019 to drive to every one of the 18 Goodguys events, and also took in the Cruise to Del Mar, Cruise to Columbus, and the Hall of Fame Road Tour. In total, Deane logged nearly 40,000 miles in his Goodguys travels this year! It was a remarkable journey and a perfect way to live out Gary’s philosophy of “ya gotta drive ’em!” Way to go, Deane and Robin!
Spectre Performance All American Sunday welcomed all years of American-made and American-powered vehicles to the final day of the event. Late-model muscle flooded the grounds, including the AutoCross course, where we had a special All American Shootout featuring the eight fastest vehicles. Scott Spiewak captured the shootout win in his 2004 Corvette.
Like any Goodguys weekend, this last hurrah was jam packed with activities, from an awesome TGIF party at Squeeg’s Kustoms, to a spectacular swap meet that covered more ground than ever. We made some noise with a smokin’ Burnout Competition and ground-shaking Nitro Thunderfest exhibitions, and had sold-out vendor areas both inside and out. Sprinkle in some fun kids’ activities and live music, plus an endless sea of cool cars, and you had a fitting finale for another season of America’s favorite car shows. We hope the season was as enjoyable for you as it was for us. We can’t wait to do it again next year!
