Car Craft Summer Nationals 2018 Gallery: Sun, Fun, And Show and Shine In Kentucky!


Car Craft Summer Nationals 2018 Gallery: Sun, Fun, And Show and Shine In Kentucky!

During the very early hours of Saturday morning, all hell unleashed in the Bowling Green area. I know, I was awake and at the computer when Mother Nature decided to throw a rock concert for everyone to enjoy. Picture strobe-light lightning and the kind of thunder that could rattle a cat off of the back of the couch. The weather that we suspected had been the reason for the quiet day on Friday was going in full force and didn’t let up until after three in the morning. Considering that I had to wake up at six to make the drive to get my wife’s truck fixed up, I was one exhausted human when I finally got to Beech Bend. The sun was shining and there was dry asphalt as far as the eye could see…score! The only signs of rain were small puddles along the roads. So, there should be a few more cars to shoot, right?

Yes and no. Yes, there were more cars and there were more people hitting up the dragstrip, autocross course and the dyno. But after shooting the new arrivals, I threw Angry Grandpa on the Red Line Motorsports dyno (293 horsepower/349 ft/lbs of torque) then went back to throwing the Chrysler around the autocross course…there weren’t as many cars around as I was hoping for. What was there was badass, though. The Dukes of Hazzard-painted Daytona was making autocross laps…as were the guys from Three Pedals, who were wheeling the holy hell out of Car Craft’s Project CC/Malibu, a very clean example that was rocking the manual transmission swap. It paired off nicely with the Hood Rat Hot Rod Malibu that our buddy Keith at Holley wails upon at will. Both cars are G-bodies with manual transmissions and plenty of grunt…and the similarities end there. I finally got a ride in Hood Rat, and it’s reputation as the ultimate expression of a fun-first do-everything machine is cemented…as is Keith’s luck. Coming off of the autocross course, the driver’s side lower balljoint stripped the castle nut and every last thread clean off. Some butchery got the car to stand back up and roll, and the trailer had to be called out. Suzy Bauter’s “Flare Witch Project” Rambler wagon took home Best In Show, and Casey Woodside won his class in Real Street Eliminator.

The car count was disappointing, I can’t lie. But the fun that the folks at Car Craft brought with them made up for it. Those that did attend got to hit the track whenever they wanted, with very little wait time. FM3 put on a great autocross course courtesy of Jimi Day and Brian Mason, the folks at Optima Batteries worked hard to keep everyone entertained, and Brock and the gang at Beech Bend worked their tails off to keep everything on the rails. It’s a good event that left the die-hards happy and cars exercised for a modest entry fee. Why that didn’t bring in more people is completely beyond me.

Click on the photos below to see more from the 2018 Car Craft Summer Nationals at Beech Bend!


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2 thoughts on “Car Craft Summer Nationals 2018 Gallery: Sun, Fun, And Show and Shine In Kentucky!

  1. 91CCFirebird

    Sorry I didn’t catch up with you at summer nationals Bryan. I saw angry Grandpa on the autocross and based upon the bird being in your pictures I guess you saw me!

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