Challengerfest 2

 

 

Challengerfest 2 went down in Bowling Green, KY the weekend of April 30, 2011. Folks showed up from as far as 1100 miles away in Canada to attend. We got a nice break in the rainy weather with sun and low 80s for temps. The car show kicked off the festivities on Friday night and roughly 50 cars entered the show with Stock, Modified, and Custom class awards being given as well as Best Engine Bay, Best of Show, People's Choice, Furthest Driven, and Furthest Trailered. The party continued in the parking lot until well in to the early hours of the morning for some night owls.

 

Saturday was the track portion of the event and was held at Beech Bend Raceway’s quarter mile drag strip.  The gates opened promptly at 10am under sunny skies and 80 degree temps, and the track was already prepped and ready for cars to start making passes.  The organization and professionalism of the track staff was exemplary.  The announcer did a fantastic job entertaining the crowd of over 200 and the 70 plus drivers had ample time to make passes to their heart’s content. 


After three to four hours of test and tune time, the racing commenced.  There were all manner of modified and stock level cars participating so driver’s put index times on their back windows to help even the playing field.  There was a class for 6 speed manual cars separately for those that wanted to test their skill against other manual transmission drivers.  There were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in both 6 Speed Index and Standard Index categories.  The index racing was sponsored by Shophemi.com and Arrington Engines who provided gift certificates for all winners and SPEC Clutches who sponsored the 6 speed index racing with an S-Trim clutch awarded to 1st place and gift certificates to 2nd, and 3rd.


At the end of the day there was also a heads up shootout for the high horsepower 6 speed cars.  First one to the end of the track wins with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in that category and was sponsored by Speedlogix who provided gift certificates to all winners and Hop Not suspension components who provided one of their Hop Not kits to 1st place. 


There were also awards for best 60’ time, sponsored by The Drive Shaft Shop with a set of their Level 5 Axles, Best MPH, Best E.T., and Worst Run of the Day sponsored by Speedlogix with gift certificates, and Best Reaction Time sponsored by SOLO Performance Exhaust with one of their stainless steel cat back exhaust systems plus free install on site.

 

The supporting vendors really stepped up to make this event a success, and it is much appreciated. There were many first time track goers at Challengerfest and all started a bit nervous but left with huge grins by the end of the day.  These new comers received tips from the more track experienced attendees and all gradually improved their times throughout the 7 hours of private track time.  With all the cars making passes, and some making as many as 15 – 20 runs, there was only one breakage.  Massive wheel hop on a supercharged 6 speed car left a shattered rear differential on the track.  A quick 20 minute clean up and the racing continued, with the car being towed to the nearest dealer for a fix.  I’m happy to report the car was quickly repaired and is back to running perfectly fine and the driver took it like a champ.


Arrington Engines, Magnuson Superchargers, SOLO Performance Exhaust, and SPEC Clutches were all in attendance and supported the event with displays and parts discounts, and SOLO did free on site installs for anyone who purchased one of their exhaust systems.  Atlantic Auto Sport, Baxter CJDR, Gary Mathews CJDR, Modular Depot, Performance Werks Racing, and Summit Racing also sponsored Challengerfest2 to insure the event’s success.
The awards dinner was held from 6pm – 8pm Saturday night at Smokey Bones Grill.  The staff setup a whole side of the restaurant for Challengerfest and provided excellent service, food, and drinks.  Awards were handed out to the winners along with trophies for all the car show and racing classes as well as the sponsored prizes.  After the great dinner, the party continued in the host hotel parking lot with a few of the night owls closing it down at 3am.


Sunday morning brought an end to the event with breakfast and folks packing up to head back home.  Challengerfest2 brought beautiful weather, great people, and a slew of awesome hot rods.  If you missed it, you really missed out and should definitely plan on attending next year.

 

 

 

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