The Car Craft Summer Nationals Coverage

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It’s like one of those impossible English Composition class assignments: Describe the Summer Nationals in just one paragraph. Not gonna happen; the show defies labels. You can’t simply put it in a tidy box marked “muscle car show.” It’s Car Craft’s huge, annual street-machine get together held every July at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s more than a car show—it’s got cruising, seminars, kids’ activities, burnouts, bikinis, fairground food, and more. The cars in attendance are just as eclectic. We’ve got Pro-Street next to Pro-Touring, next to primer rods, and show-car restorations two cars over. We’ve also got competition in the form of Car Craft’s Real Street Eliminator, the results of which we will cover next month. Unlike on that class assignment, here at the magazine we have the luxury of including photos with our words, and that makes it easier to tell the story. So enough with the blabber—here are the pics.

Chevrolet Performance

This year’s show was sponsored in a big way by Chevrolet Performance, and, frankly, it would not have been possible without them—so thanks, guys. Its display drew a crowd all weekend, and included a cool mix of new and vintage Chevys.
This year’s show was sponsored in a big way by Chevrolet Performance, and, frankly, it wou
Our favorite display car was the COPO Camaro, rumored to be one of the first made. We’ll be taking a much closer look at these limited-production cars in a future issue.
Our favorite display car was the COPO Camaro, rumored to be one of the first made. We’ll b
Another perennial favorite is the historic engine display, which Chevrolet Performance changed slightly this year to include every Corvette engine since the C4 was introduced. The Cross-Fire 350 is in the foreground, the LS1 is in the background, and the TPI and LT1 are in between.
Another perennial favorite is the historic engine display, which Chevrolet Performance cha

Prior to the official start of the show, QA1 had an open house at its facility in nearby Lakeville, MN. They had gallons of coffee, really good doughnuts, and shop tours. We cruised to the show from there and got special access through the VIP gate— no waiting in the huge line at the general-admission entrance. Keep that in mind for next year!
Prior to the official start of the show, QA1 had an open house at its facility in nearby L
Ladder bars and mudflaps!

Pro Builder Shootout

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Pro Builder Shootout is a concept that debuted last year. This year’s competitors were top notch, and their cars were stunning. This year’s pros were:

D & Z Customs: ’69 AMX

Lakeside Rods and Rides: ’71 Camaro

Muscle Car Restoration: ’72 Barracuda

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Rad Rods by Troy: ’55 Chevy

The Ring Brothers: ’65 Mustang

Roadster Shop: ’69 Camaro

Schwartz Performance: ’81 Trans Am

Woody’s Hot Rodz: ’57 Chevy

All voting was done by the public, so we magazine snobs had no influence on the results. This year’s winner was Woody’s Hot Rodz, with its breathtakingly beautiful ’57 Chevy. See all the cars and read the pros’ bios on CarCraft.com.

Editor’s Choice Awards

Another returning feature is the Editor’s Choice Awards, cars handpicked by our fearless leader, Editor Glad himself. He can be open to influence with a good cup of coffee and open headers, so file that away for next year. This year’s top pick went to Rob Warden and his newly built ’64 Dodge. Coincidentally, Doug was freshly caffeinated, and Rob’s car hadn’t even been to the muffler shop yet, so with a big, loud Hemi and arresting Viper Red paint, this was actually an easy choice to make. Rob had the difficult task of standing for pictures with the ultra-hot General Tire girl upon receiving his plaque. Look for a full feature on his ultra-hot Dodge soon.

Best in Show: Rob Warden’s ’64 Dodge 330

Best Chevrolet: Rick Goble’s ’64 Chevrolet Chevelle

Best Ford: Mike Nagel’s ’70 Ford Torino

Best BOP: Tom Van Kempen’s ’71 Pontiac Trans Am

Best Brand X: Jim Nelson’s ’59 AMC American

Best Pro Street: Greg Murphy’s ’76 Chevrolet Monza

Best Pro Touring: Nathan Shaw’s ’71 Chevrolet Nova

Top Gun Paint : Gary Nelson’s ’69 Ford Mustang

Innovation Award: Jeff Carl’s Ford Bronco

Royal Purple DIY Garage

We invited top industry experts again this year to give seminars on products and new technologies in the performance industry. Representatives from Comp Cams, Royal Purple, TREMEC Transmissions, TCI, Miller Electric, Meguiar’s, Painless Performance, and QA1 were present to show their stuff and answer your questions.

Bruce Couture from Modern Driveline and Nate Tovey from TREMEC discussed synchros and tooth counts and fielded questions about automatic to manual transmission swaps, a trend we saw growing this year.
Bruce Couture from Modern Driveline and Nate Tovey from TREMEC discussed synchros and toot
“Friction: good for tires, bad for engine bearings,” was the gist of Royal Purple’s Kyle Neal.
“Friction: good for tires, bad for engine bearings,” was the gist of Royal Purple’s Kyle N
Officials from Comp kept an eagle eye on both teams, making sure Jeff didn’t pull any magazine engine-build shortcuts.
Officials from Comp kept an eagle eye on both teams, making sure Jeff didn’t pull any maga

Comp Cams brought a cool twist to its presentations: It held the Engine Builder Duel competition both Friday and Saturday. Uber-competitive Tech Editor Jeff Smith took a break from marshaling the Real Street Eliminator competitors to work with Kellie Colf of the all-female High-Gear SEMA Mustang Build team. He and Kellie went up against another pair of competitors to build a small-block Chevy. The crank and four pistons were already installed; the two teams had to assemble everything else. The first team to fire the engine and run it for 30 seconds won.
Comp Cams brought a cool twist to its presentations: It held the Engine Builder Duel compe
In the end, Team Car Craft just nosed out a victory over Doug and Matt Lebeis, a pair of guys who volunteered out of the crowd. Jeff and Kellie offered their winnings to Team Lebeis. It’s not fair for industry types to cash in on the prizes.
In the end, Team Car Craft just nosed out a victory over Doug and Matt Lebeis, a pair of g

Real Street Eliminator

With a list of competitors growing bigger each year, Real Street Eliminator was a strong draw this weekend, both among competitors and spectators. The components include the QA1 Autocross, Car Craft Launch Box, and Lucas Oil/E3 Dyno Challenge. Winners from each of the three classes were crowned Sunday afternoon. A full account of all the RSE action will run next month.

You didn’t have to be a Real Street Eliminator competitor to try your hand on the autocross course or chassis dyno, however. The autocross was open to any registered show participant, and for $50, Andy Wickes of Dyno Tune USA would strap your car to the rollers and give you the good (or bad) news.

Quarter-panel carnage at the TCI Burnout Competition.

Revell Make -N-Take

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Here’s a cool attraction for the kids and their not-so-grown-up parents. For the second year in a row, Revell had a bunch of model cars for kids to build Saturday afternoon. The parents all said the activity was a nice break in the day, and the kids got to build cars of their own. Here, Caden Scott, 9, and his father, Chris, put together Revell’s ’69 Camaro model. The two made the 700-mile trip from Brandon, Manitoba, to be at the show.

Mike Schmitt’s ’62 Dodge Lancer has an interesting story. He bought it from a flea market for $1,500, and when he took the engine to a machine shop, he found out it was a fully built 440 that just needed minor freshening up. His machinist said it would cost nearly 10 times the amount he paid for the entire car just to build the same engine with new parts. The wild 440 kicked out 580 hp and 630 lb-ft on the dyno. Talk about a score!
Mike Schmitt’s ’62 Dodge Lancer has an interesting story. He bought it from a flea market

The Miss Car Craft Summer Nationals Contest

We won’t waste too much space here talking about the contest, other than to say the folder for the bikini pictures takes up more drive space on our computers than the rest of the show coverage pictures do. Judging by the size of the crowd gathered at the Miller main stage, we’re guessing we aren’t the only ones in that situation.

Here are this year’s top five finalists:

1st : Desiree Allen

2nd : Ashley Lamella

3rd : Lauren Keller

4th : Laurel Fishbach

5th : Chrissy Wood

Your Perspective

Yes, the Nats are awesome—we put on the show, so of course we’re going to say that. We thought it would be interesting to see the show from a participant’s point of view.

Alex McGaughey: Alex is just 13 years old, but he is the owner of this ’79 Trans Am. He shovels snow and cuts grass to pay for whatever it needs, so the restoration process is going to be a long-term affair, but Alex is fine with that. Over the winter, he and his father rebuilt the engine. He says the most frustrating thing is waiting to get his driver’s license.
Alex McGaughey: Alex is just 13 years old, but he is the owner of this ’79 Trans Am. He sh
One of Alex’s favorite cars in attendance was Jim Robinson’s ’71 ’Cuda. Jim tells us he’s owned the car for 37 years. It runs 9s with a big shot of nitrous. Alex likes power-adders and was instantly drawn to the big blower poking through the hood.
One of Alex’s favorite cars in attendance was Jim Robinson’s ’71 ’Cuda. Jim tells us he’s
Jason Kennedy: Jason had registered his ’84 Mercury Capri to be in the show, but it broke down on the long drive from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Instead of chucking his plans, this resourceful Canuck rented a new 5.0 Mustang and continued on his way.
Jason Kennedy: Jason had registered his ’84 Mercury Capri to be in the show, but it broke

Jason was struck by how many Torinos there were. “Here are two great-looking ones in the same picture,” he says. Photo: Jason Kennedy
Jason was struck by how many Torinos there were. “Here are two great-looking ones in the s
Photo: Jason Kennedy
Jason was also a fan of this ’62 Rambler American, with its understated exterior and finely detailed interior. “I love the metalwork that was done inside, but it looks so simple and clean on the outside.”
Jason was also a fan of this ’62 Rambler American, with its understated exterior and finel

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Steve Strope: Pro-Builder in his own right, Steve was at the show this year helping as the emcee in the Royal Purple DIY Garage. During a brief moment when he wasn’t yapping into the mic, we grabbed him to get his take on the show: “The vibe is unique; it’s not like the car shows we’re used to in Southern California. This place isn’t stifled by emissions laws, so different body styles can be built. I love the variety, too. Here, I’m standing in front of a Pro-Touring Mustang. But if I turn around, I’m now looking at a Pro-Street ’55 [Chevy]. Next to it is a smoothie-style Camaro, and a few cars down the row is a Street Machine Buick GS. I grew up in the Midwest and miss shows like this. It’s refreshing to be here. Guys just build their cars they way they like them—they aren’t worried about what the current big trend is.”