Q&A: ANDY LOPEZ SUMMERNATS CO-OWNER

Street Machine Summernats turns 30! What are you guys cooking up to make sure the party lives up to the anticipation?

There’s so much good stuff going for our big 30th. There’s great all-aussie music line-up with Airbourne, Thirsty Merc, Drapht and Spit Syndicate. We’ve got a few new mates from overseas crashing the party as well; Farmtruck and AZN from Street Outlaws and legendary paint guru Charley Hutton are all making the trip. The Burnout Masters and Meguiar’s Uncovers are both going to be mind-blowing. But the best thing is what’s been cooked up in garages and workshops all over Australia – an overwhelming number of awesome cars heading our way.

We hear there are over 2000 cars entered already – are they all going to fit in the venue?

It’s gonna be pretty bloody busy that’s for sure, but yep there’s definitely enough room. Getting the entrant cars in quickly is a big focus for us this year, so we’ve opened up two more gates into the venue and sped up the process. Same principle applies to scrutineering – we’ve opened up a second site for streetregistered cars at the Racecourse to make the process faster and better for the entrants.

The heritage of this event is pretty significant, what are the plans to celebrate that?

It’s funny, we’ve actually been taking it pretty lightly on the 30-year aspect. That being said, Owen Webb and Russ Avis have pulled together our Three Decades of Donk Exhibition, featuring a range of cars we feel represents the Nats over the years. It’s in the Meguiar’s Judging Pavilion and should be really cool. We’ve also invited a bunch of past Grand Champions to come along and enjoy the Nats as it is today, and there’s a really special Rare Spares Legends Award.

The Nats is always evolving; what’s new for 2017?

Apart from the stuff we’ve already talked about, the Meguiar’s Showcar Pavilion is open through ’til Sunday. There’s two days of Sound Off in the scrutineering shed. The Saturday Street Finalists show has moved outside Meguiar’s. And this time the announcement of the Street Machine Grand Champ will happen totally live on the pad straight after the final driving events.

Summernats is a very special part of the Australian culture’s landscape; when are our civic leaders going to get serious and award it a public holiday?

It’s hard to find a day in Canberra that isn’t just before or immediately after a public holiday.

What is the biggest misconception you think the wider community has about the Nats?

That the Nats actually gives a shit what the wider community’s misconceptions about us are.