31st West Coast Nationals presented by Flowmaster at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, Aug. 25-27
PLEASANTON — The Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals presented by Flowmaster gathers together over 3,000 hot rods, street rods, customs, muscle cars and trucks through 1972 from all over the U.S. for a three day celebration of the American hot rod. Add in the food booths, musical entertainment, kids zone and you have a full weekend of fun for the entire family.
One of the main highlights of the event is the crowning of the Goodguys 2017 Flowmaster America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod. This prestigious award, part of the Top 12 awards for the 2017 event season, will be selected on Saturday morning during the event from the Builder’s Choice Area at the event. To be eligible for this award, the vehicle must be through 1948 vintage and the criteria are simple: It must be beautiful.
For those who need to do some shopping for a project, there’s the midway featuring multi-million dollar custom big rig tractor trailers (a show in and of themselves) offering high-performance parts and accessories to budding hot rodders and do-it-yourselfers; plus three buildings of indoor commercial vendors and you have the perfect shopping weekend for hot rodders. Having the chance to interact directly with manufacturers has long been an appealing aspect of Goodguys events. Throw in a giant used car parts swap meet and car corral and it’s literally auto-utopia for any red blooded American with motor oil in their veins.
There are some special display features at the event that are not to be missed. Blackhawk Auto Museum will be creating an elegant and stunning Concours d’Elegance display with some of the beauties from their collection. For those who love the salt flats, there is a Bonneville Salt Flats racing display.
The West Coast Nationals would not be complete without the element of nostalgia…and we have that. There will be an indoor Cushman display, plus tether car racing — model racing cars that run on an internal combustion engine and are tethered to a pole. Unlike R/C cars, the driver has no remote control over speed or steering. Add in the WEME Miniature Engine display, the model and pedal cars and you have a trip down memory lane.
For those nostalgia drag racing fans in the crowd, the Nitro Thunderfest returns to the Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals. Watch as four front-motored, nitro burnin’ vintage top fuel dragsters and funny cars fire and roar to life. Bring your earplugs and join us for this blast of racing history. Nitro Thunderfest times are Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Clock Tower.
There are fun things for the kids to do, too. There’s a model car make n’ take program sponsored by Revell that sends the little one’s home with their very own model kit forging big dreams to one day come back to the show with a life sized version. Plus the PPG coloring contest, arts and crafts and other kids games and activities.
The Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals presented
by Flowmaster gates are open Friday and Saturday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. General admission is $20, kids 7-12 $6. Alameda County Fairgrounds parking is $10. Visit www.good-guys.com to purchase event tickets or to get vehicle registration information. Call Goodguys at 925-838-9876 for more information. $17 general admission tickets are available at good-guys.com until midnight, Aug. 24 only. There is a $5 off general admission for retired or active military with their military ID card.