It’s a classic: Chevys on dislay
If you like Chevrolets, the Super Chevy Show is the place to be Friday and Saturday at Palm Beach International Raceway.
Chevys, from muscle cars to touring vehicles, will be on display by collectors, many of whom spend thousands of dollars fixing up their prized rigs.
Buffing, sanding and painting a vintage car can cost as much as $20,000. Toss in air conditioning, fancy wheels and new brakes, and that adds up to big bucks, said Steven Rupp, editor of Super Chevy magazine, the organizer of the event.
“They polish and paint. They find the exact replacement parts. They get it perfect. Collectors putting $200,000 into a vehicle is not uncommon,” said Rupp.
About 1,000 participants and 8,000 spectators attended the event last year at PBIR, which is west of Jupiter on the Beeline Highway, south of Indiantown Road.
“The Super Chevy Show is a local favorite every year,” PBIR Track President Darren Thompson said.
Drag racing with multiple classes and cash purses, a professionally judged car show with multiple payout levels, an automotive swap meet, a PRO Show with jet cars and wheelstanders also are planned.
A non-judged “Show ‘N’ Shine,” which includes the possibility of participant vehicles being featured in the Super Chevy Magazine, is scheduled.
Nostalgia is a big part of the show, said Rupp.
“People like to see the cars they grew up with as kids. They look at the old cars with the roll-up windows and remember “My parents had one of those,” said Rupp.
Driver Danny O’Day is scheduled to make two passes down the strip at over 160 mph on two wheels in his Superwinch Wheelstander. Sam Ives in Tulsa County Heat Wave and David Douthit in Black Pearl plan to compete in GM-based jet Bill DiPaolo funny cars over the quarter-mile track.
Also scheduled to perform are the Orlando-based BMX Trickstars, who will do a trick show and bike safety course.
Classes in classic and original restorations to the Gen 6 Camaro, street rods, trucks and customs are planned. Best in class awards and a coveted Super Chevy Show jacket are scheduled to be awarded.
Those attending can register their vehicle to drag race or enter in the professionally judged car show. Or they can just display their vehicle and avoid the pressure of being judged.
“Some owners are on a tight budget. They just like to show off the car they love,” said Rupp.
Organizers say the Super Chevy Show is the largest auto show for Chevrolet vehicles.
The multi-location event includes eight stops across the nation, starting in Memphis on April 7 and ending on Oct. 13-14 in Tucson, Arizona. The stop near Jupiter is the second in the series.
PBIR, formerly Moroso Motorsports Park, is on a section of the Beeline Highway recently upgraded with a $22 million in renovations that included double lanes of traffic in each direction separated by a 40-footwide median, new traffic signals, lighting upgrades and a 5-foot-wide paved shoulder on both sides of the roadway.
The goal of the renovations is to attract more businesses to the area, which includes the CSX Railroad that runs parallel to the roadway, the nearby North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport and the nearby Palm Beach Park of Commerce, home to a Walgreens distribution center, according to Palm Beach County officials.