Goodguys Rod & Custom Association

Infobox sport governing body
title = Goodguys Rod and Custom Association

---

caption =
category = rod and custom
jurisdiction = United States
year formed = 1983
headquarters = Pleasanton, California
president = Marc Meadors
website = [http://www.good-guys.com/ www.good-guys.com/]

The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association is America's largest association catering to street rods, custom cars and show cars. The Goodguys Association has over 70,000 active members worldwide. [http://www.good-guys.com/info/eventSchedule.aspx Goodguys stages twenty-four annual rod & custom car show events throughout the United States] as well as vintage drag races.

Founded by [http://speedstylemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123&Itemid=31 Gary] and Marilyn Meadors, Goodguys corporate headquarters are in Pleasanton, California. Their son, 40-year old Marc Meadors serves as company president.

The largest event Goodguys produces annually is the [http://www.streetrodderweb.com/events/0712sr_the_good_guys_10th_annual_ppg_nationals/index.html PPG Nationals] in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio Expo Center. It attracts over 6,500 rods, customs, classics and street machines through 1972 vintage. The Goodguys Street Machine of the Year and the Goodguys Street Rod of the Year awards are presented at this event.

Rod and custom events

Since 1987, Goodguys has held what are known as their National Summer Series events. Held at fairgrounds and super speedways around the country in cities such as Pleasanton, Calfornia, Del Mar, California, Scottsdale, Arizona, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Des Moines, Iowa, Ft. Worth, Texas and other cities, these rod and custom events feature thousands of hot rods and custom cars on display as well as vendor midways, live nostalgic music and stage shows, model car competitions, how-to seminars and even some vintage drag racing. In 2008, Goodguys will stage 24 rod and custom events in 13 states.update after|2008|12|31

Vintage drag racing events

Goodguys has been the leading promoter of vintage or nostalgia style drag racing competition since their first such vintage drag race,Fact|date=July 2008 held in April of 1989 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. From 1994 through 2006 Goodguys staged the West Coast Championship Series which at the time was America's premier points circuit for vintage drag racing. Also in 1994, Goodguys resurrected the [http://rodcustom.automotive.com/46323/135-marchmeet/index.html March Meet] drag races at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California, tapping into the event's rich heritage. Over time, the Goodguys March Meet became the world's largest vintage drag race attracting over 600 competitors and a crowd in excess of 50,000.Fact|date=July 2008 Goodguys staged their last March Meet, over two weekends in March of 2006. The event was never concluded as rainouts and track preparation problems forced the cancellation of the event.

Today Goodguys holds three vintage drag racing events at tracks in the Midwest. The Hot Rod Nationals held at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis is held each June, while the Blue Suede Cruise and Nostalgia Nationals are held at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio and Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The events feature vintage top fuel dragsters and funny cars, gassers and super stockers and hundreds of popular drag machines in vintage trim.

Goodguys founder Gary Meadors

Gary Meadors is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association. Gary grew up in the small central valley farming community of Dinuba, California. He built up his first hot rod at the age of 14, taking a 1947 Plymouth and installing a modified flathead Chrysler Six engine and then lowering the suspension until the car nearly scraped the ground – a Meadors rodding trademark to this day.

Meadors has accomplished several milestones in his hot rodding career including membership in the prestigious Bonneville 200mph Club when he drove the Dozier & Hegarty blown flathead Chrysler-8 powered streamliner to a record speed of 223.220mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1994. In 1995, Gary was given the STREET RODDER Magazine Lifetime Achievement award. He was inducted into the Street Rod Marketing Alliance Hall of Fame in 1998 and at the 2004 SEMA show in Las Vegas, Gary received the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) “Lifetime Achievement” award for his contributions to the world of hot rods and customs.

History

The first Goodguys event was staged in 1983 in Pleasanton, California at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It was a one day car show which welcomed all years, makes and models of American Cars and Trucks. It was called the All American Get-Together. Held on a Saturday in March, the event attracted over 650 cars. On March 29th, 2008 the event celebrated its 26th anniversary. In 1987, Goodguys went national with a small team of employees staging ten events across the country during the spring and summer catering to hot rods and custom cars and has continued this tradition ever since, expanding the schedule to include 24 events in 17 states in 2008. Throughout the 21-plus year run of the Goodguys summer series, Goodguys have staged more than 530 total events. In 2003, Goodguys became the world’s largest rodding association and now has over 70,000 active members world wide.

The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association headquarters are located in a 23,000 square foot facility in Pleasanton, with regional offices in Phoenix, AZ, and Portland, OR. Goodguys employs a team of thirty-one full time staff members.

Goodguys Gazette

Since 1989, Goodguys has published the "Goodtimes Gazette" magazine which isdistributed monthly to all association members. The publication was produced8 times per year from 1989 through 1991. Starting with the October 1991issue the magazine went into production on a monthly basis. The magazinecovers Goodguys events in depth but also features hot rodding Industrypioneers, Young Rodders and other stories of interest to hot rod and customcar enthusiasts. It also includes a cars for sale section.

External links

* [http://www.good-guys.com Goodguys Official Website]
* [http://speedstylemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123&Itemid=31 Gary Meadors: The Founding Good Guy!] * [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/classifieds/news/automotive/latestnews/stories/DN-goodguys_06bus.ART0.State.Edition1.35ac668.html Goodguys car show rolling into TMS]
* [http://www.columbusalive.com/?sec=search&story=columbusalive/2007/0719/l-lightning.html Lightning Rods]
* [http://www.streetrodderweb.com/events/0809sr_2008_goodguys_del_mar/index.html 2008 Goodguys Del Mar]
* [http://www.streetrodderweb.com/hotnews/0806sr_goodguys_hot_hues_winner/index.html Indiana Family Takes Home Goodguys Award]
* [http://www.dragracingonline.com/raceresults/2008/x_6-goodguys-1.html Goodguys At Indy]