For the second year the Goodguys 8th Annual Spring Nationals made its home at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. This year’s fun filled fiesta took place on May 26-28, 2006, and lots of anxious auto enthusiasts packed the place with 1972 and older cars and trucks. This included not only many great vehicles from the sunshine state, but also all over the southeast as well. This gave an excellent opportunity to see not only a wide variety of cars and trucks, but also many which we hadn’t seen before.....which is of course always a good thing!

Getting things going in the right direction was a fun Kick-Off Party at Jax Custom & Street Rod Shop, located at 5854 Commonwealth Avenue in Jacksonville. This was the second year owners Doyle and Sherry Newsome played host, and they welcomed everyone with open arms. This included feeding everyone with all the fixings to go along with their hamburgers, hot dogs, and “drunken chickens” (cooked on the BBQ sitting upright on an open can of beer to moisten the meat and add flavor....when they fall over, they’re done!). Jax Custom & Street Rod Shop not only held this cool open house, in which they gave tours through the retail and fabrication shops, they have also been long time advertisers in Mike Kelly’s Cruise News so give them a call at 904-783-6851 when in need of their parts and services and support those who continually give back to fellow enthusiasts in more ways than one.

When the focus turned to Alltel Stadium on Friday the weather cooperated perfectly. The temperatures reached the 90’s during midday, but there were some cool breezes to go along with the cool cars, keeping everyone upbeat and smiling. For more relief there were also some shade trees on the immaculate grounds, plus the Pepsi Center provided not only shade but also air conditioned areas as well. This included the Bud Zone and restaurants, and an indoor area for memorabilia items, vendors and exhibitors, arts and crafts in the Goodgals Gallery, the Kid’s Fun Zone, and more. While it wasn’t in the A/C, the swap meet and car corral areas were also super popular as well, with people wheelin’ and dealin’.

As always seems to be the case, the weekend flew by while everyone was having so much fun. Soon Sunday rolled around, and brought with it the awards ceremony as everyone gathered around the main stage area. As with all Goodguys events though, the recipients don’t just get their awards handed to them....they drive through the ceremonies in front of the crowd. This adds lots of excitement, plus you get to see and hear the wonderful works of automotive art in action!

Keep your calendar open for next year’s Spring Nationals, and the return to Alltel Stadium. For more info, including a complete list of this year’s winners, you can visit the Goodguys web site at www.good-guys.com, and stay tuned to Mike Kelly’s Cruise News as the 2007 event draws near. CN

For a complete list of the award winners click here.