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The North American Nationals was held June 22, 23 and 24, 2001 at Hamilton, Ohio's Butler County Fairgrounds and was hosted by Sudden Impact Kustomz of Central Ohio. The shows promoter is Ed Eldridge, who came out of retirement two years ago to start North American Nationals. Ed was the mastermind who originally started what is now the Midwest Truck and Car Nationals held in Lexington, Ohio over ten years ago, and was purchased by Special Events in 1995. A few things had changed in the short time Ed had been retired, but they were mostly in the style and modifications being performed on the vehicles and the addition of the import cars to the show scene. The show officially started on Friday morning, but Friday was more of a day to check out the nice selection of vendors, hangout, relax and get ready for the nightlife, as most of the vehicles would show up on Saturday morning. After a few hours of sleep, a couple of aspirin, and some food, we rolled up to the show bright and early Saturday morning. Throughout the morning over 400 vehicle would be registered, turning the Butler County Fairgrounds into a sea of brightly colored and customized truck and cars. The North American Nationals had a large number of truck and car classes, so almost anyone could find a class that would fit there vehicle. The judging was done in drive-thru fashion like alot of the more popular shows nowadays, and the way Ed did it years ago. It lets the participants get their ride ready before being judged. The Judging was done by a group that have experience judging at International Show Car Association shows, and provided quality judging for the event. Besides being judged in the drive-thru judging there were many more things that the show offered There was a stereo contest, hydro contest, and a bikini contest. The Ohio crew of Negative Camber and several friends went back to our hotel and got cleaned up to go out on Saturday night. It was a pretty uneventful evening as far as Negative Camber goes. We ended up at a local pizza joint with the only requirement being was that they serve adult beverages...hum?
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I had to leave bright and early Sunday morning for home, due to a death in the family. In speaking with Ed Eldridge later, he informed me that the awards went off without a hitch. Ed has been giving out some killer best of awards the past two years, This years Best of Show Award was a American Racing Torque-Thrust II 20" Wheel Center on a custom display sponsored by Yater's Autobody and was presented to Matt Horsley with a yellow 1988 Chevy S-10. Some other awards were Best Truck - Rob Dotson with a 1995 GMC S-15 and Best Car - James Doyle with a 1956 Chevy. Plans for the 2002 Show have been underway for a number of months already and can be found at The North American Nationals website @ http://www.geocities.com/north_american_nationalsCasey Jones //NC\\Ohio
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