Things are moving along nicely as the planning for this year's Fest continues. The date and location are both set. This year we will be joining up with SLP at their Customer Appreciation Day at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. SLP has rented the track for the day and is opening it up to all of their customers FREE for the day. You must pre-register with SLP to get into the track for the day and to take part in the festivities. Some of the activities that are planned for the event are a car show, burnout contest and 1/4 mile drag racing action. The event is open to all SLP's customers including their Performance Parts division so there will be lots of different cars there, not just Firehawks. Dave Hamburger from SLP has assured me that the FAOA will have their own area to have the car show so that we can be grouped together for judging purposes. So, whether you want to attend just the car show or partake in all of the activites there, the choice will be yours.
All participants must pe-register with SLP to gain admittance to the track. To do this, you have to go to their web site (www.slpeng.com) and submit the information requested. If you can not gain access to the internet and would like to attend the FirehawkFest, you can get your information to me via US mail or by phone (see below) and I will submit your information to SLP. I will need the following information: Name, Address, Home phone number, T-Shirt size, Year, make and model of your Firehawk. Then you have to select one of the following choices: 1) Spectator Only. 2) Race and partake in the Eliminations. 3) Show and race in time trials....you will NOT be able to participate in the Eliminations. 4) Show Only. Registration should begin around mid August, so keep checking back at SLP's web site or visit www.firehawk.org for more updates. Brian France has been very helpful in keeping the Firehawk web site current.
SLP will be furnishing FREE goodie bags to all entrants. In the past these goodie bags have contained t-shirts, windshield banners, license plate frames and hats as well as other items. They will also be handing out awards for racing and showing. The FAOA will also be handing out their own set of awards for the car show as we have in the past. The FAOA will also be selling event t-shirts to help pay for the cost of the awards this year so that all the racing and show festivities will be totally free to members of the FAOA. You must have your dues paid up and be a member in good standing to be eligible for any awards presented by the FAOA. Please check the front of your envelope that your FAOA newsletter came in for the expiration date of your membership. You will be allowed to pay your membership dues the day of the show. Wayne Thomas is scheduled to be there at this year's Fest again along with his wife Bonnie. I must say it is quite a pleasure to get the President of the FAOA to make a trip two years in a row clear across the country for this event. SLP will also be well represented with Ed Hamburger planning on attending as well as his son Dave. Also Reg Harris and Scott Settlemeyer (SP) are scheduled to be there plus more of the SLP group are planning a weekend of fun in the sun in Las Vegas. It should be a great turnout as the weather that time of the year is sunny, warm and dry. There is talk of some national magazine coverage as well. Most likely a good excuse for them to get out of the office and take a trip to Vegas for "business purposes".
We do not have a "Host Hotel" this year as they were all requiring a guaranteed number of rooms to hold aside for us and I could not personally guarantee any number of rooms at $100+ a piece. So what I did was get the word out early as to where Wayne Thomas, myself and others are staying while in Las Vegas. We are staying at the Residence Inn Las Vegas, 3225 Paradise RD. Take advantage of any special discounts that you may be eligble for, such as AARP or AAA. I got a rate of $101.00 per night for a studio which is for up to 4 persons and includes all the amenties of an all suites motel. They also feature secured on site parking with walls all around the perimeter of the parking lot. This was a big plus for me as I am sure it will be for anybody who is bringing their car to the event.
I will need to know who will be attending and participating in the car show so I know how many awards to have on hand as well as how many classes we will need. At this point in time I am still trying to arrange to have judges come in to judge our cars. There is also the possibility that we may use participant voting if we cannot line up a car club to do the judging. I am hoping that the number of Firehawks far exceeds those of previous Fests since we are moving the show to Las Vegas. I know we will lose a few of the past attendees because of the distance needed to travel, but I do think we will gain far more cars by joining forces with SLP at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Please let me know if you will be participating in the car show, either by email, phone or the US mail, also get your information to me to give to SLP for your pre-registration at these same numbers. I can be contacted at:
(916) 718-1024
6612 Sweet Gum Court
Citrus Heights, CA 95610-4633
I hope to see many of you in Las Vegas on the 12th of October. It will most definitely be a fun filled event with something for everyone.
Sincerely, Bob Deffenbaugh
P.S. Anybody interested in travelling as a group to the FirehawkFest from the Sacramento area on Friday, October 11, please contact me using the information provided above.
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