Any event promoter will tell you that producing a car show in Southern California can be a risky undertaking. That's because on any given weekend there are dozens of events and attractions vying for the attention (and pocketbooks) of the locals. Add to that the proximity of the beach and the consistently warm weather, and you can see that there are plenty of other outdoor distractions enticing the folks who live here.
On the other hand, there are a lot of hot rods (and hot rodders) in the region, so tempting them with a combination car show and drag race is a good start to attracting a crowd. That's exactly what Autostar Productions began doing in 1995 when it brought the Super Chevy Show tour to Pomona, California. The event immediately exceeded everyone's expectations by becoming one of the largest shows on the series calendar, and it has continued to be a premier event ever since.
Daniel and Kelly Toman's super...
Daniel and Kelly Toman's super clean '66 El Camino was one of about three dozen Elkys on hand at Pomona. It was one of 10 Editor's Choice award winners.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that this year's show, which kicked off the SCS season on March 16-19, carried on that tradition by drawing a record number of show car and drag racing entries. We've all come to expect great things from the Pomona event, but this year's car count-1,242 vehicles (633 race cars and 609 show Chevys)-was well beyond the turnout we had anticipated. Looking out across the sea of show car entries was enough to get any Bow-Tie fan's blood pumping, as there were Chevys of all shapes and sizes on display. Of course there were scores of the always-plentiful Camaros, Novas, Tri-fives, and Chevelles, but we were pleasantly surprised to count nearly 40 Corvettes, almost as many El Caminos, plus a very strong showing of Vegas (thanks in part to members of the Cosworth Vega Owners Association). As for trends, we saw a bunch of 18- and 20-inch wheels, air spring suspensions, and way-cool custom station wagons.
Bill Kuhlmann kicked off the...
Bill Kuhlmann kicked off the 2000 season in fine fashion, qualifying first in the Nitro Coupe field and going on to win on Sunday afternoon. Here we see his Summit-sponsored Corvette facing off against Mel Eaves' Mega Power 'Vette in round two.
While trick suspensions and custom paint ruled the show car arena, pure Chevy muscle was the key to victory on Pomona's "Parker Avenue" dragstrip. Beyond the usual lineup of Pro, Super Pro, and DOT bracket classes, Super Chevy Pomona included head's-up competition from the Fastest Street Car Association and Denny Savage's Outlaw 11-inch Street Tire class. In addition to that, the new 2000 Street class let the four- and six-cylinder, front-drive, late-model GM machines come out and play. And we can't forget the SCS exclusive Nitro Coupe class, where we were pleased to find a couple of fresh faces-John Reynolds and James Nordhougen-stepping up to compete this season. The other big Nitro Coupe news came from the NuCar team (home of Dave Greytak and "Grand Pops' Toy"), which is campaigning a second car this year with NuCar crewchief (and veteran racer) Jeff Brozovich at the wheel. It looks like a smart move, since Brozovich drove his '38 Chevy coupe straight to the finals, where he matched up against (but lost to) Bill Kuhlmann's Summit-sponsored Corvette.
With so many cool Chevys on hand at Pomona, we'd hate to waste any more space carrying on about the turnout. Instead, we'll show you some of the highlights in photographic form. Wanna know who the winners were? The stats page (which you'll notice has returned this year) lists all the bragging rights in living color. Talk about exceeding expectations!
 Jim and Jackie Gonia came...  Jim and Jackie Gonia came all the way from Washington to show off their slammed, semi-retro '55 Chevy. The clean five-five won the ESPN2 Award of Excellence trophy. |  Technostalgia! That's the...  Technostalgia! That's the perfect word to describe Bill and Karen Verboon's '62 Corvette, which has that vintage look outside but features an LT1 engine, a six-speed tranny, and fourth-generation Corvette suspension components. |  It was obvious at Pomona that...  It was obvious at Pomona that the station wagon bandwagon is still growing. We think Christian and Marlene Morrow's '66 Nova is the perfect representation of a clean, custom, long-roof Bow-Tie. |