Well, the results are in and all the numbers have been tallied. The weather could not have been more cooperative with the exception of the almost Norwalk type humidity that we had for the Sunday car show. A bit unusual for northern California, but the skies were clear and the temperatures were right around 90 degrees.
The turnout was about what I expected with just under 40 attending the Saturday luncheon with a presentation from SLP's Reg Harris. Reg left for the Fest armed to the teeth with videos, posters, a trivia quiz, prizes and a wide assortment of things pertaining to SLP and the Firehawk. Unfortunately, somewhere between here and there the airlines pulled a "Houdini" on him and hid his luggage. Being the trooper that he is, he bought a new set of clothes for the Fest (Thanks Reg!) picked up the 10th Anniversary edition Firehawk in L.A. and drove it up the northern California for the Fest. I thought we were going to have to improvise to get the luncheon to stretch out long enough so that the cruise would not start too early, but Reg, armed only with a scrap of paper that he most likely improvised just a short while ago kept the crowd entertained just past our deadline to exit the banquet room. I don't know how he did it, but he did an excellent job. If you didn't know that he lost everything on the airplane you would never had guessed it. Now, on the other hand if he hadn't bought new clothes for the Fest I think most people within 30 feet or so probably would have been able to tell (just kidding, Reg). SLP donated six prizes in all for the FirehawkFest. Great job from SLP and Reg Harris. Thanks!
Saturday night at the dragstrip ended up being somewhat of a disappointment as the promised eliminations were cancelled by the track management on the Thursday before the Fest. Next year a new track will be opening up north of Sacramento and hopefully we will have better luck with that management in planning an event. The winner of the drag racing event was Chuck Musich who won the black embroidered "Firehawk Association of America" jacket. He beat a very formidable opponent in Mike Vanneman who was very consistent all night until, getting dangerously low on fuel, went to the tracks gas man and got $30 worth of high octane race gas (5 gallons) and consequently broke out of his dial in time by shaving 3/10 of of his previous runs. Nice show though guys.
Sunday's car show that we held in conjunction with the Sacramento chapter of the Pontiac Club's "All Pontiac Indian Summer Car Show" was also a great success. There were 23 Firehawks in attendance for the day with some late arrivals and some early departures. We surely missed two of last years Fest veterans who both had family emergencies come up just days before the Fest. I'm happy to report that these emergencies all had a happy ending though. Hopefully next year guys. We missed you!
I do have some watches and Fest t-shirts left over if anyone is interested they can email me at: or snail mail at: 6612 Sweet Gum Court, Citrus Heights, CA 95610.
Now, for the winners at the car show:
This year we came up with a special "Grand Prize" that was awarded to the one person whose name was drawn from the group of people for having attended all three of the Fests' major events; the lunch, drag race and the car show. The Grand Prize winner was Bob Buchser who came down from Bend, Oregon and claimed the FirehawkSS20 passenger car tires as his choice.
SLP Firehawk Car Cover: Mike & Pam Vanneman
SLP Firehawk floor mats: Ken & Carole Eoff
$75 K&N gift certificate: Jeff & Luann Taylor
Hurst Limited Edition Shifter Knob from Mr Gasket: Mac Logan
$200 Gift Cert. from B&B Tri-Flo Performance Exhaust: Justin Castagna
1 Yr of HIGH PREFORMANCE PONTIAC magazine: Laura & Lonnie Kerley
1 Yr of HIGH PREFORMANCE PONTIAC magazine: Doug, Nancy & Marc Martin
1 yr of GM HIGH-TECH PERFORMANCE magazine: Rick Burkhardt
1 yr of GM HIGH-TECH PERFORMANCE magazine: Darrell Trimble
Set of Zaino car care products: Bob Morgan & daughter Rachelle
Men's FAOA watch: Greg McKown & son Ben
RaceSearch.Com catalog: Bob Buchser
RaceSearch.Com catalog: Shawn & Stacey Lawson
1 Yr of PONTIAC ENTHUSIAST magazine: Brian & Michelle France
Dr. Pamela Fowers, DC, Chiropractic exam & treatment: Dave Pincus
RaceSearch.Com T-Shirt: Rick Lemke
$100 Gift Cert. from TCS Performance: Tony Turturci
The good news is that everyone who stayed until the prizes and trophies were awarded ended up getting a prize. I would urge the prize winners to contact the prize donor and let them know that their contribution to the FirehawkFest was appreciated. If anyone would like to let some of the others involved in the Fest know how they feel about their respective contribution to the fest that would be fine also. You can contact Cattlemens Restaurant, Sacramento Raceway Park or the Hallmark Suites to let them know your thoughts. Also I would urge you to support our sponsors when possible and let them know that the reason you are doing business with them is because of their support for our show.
Now for the trophy winners
IN THE 1991 TO 1997 FIREHAWK CLASS:
1st Place: Ken & Carole Eoff for his 1994 Firehawk
2nd Place: Rick & Perlene Lake for his 1997 Firehawk
3rd Place: Rick Lemke for his 1994 Firehawk
IN THE 1998 TO PRESENT CLASS:
1st Place: Laura & Lonnie Kerley for their 1999 Firehawk
2nd Place: Greg & Ben McKown for his Firehawk (sorry missed the year)
*3rd Place: Mac Logan for his 1995 Canadian Firehawk
FIREHAWKFEST2000 LONG DISTANCE AWARD:
Mac Logan and Dan Fredricks from Calgary, Alberta I think Mac should let Dan hang the award at his place for six months out of the year for doing the co-driver bit with Mac for over 3,000 miles. There was a bit of confusion over the 3rd place finish in the 1998 to present class going to a 1995 vintage Firehawk. I just added them up and that was the way they came out. I think it had something to do with a late arrival and parking with the wrong class and people confused and putting the wrong car number on their ballots. There was no rule saying that a 1995 Firehawk could not win in the 1998 - Present class! With the number of votes that Mac got though he would have scored better in his own class.
In addition to the awards handed out by the Firehawk Association the Pontiac club also handed out their own awards. The winners were as follows:
CLASS VV
1st Place: Ken & Carole Eoff 1994 #500
2nd Place: Dave & Cindy Pincus 1993 #81
CLASS WW
1st Place: Laura & Lonnie Kerley 1999 #25
2nd Place: Mike & Pam Vanneman 2000 #73
LONG DISTANCE AWARD: Mac Logan and Dan Fredricks
BEST CLUB PATICIPATION: The Firehawk Association of America
Also in attendance at the weekend Fest were: Shawn Randell, Trish Chapanian, James Black, Dick Delpino, Joe VanZant, Mike Roby, Rick Moitoz, Jeff Anderson, and Dave Gershon.
In total we had 26 different Firehawks for the two days with some attending one event or the other but not necessarily all of the events at the Fest. So I think we had a real great showing overall and look forward to better and bigger things in the future. And a special thanks goes to my wife, Shelley, who helped out immensely with the Fest (hand making the FirehawkFest2000 banner among other things) and put up with all of my problems and headaches that arose and to my daughter, Dawn, who flew in from Illinois and helped out at the Fest also. Thanks to all for making this event a great success!
Bob Deffenbaugh
1993 Firehawk #110 and Organizer of the West Coast FirehawkFest
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