My thoughts on SEMA, Protouring Dinner and OUSCI 2011

[Bill Howell]

WOW about covers it, just WOW!
For the first time in several years, I did not have to deal with hauling a car out, so for once, I did not go out until Tuesday. Honestly, somewhere between getting there on Saturday and Tuesday is the correct amount of time. This year I felt rushed to see and do it all, most years I am board by the end of the trip. Next year, I will go on Monday..haha
Melinda and I arrived on Tuesday evening and it was wide open the rest of the week. The crowd at SEMA has been lacking the last couple of years with the economy woes, but they really seemed to be back this year in force, people everywhere on the floor all week, which is a good sign for the hobby.
Wednesday was our first day on the floor and I have to say I may have covered 1/3 of Hot Rod Alley that day, just trying to see a few key folks. You run into so many people you know and do business with during the year that it is really tough to do any business at all on the floor.
Being a part of optima batteries now and knowing before hand they would introduce the new optima battery Chargers, I was excited to actually get to see one and learn all about it. I know of the months of work that have gone into getting that ready for SEMA so it was nice to see it all come together. Also, Optima's new display, which is actually a Truck and Trailer that will be at events next year was a real hit to those I talked to-way to go team OPTIMA.
Getting to see Bill Goldberg's new car in person was another thing on my list. I have worked all year helping him get the best of the best on that car and it was satisfying to see it sitting there, ready to race.
Wednesday Night, Albert had his party announcing the opening of Carbon Kustoms new website and all of us had worn the new shirts for TEAM COCHICE, his entry for OUSCI. It was there, sporting the all new all carbon fiber front end. It is painted blue, so certainly my favor color on a firebird. He had worried early in the day about no one showing up for the party, funny. What a crowd, thanks Albert for yet another great time.
Thursday was another busy day. Optima announced the final 10 golden pass winners for the OUSCI. I was so happy to see Chris Jacobs get an invite. Chris has been at several events the last couple years and is certainly what this sport is all about so it was good to see him get the chance to run at OUSCI.
Thursday evening was the 11th annual Pro-touring Dinner and our first time at the newly remodeled showroom at the Clarion, formally the Greek Isles. To say the crowd has grown is an understatement. We had almost 300 people there and turned away several. The dinner was about three hours long, but much had to be covered and I am not sure how we could have cut much out of the agenda. Larry has booked that room for next year, so plan early to get your tickets.
Friday was a whirlwind of events, not sure where the day went, but 4pm came way too quickly and we went from SEMA mode to OUSCI mode. Believe it or not, it was raining when all the cars pulled out of the lot heading to Pahrump. I felt good knowing that there is a reason Treadwear is 200, since they are actually streetcars that may be forced to drive in the rain. I bet several will get their heaters and wipers fixed now...haha
Saturday started very early, but soon the sun was up, temps got better cars started pouring in the track. I must say that this year's group of competitors were a huge step up. A mid-pack car last year would have done good to be in the field this year. There was a benchmark run done on the big track early in the day so people would have something to shoot at. By the end of the day, that benchmark had been beaten by 10 seconds, TEN seconds. WOW!
I had never done this but I twitted all day updates as things happened. Thanks to those that followed that. I am not sure that is my calling, but it was fun to keep everyone abreast about what was going on and to be the first to let people know the final results.
Congratulations to Danny Popp for the final win, even though there was a tie between he and Mark Stielow for the top spot. That is how close the competition has gotten. I find it pretty cool that the past two winners now have come from the Motorstate Qualifier. You just never know where the Ultimate Street Car is located, do you.
For the first time in my life, I took a redeye flight home Sunday morning. I promise, I will never do that again. It is Monday afternoon now and I am still not caught up on my sleep, I must be getting old.

[andrewb70]

Welcome home Bill!

Sounds like you had one heck of a trip.

Andrew

[Ron S]

That just seems like the coolest car week possible. One of these years I'm going have to make it out there. Ron

[vintageracer]

I must be getting old.

You Are!

[RS_Customs]

Wow, sounds like a great time. Maybe next year I will join the group out there.

Robert

[mpozzi]

Outstanding revisit of the entire week and you said it best, Bill. Only change I'd make is to have another "special" dessert for the Pro-Touring dinner.

And Albert needn't have worried about anyone showing up at the Carbon Kustoms soiree. That was the best ever ...

Mary Pozzi

[Bill Howell]

One thing I forgot to mention about the dinner is this. As most know, earlier in the year we lost a good friend and big supporter of our hobby- Todd Garthshore. We had one fund raiser on his behalf here for Victory Junction Gang, then an impromptu passing of the hat at RTTHs. The Tuckers had a donation bucket set up at their recent open house raising more money. Add those three events together and we were at $8600 total raised in Todd's memory for Victory Junction. At the dinner, I decided that certainly we could bring that total to $10,000 for the year. When it was all said and done, we raised $3400 that night, or $12,000 total for the year. For everyone that gave even a dollar for this cause, I thank you. It is things like this that prove we are much more than a group of gearheads. I just wanted to share this while it was fresh on my mind.

[BonzoHansen]

That they did Bill. By the end we filled one hat and moved onto hat #2!

[MrAngry]

I wanted to chime in here and share some thoughts as well. First off it was wonderful to finally meet so many pro-touring members in person after watching everyone's exploits throughout the years. Obviously the SEMA show is a sight to behold, but more importantly it proves that those of us who have been into the hobby for quite some time are in fact doing the right thing with our old cars. As for the OUSCI... the event was simply amazing and it was an honor to compete in it. The real joy though was watching Mary and Wanda abuse most of the guys that generally dominate this hobby as that in and of itself was a flippin' riot!

[JMitch19]

Wish I would have had more time to meet people and say hi. The company that I work for did a booth for the first time I think it was WAY more work than we planned. I know I was thinking "lol they are paying me to go to SEMA". It was a ton of work, but I can't complain. It was fun for me and good for the company. Like Bill said there was more people at the show than the past few years. The numbers they gave us were 63,000 buyers. I guess past few years had been averaging about 50k.

[66SuperSport]

Bill

Thanks for the nice comment. This was our third trip to the optima Invitational, but the first as a competitor. As many of you know Lynda and I have been to several of the PT events and always have a ball. I thought earning an invite to OUSCI at one of the events would be the most satisfying thing, but the support I received from our PT community at SEMA was WAY better. It was really cool to see how many people were pulling for us to get one of the 10 OUSCI golden tickets on Thursday. I think it was Jason Childress that started yelling when they called my name and then that whole side of the optima booth was cheering. For those of you that were there, thank you for that. The cars are really fun, but at the end of the day it's the people that make us want to attend these functions. I could not be part of a better group.
The OUSCI event was everything I had hoped it would be and FM3 did an outstanding job this year. Three years ago cars were still running when it was almost completely dark. This year I believe we were done by 4 PM. Everything ran flawlessly, at least from my perspective. The competition every year is getting more crazy, but I was shooting for a top 10. Came up a little short with 14th overall. My personal goals for the day were to get under two minutes on the road course and not go in the dirt. Done and done. I managed a 1:56 on my last lap and even though I looped it in the middel of turn one I somehow kept it on the asphalt.
We'll be back again next year for sure.

[PT Sportwagon]

Good to see the better turn out than years before. Hopefully the economy is improving for at least the aftermarket industries.

Tim

[73CPCAMARO]

Bill,

It was great to see the great group of people at the Pro-Touring dinner on Thursday. You are a leader and I really appreciate all that you do. SEMA and OUSCI is a great way to end the year. I am looking forward to Run To The Coast in 2012 and hopefully an event at Thunderhill.

Brian

[BuddyP]

Not only my first time to SEMA and the PT dinner... But first time in Vegas!! Great to finally meet up with some of you that I met for the first time. And Bill, for the comment about "if your bored with the contingency prizes, come to an event", if my checkbook was bigger I,d be to one with the car instantly! Ha! Does being a spectator count? Maybe Nike can give contingency prizes for us without finished projects!! The Gingerman and Heidts event were a blast, only wish I could've seen them from a drivers seat. Hope to make it to the dinner next year.

[MuscleRodz]

Great as always Bill and Larry, looking foward to next year already.

[coolwelder62]

This was my 1st. SEMA.But my 2nd.optima.I too had an awesome time at the PT dinner.It's a must atend event.Great Food,Great Folks.WE worked so hard to make it to sema and optima.But it was all worth it.Thank's To Albert Melchior.W/O him this would have never happened.And meeting everybody that we talk w/here on the net was also great.I think the best thing about the trip was meeting Sam Farington.What a peach of a young man.The furture of the hobby will be in good w/young people like Sam and my son's Bryce and Brandon in the hobby.Scott M.