JBA cruised up to the Del Mar Fairgrounds today for the premier edition of the Fall Good Guys Car Show. The organization has run a very successful three-day car show in April for many years. And while the car count for this fall version was down a bit compared to the spring show, there were still plenty of cool hot rods to enjoy. One of the highlights was the relocated autocross course. A large crowd gathered to watch a variety of well-built cars and trucks compete for the quickest time. The new course was almost twice as long as past courses and the quickest vehicles completed their runs in 50-54 seconds. Don’t forget, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CAR SHOW! See the pictures for more of the story.

Jan Wagner is an avid autocrosser and also co-hosts the weekly “You Auto Know” show (from 8-9PM on Sunday evenings with Dave Stall) on KCBQ AM 1170.  JBA recently installed a Steeda competition front sway bar on Jan’s 2011 Mustang GT. Here are Jan’s thoughts on the results: “The Steeda Competition front bar surprised me because it does not seem to have had any negative effect in terms of ride quality on the street. On the track is where its presence became apparent. I noticed that in hard cornering there was considerably less drama. I had the sense that I was not fighting the car nearly as much as I had been before. Despite the common wisdom about what happens when a large front swaybar is used, I think my car actually understeered less, which was my hope – my thoughts being that with significantly less front end lean, the load would be shared amongst both front tires instead of mostly by the outside one.”  We’ve attached a few pictures of Jan’s Mustang on-track courtesy of Impressions by Elliot Photography.

One really cool feature at the Good Guys Del Mar Nationals is the autocross event. You’ll find the best performing street machines at the show ripping through the cones or hanging out in the parking lot trackside. Manufacturers such as Detroit Speed, Ridetech, Hotchkis and Agent 47 bring out their best handling cars to compete alongside a combination of street rods and other independent participants. Here are a few pictures of some of the competitors during Saturday’s event.

The Good Guys Del Mar Nationals is the largest car show in San Diego County each year and features over 2000 vehicles. Spread out over the Del Mar Fairgrounds, it’s a three-day affair. JBA exhibited at this year’s show and as usual, we’ve run into lots of friends and fellow racers. Here are a few random shots we snapped on Saturday. Also see our separate blog for pictures of vehicles that compete in the Good Guys Autocross event.

The San Diego Region of the Porsche Club of America held an autocross in the southeast corner of the Qualcomm parking lot today, February 12, 2011. Lots of beautiful, fast cars filled the pit area. Owners took their turns running hard through the cones and a good time was had by all!

Check out the video I made on YouTube from last Sunday as I take on the AutoX competition at the Texas A&M Sports Car Club’s 2nd race of the Spring semester!  Some of the turns were pretty tight but I managed to swing the old Cobra around and take away a trophy for 5th place out of 17 competitors in the Street Tire Mod (STM) class and was only 0.342 seconds from 4th.  I have the video’s from my 3 other runs from different camera angles so I may post those up later when I have time, but until then enjoy, and Gig’em Ags!

Here is another video from my first run as I am trying to figure out the course…