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AutoFair 2007 in Charlotte, NC
On April 12th, 13th, 14th, Courtney and I went to Spring AutoFair 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina. We went as part of the ClubGP section that was organized by the Carolina Grand Prix guys.
On the 12th, I spent the day getting the car ready to go. I tried to install a set of ZZP Billet Fuel Logs, but they leaked so I had to go back to stock for the trip down.....which was probably best since the ZZP logs would need to be tuned in. Anyway, we left at 4pm and made the 8 hour drive down and arrived just after midnight. Courtney's parents also went down to see the huge car show so they got there a little earlier.
On Friday, the Grand Prix guys met for a mini-car show at a Pontiac dealer in Charlotte. I got a bad sunburn that day but I had a chance to meet and chat with the other Grand Prix owners that day. After that, we went to Hendrick Motorsports to tour the garages and museum, that was pretty neat to see. That evening we ate dinner at Sticky Fingers, a good baby-back-rip joint that you find in the southern US.
On Saturday, we woke up really early to meet at a parking lot so we could caravan into Lowes Motor Speedway. We made the trip in and set up our cars for the show. I spent about an hour or so touching the car up to look its best. Some people spent almost their entire day wiping their cars down, but I was there to see other cars. My paint was pretty much flawless from the previous weeks detailing anyway, so I didn't need to do much more work there. Courtney and I walked all over the place, checking out some really nice show cars. We came back in the afternoon to find out that the judging for the cars would be done that day instead of Sunday since the weather on Sunday was going to be very rainy. So I wiped the dust off the car and got ready for the judging. The sun went behind the clouds which didn't help show off my swirl-less finish so when the judges came around, they couldn't see all the hard work I put into the car. There was also a most-modded trophy which I was going for. Other people started counting useless mods to get their mod count up to beat me. It became quite nasty and immature that I just opted out of that trophy. From that point on, the event was pretty lame and I was ready to go home. I was hyped up when the others heard I was coming, and then when I got there, they tried to tear me down. I didn't need any of that, so I just kept to myself the rest of the time.
On Sunday, we woke up even earlier to get a spot in the Concourse since it was raining. Well, it turns out that nobody else really showed up and we were the only idiots there. Right after the awards were given out, Courtney and I headed home.
Overall, the trip was a disappointment and it really made me question the direction of the Grand Prix club. The cars are getting older and cheaper, so 16-22 year olds are getting their hands on them. Most of the people that were there just sat under a tent and were drunk by 10am. By lunchtime, they were flat-out obnoxious and it was really making the club look bad. AutoFair 2007 would be the start of my future plans with my car and to distance myself from the club. I don't need to travel 8 hours to get a sunburn and watch a bunch of "kids" make the rest of us look bad. Carlisle Fairgrounds is close enough to suit my car-show needs anyway.
Anyway, here are the pictures.
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