Our Tour to the Eastern National Meet

By Ken Bounds 

On Tuesday, June 22, three NIRG couples met at the Lincoln Oasis to begin our trek to Concord, North Carolina, to attend the 2010 Eastern National Meet.  Leaving bright and early at 7:30 were Joe & Nell Kozmic in the first long trip in their recently-acquired ’53 Mercury Monterey, Dan & Diane Pudelek in their ’53 Victoria, and Ken & Carolyn Bounds in our ’50 Crestliner.  We made great time and had no problems with road construction, stopping near Dayton, OH, for lunch.  Refreshed, we pushed the reliable Flatheads on to Charleston, WV, where we spent the night.  Our Crestliner showed 523 miles for the day. 

Day two began with little hint of the wilting heat that lay ahead of us.  Our drive down I-77 took us through beautiful mountain ranges in West Virginia and Virginia.  Although some of the steep grades slowed us down, the cars were humming along just fine.  But the heat was rising quickly and the temperature gauges showed it.  By the time we entered North Carolina, our gauges were on “H” and we had over 100 miles to go.  With engines starving for fuel, Joe turned on his electric fuel pump frequently and Dan reported his was on constantly for the final 50 miles.  Unfortunately, our Crestliner does not have one (yet) and that was our downfall.  With the air temperature over 100º, our engine began to stumble as we approached Concord and, incredibly, the Crestliner decided it was finished as we approached the exit to our hotel.  How embarrassing to drive 780 miles, then make our entrance to the meet hotel on a rollback – after a three-mile tow.  More on that later. 

Arriving at the Embassy Suites, everything became a blur with a visit to the meet registration desk and renewing friendships with V-8 friends from all over the country.  The cars are great, the events are fun, but for me it is the people who make the meet.  We also ran into our “long-distance” NIRG members from Oklahoma, Rick Claybaugh and Joe Baughn, along with Rick’s brother Earl.  Joe and Nell had a special treat, being joined by Joe’s son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter who visited for a few days.   

After spending a lot of time talking, it was out to the parking lot to see what we could do to get the Crestliner running.  I was sure it was the coil, so I changed it.  Wrong.  Because the temperature was over 100, that was enough for now.  We took the time to enjoy a late lunch before trying to check in to our rooms.  One thing was apparent at the hotel.  Nuns.  They were everywhere.  We learned that there were over 400 nuns attending a convention.  The time you really saw them was when the daily manager’s party started at 5:30.  If you didn’t beat them to the complimentary cocktails, you had a long wait.  There was a limit of two per person, so no accusation of gluttony. 

As the temperature dropped to a comfortable 99º around 7:00, we again worked on the car.  The carburetor was dry, so I changed the fuel pump.  Then there was no spark.  Good friend John Treadway from Ohio predicted the problem was in the distributor.  We checked and sure enough, the rubbing block had worn down so much that the points were barely opening.  After adjustment, the car started right up and seemed to run OK.  Problem solved!  For now.... 

After an overnight thunderstorm, we were up early to clean up the cars.  Joe was going to have his Mercury point judged for the first time, so extra detailing was in order.  After breakfast, we all piled into the cars to head for the Charlotte Motor Speedway, just down the street, for one of the big thrills of the week – driving “Legends” racecars on the little 1/5 mile track behind the speedway.  Joe, Dan, Earl, and I each took a turn and had a great time.  Our V-8s were parked in the increasing heat, and after about two hours at the track, the Crestliner started, then died.  It was not getting fuel.  Dan helped me remove the fuel pump and the top of the carburetor.  I blew gas back into the gas tank to make sure there was no obstruction.  We put it all back together and somehow began to get fuel.  From there, it was off to Dennis Carpenter’s where everyone wanted to buy parts.  After an hour stop, I again had fuel problems.  We somehow got the car started and made it back to the hotel. 

After a quick lunch, we attended the President’s Meeting, the Foundation Meeting, and the Owners/Drivers Meeting.  A highlight of one of the meetings occurred when participants were scolded for stealing cookies from the nuns’ snack tables.  There was just enough time for a shower and change of clothes before heading out to the Welcome Party at Dennis Carpenter’s Museum.  This was a real nice time, visiting with more V-8 friends.  Afterwards, another try at solving the Crestliner problems.  We changed the points, condenser, rotor, fuel pump, flex line, and carburetor.  Some of these things seemed to help, others did not.  After going back to the original carburetor, the engine seemed to run fine.  We didn’t know it at the time, but that was the end of the problems.  

Friday:  Concourse Day!  Since Joe and I were judging, we had to be up before sunrise to complete all detailing and preparation of our cars before the judges’ breakfast at 7:30.  Dan was out there too, just not so early.  Around 8:30 we drove our cars back over to the Speedway where the concourse was held in the Sprint Cup garage area.  With the cars in place, the judging teams assembled and judging began.  I served as deputy judge for the ’49-’51 open Fords and I had a really enjoyable time.  Joe was on the ’37-’38 team.  Meanwhile, Carolyn spent most of the day in the racetrack’s media center in the tabulation room.  Carolyn had developed a computer program to replace the cumbersome manual system for tabulating Touring and Touring A ballots, and this was the pilot event.  Her program was a big success and received praise from the acting National Chief Judge, who said, “Thank you for your initiative and effort with the new Touring Awards Program. It was a phenomenal time and energy saver for computing the final results of the Touring tabulation. Your program saved at least four people five to six hours of frustrating 'tick' marks on a page. I was greatly impressed with your efforts and success.”  Congratulations to Carolyn! 

The cars on the concourse were outstanding.  There was a nice mix among about 200 point-judged, Dearborn Emeritus, Rouge, and Touring vehicles.  There was not enough time after judging to see them all and the temperature in the upper 90s did not help.  One treat for everyone was the chance to drive their Early V-8s three laps on the Speedway.  About 60 cars took part, but our group decided to avoid the heat and went back to the hotel for some cool refreshments. 

After the evening cocktail reception, we joined our newest members, John and Este Scheve (see page 10) for a terrific dinner at the nearby Texas Roadhouse.  We must have minded our manners as Este handed us their membership application the next day. 

Saturday morning we joined a large group of our friends from the Georgia group for a trip to downtown Charlotte to the new NASCAR Hall of Fame.  We are grateful to Lamar Hart for including us in his group ticket purchase.  The Hall of Fame is a great addition to Charlotte and has something of interest for everyone.  They did a super job with the exhibits and explaining the history of NASCAR and the technical aspects of the sport today. 

On Saturday evening we had the Awards Banquet.  Piedmont Regional Group member Ted Wilburn did a great job moving things along.  After a delicious meal, it was time for a few speeches and presentation of the awards.  Each car entered by a NIRG member came home with a trophy, presented by National President Arel Brown.  We were all thrilled that Joe Kozmic was awarded a Dearborn for his Mercury.  John Scheve received a Dearborn Medallion for his ’37 Tudor while we received a Dearborn Emeritus Medallion for our Crestliner.  Dan Pudelek and Rick Claybaugh received 2^nd Place Touring trophies.  Although he did not have a car at the meet, Joe Baughn did not leave empty-handed as he won the centerpiece, a ceramic 1948 Ford Pickup replica.  As the banquet came to an end, so did the meet.  There is never adequate time to say farewell until next time to all your V-8 friends. 

While Dan and Diane stayed behind to do some additional touring to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, Joe, Nell, Ken, and Carolyn decided to make tracks north early in the morning to beat the heat.  We hit the road in the dark at 5:15 and never looked back.  We made it back over the mountains and into Ohio for lunch, then continued on into Indiana, stopping north of Indianapolis for the night after logging 620 miles.  This time, both cars purred along without a hitch.  Monday morning we began the final leg of our journey, but not without a couple of bumps.  Along the way our hood popped up when a nut came off the locking pin; fortunately, the safety catch saved the day.  After a quick fix we were on our way, only to have a gravel truck shower us with overflow gravel near Crown Point.  Both cars received several paint chips and Joe’s Mercury got a crack (star) in the windshield.  He has already had it repaired.  Our car registered 1,604 miles on the odometer, Joe’s a little more since we hitched a ride with him to the Hall of Fame in Charlotte.  Despite the car problems, we had a great time and are looking forward to the next National Meet.