MoPar Nats Ohio August 10-12

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AlaskaMoParMan

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As a surprise, my wife has added the MoPar Nats to our trip plan for the Summer coming down from Alaska to the Lower 48. WOW...jazzed up I am!!! Does FABO have anything going on at this event? This is the First ever event of this size I have ever attended, nothing like this up here in the Great White North! Any suggestions on getting the most out of my time down in Ohio? Hot that time of year for sure. Let me know what not to miss and what to avoid and hopefully I'll bump into other FABO Members at the event. I will be wearing my Beige FABO Hat for sure!!! Later and Have a MoPar Day!!!
 
I got to go many years ago when it was at National Trail, then again when it was held at Indy.

Expect major humidity, I would say. Looks like this year is gonna be a scorcher for heat back there. Hope you have a place to stay reserved NOW.

I cannot afford to anymore. Without a chair or my trike, I cannot walk very far anymore.
 
SUNSCREEN! lol... My wife and I go to the Nats every year.. we love it there.. there is so much to see... the show cars, the swap meet, manufactuars midway... the drag racing... its awesome... and HOT lol...
 
My wife has it all set-up. Stress free is the way to be. What a surprise! Only wish I could drag the 68 Fastback down to cruz in. Probably be in a Hyundai rental! Hahaha.
 
If I can work out the details, I would like to host a Meet and Greet on Saturday afternoon. Keith (66340Sedan) hosted one at the Farmington show a few weeks ago and quite a few of us attended. We had a great time and it was fun to meet members that you know but have never met in person. I talked to Mike (2darts) about a banner for us to sign. You will have a good time for sure. Flying down or driving? tmm
 
If you get a chance, stop by Swap Meet spot N6 and 7 and say hi. Chances are motel reservations are none in Heath and on Brice Rd. Zanesville (25 miles east of the track should be no problem.
 
Flying into Atlanta earlier in the month and driving up to Ohio. Not sure where we are staying at, doesn't matter too much to me, just as long as I'm there. Let me know about the meet and greet, I would love to put a face to the screen names! Swap meet for sure, don't really need anything that I can pack back, unless they make an instant 426 Hemi (just add hot oil?). Will be looking and taking lots of pictures of the cars and inhaling burnt rubber and high octane fumes!!! Yummy.
 
If I can work out the details, I would like to host a Meet and Greet on Saturday afternoon. Keith (66340Sedan) hosted one at the Farmington show a few weeks ago and quite a few of us attended. We had a great time and it was fun to meet members that you know but have never met in person. I talked to Mike (2darts) about a banner for us to sign. You will have a good time for sure. Flying down or driving? tmm

If the meet and greet happens that would be awesome. The wife and I will be there and I would like to meet some members in person.. Keep us posted as to whether this will happen or not
 
If the meet and greet happens that would be awesome. The wife and I will be there and I would like to meet some members in person.. Keep us posted as to whether this will happen or not


Will do! I go to the Nats with a group from NE Iowa. I don't think it will be a problem with those guys. We rent a vendor booth space in the swap meet area so we can sell a few parts and have a place to hang out. It would be a perfect place to meet up. Here's a photo of most of the crew. I took the photo and one guy is missing. They are E and B body guys but I don't hold that against them. lol tmm
 

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I'll be looking for you guys... I cant wait for the Nats...Its my one 'escape real life' time of the year...
 
Right On! Get the ball rolling!!! Coming down from Alaska for this event is blowing my mind. There are like maybe 15 nice MoPars in FBKS and only 5 are A Bodies. Can you say Sensory Overload??? I will bring a drool rag just in case. Yikes!
 
I live just 20 miles from the Mopar Nats. What is really cool about out local event is state route 79(Hebron Rd.) in Heath on Friday & Sat nights Mopar guys get to do about all the burnout's they want(until 11PM anyway) & cruise with a few thousand spectators on the roadsides!!! It gets crowded! I started going in 05' and the crowd gets bigger every year. The Heath chief of Police is himself a MOPAR man with a nice 70 Dart dressed up as a Heath Police cruiser! I'm certain that what makes this whole event possible.(The local businesses love the spike in revenue too). If you are going to go just once, go on Friday. Sat nights it's getting a little out of hand. Every Camaro/Mustang driving, mullet wearing and/or Diesel Pickup Redneck knucklehead is out of Saturday getting in the way of the Mopar guys the last couple of years. I don't think Friday that element is as bad. The little town of Hebron is just about 2 miles due east of National Trails Raceway, or "Trails" as we call it. On the West edge of Hebron "The Sunset Inn" is a great place to eat, or once you get into Hebron, Hayman's Dari-Bar always has great sandwiches/milkshakes etc, lots of Mopars invade the place. I've never had anything from Hayman's that wasn't good. Both are right on US 40. Hebron turns into Heath(a small suburb of strip malls etc.) of Newark with 45,000 people. The cruising will be a little closer to Hebron this year due to major construction on 79 with the top layer of asphalt being graded off. Despite this, it's still all four lanes with plenty of places to turn around and should be just fine.

There is also Brice Rd. on the East edge of Columbus, 20 miles west of Trails which has had cruising Mopar's for many, many years. If someone at the show mentions that, I'd just skip it altogether. It only gives about 2 blocks to cruise in, lot's of non-mopar Columbus knuckleheads too. It's in a so-so area with sort of a high crime rate too.
Mid August, your probably looking about 90 degress give or take w/ some humidity. We just broke a record big time on Saturday, it was 104! Anymore questions about anything related to the area just let me know. Take care now.
 
I will be there in the show field with HemiDenny, Weeb, Brother John. 62BT409, 76orangewagon and maybe Brother Mark. Come over and introduce yourself and grab a beer!
 
We are waiting for conformation on our vendor space. The gal that has taken care of us for years is no longer in charge. We automatically got the same space with just a phone call before but we had to re-apply this year. If we can't get our old space I'm sure we will just get another space. I'll keep you posted. tmm That reminds me...........I need to get a hold of two-darts for a poster. C-ya!
 
We are waiting for conformation on our vendor space. The gal that has taken care of us for years is no longer in charge.


Noticed that she's not handling it anymore as well. I printed off the application off the Nats website and mailed it to in a couple of months ago. I see that my check was cashed a couple of weeks ago. According to the website, confirmation package to be sent out towards the end of July. We have 2 spots N6 & 7, using 7 to park the van. Starting the countdown!
 
They (MoParNats) finally cashed my check for weekend tickets!!! It is slowly starting to sink in that I will be in a sea of MoPars for 3 whole days!!! Sweating my arse off, I don't even care. Can't wait to see all the FABO Members there!!! Ohhhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhh
 
They (MoParNats) finally cashed my check for weekend tickets!!! It is slowly starting to sink in that I will be in a sea of MoPars for 3 whole days!!! Sweating my arse off, I don't even care. Can't wait to see all the FABO Members there!!! Ohhhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhh

You'll have a blast. I'm not going this year myself. I strongly suggest that you try to hook up before the show with someone here who will have a vendor space or a car that they will drive into the show. This could allow you to get someone to bring in a cooler full of ice, water and other cold drinks and maybe a couple chairs as well. A cheap disposable cooler and a couple chairs will be a welcome oasis in the three days of heat and would give you a home base to drop off your vendor area purchases (take cash).

Plan on reapplying your sun screen a few times during the day, and borrow a hotel towel and keep it soaked with cold water. Drape the wet towel around your neck (and keep it on all day rewetting as necessary) and it will help keep you from getting over heated. There is very little shade to be found at National Trail Raceway.
Without the wet towel around my neck at Carlisle, I would not have been able to keep walking all day long for all four days at the Chrysler show at Carlisle earlier this month. If its hot, you will sweat. If its dry, it's frequently dusty at the Nats. Dust will stick to your sweat and turn to mud. The towel will be handy to keep your face clean too.

From the spectator parking, its usually a long walk to the show, and since the show cars will be on both sides of the track, it will be alot of walking just from one side of the track to the other, as well as all the walking through the show cars, car corral, vendor area and manufacturer's midway. A wide brim hat that keeps the sun off your face ears and neck would be a good idea too and wear good comfortable walking shoes. Take a camera, and extra batteries. Warn the wife that the restroom facilities will be port a johns. The cuisine will be typical "track food".

By the way, if you don't get to the show early (maybe by 7:30AM) on Friday and Saturday, you could likely get caught in long traffic jams and spend your first hour (or more) of the show in traffic each day. Sunday is more relaxed, but many vendors and show cars either don't show up Sunday or leave very early on Sunday. Make sure that everything you want to see and do is seen and done on Friday and Saturday. Many people arrive on Thursday, so if you get there Thursday, you'll see Mopars at many of the hotels and restaurants in the area, and you'll be ready to get in to the show real early Friday morning.

On Friday and Saturday, you'll notice alot of cars leaving as early as 3-3:30 while the show and racing is still going strong. They are leaving early so they can go back to their hotels, clean up, go to dinner, and be out of the restaurants by early evening to stake out their spectator spots in Heath to watch the evening cruising.

If rain is forecasted at all, get a disposable $3 rain parka from the sporting goods dept at Wal-Mart. Folded it will fit in your back pocket and it will be appreciated if a downpour starts and you're a mile from where you parked.

The last time I attended the Nats was 2010. Here are links to the pics i took at that 2010 show. It should give you a hint of what you'll be seeing. Theres 9 albums of pics linked here. These pic are just the cars. I didn't watch any of the racing so there are no racing pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.130059630374429.21833.100001111775214&type=3&l=a93d61d45f
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.130098103703915.21848.100001111775214&type=3&l=f40edf8a16
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.130625643651161.22014.100001111775214&type=3&l=8f4581813e
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.132109303502795.22408.100001111775214&type=3&l=8ff7d44477
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.132244423489283.22460.100001111775214&type=3&l=87f258120c
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.134185899961802.23048.100001111775214&type=3&l=b911eb4ff3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.136151786431880.23545.100001111775214&type=3&l=6dd06a205b
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135686979811694.23404.100001111775214&type=3&l=cf18ba3ec6
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.141045305942528.24971.100001111775214&type=3&l=be0d1db0ad
 
You're spot on Jim. Enjoy the show but be smartt and take care of yourself in the heat. tmm I still am planning a meet and greet for 1:00 Saturday. I will have a cooler of bottled water and a bit of shade for you guys. More to come! tmm
 
Thanks , can't wait to catch up to you guys. When will you know where we can meet up with you at TMM? I leave for "America" on the 1st of August...I guess I'll have to get some WIFI and check FABO while on the road. :) Hope it cools down a bit...If it doesn't I will just have to keep cool and stroll on!!!
 
I will be there also. Got my tickets & window sticker in the mail yesterday.
The humidity is going to suck, but it's been cooling down a bit. I'm being optimistic.
If there is a group area for FABO that would be great!
AlaskaMoparMan, if you do wind up with a Hyundai, you and your wife are welcome to cruise Heath with me and the wife. I have a 4 door and plenty of room.
 
I still haven't heard word on our vendor booth space. I can't believe it's taking so long. We've had the same space for years. I will keep everyone informed. toolmanmike
 
Bikes are ok or you can rent a golf car. When it is busy the golf cars get pretty crazy but that's part of the fun. We usually have 6 guys in our crew so we rent a 3 seater. Real handy going from one end to the other. tmm
 
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