SUPER NATIONALS Hot rods will end tour, start party in Canfield

An additional 3,000 cars will be in this year's event, thanks to the tour.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!
The biggest Hot Rod Super Nationals in recent years is set to start at the Canfield Fairgrounds in May.
The event is expected to draw as many as 5,000 hot rods, about double the number of vehicles that were on display at last year's Super Nationals. About 3,000 of the vehicles will be part of the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour, which starts in Lincoln, Neb., and ends at the fairgrounds.
The rest of the cars in the CD 93-FM Super Nationals, May 31 through June 2, will be those that typically participate in the event each year.
A first: This is the first year that the producers of the Power Tour and the Super Nationals are working together on those events.
C. Bruce Hubley, president and CEO of The Promotion Co. Inc., which produces the Super Nationals, said he eventually wants to make the Mahoning Valley "the Hot Rod Capital of the World."
"It's going to make for a really spectacular and enormous event," Hubley said, adding that he expects about 50,000 people to attend.
The Super Nationals, which include car contests as well as family events and performances by bands, have been held at the fairgrounds for the past 14 years. Hubley said the cooperation among local business officials helped make each of those events a success.
"It's been a great place to do business," he said. "That's the reason we come back to Canfield year after year."
The tour: The Power Tour, meanwhile, has been held for each of the last nine years. This year's tour will stop in seven cities: Lincoln; Kansas City, Kan.; St. Louis; Louisville, Ky.; Columbus; Pontiac, Mich.; and Canfield.
Several different makes and models of show cars will be on display during the tour.
Ira Gabriel, the publisher of Hot Rod, said the tour was first held to show off some of the cars that had been built for magazine projects. Gabriel said that additional cars were added after car owners from across the country began to ask if they could join the tour.
"Every year the tour gets bigger and better," he said. "This year stands to be better than any year in the past."
Gabriel added that he expects the Canfield fairgrounds to be the site of celebration for those on the tour.
"The journey ends, but the celebration begins," he said.
hill@vindy.com