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Hot Rod Super Nationals returns to Canfield Faigrounds
IF YOU GO
What: Hot Rod Super Nationals
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Canfield Fairgrounds, with after party in the evening Friday and Saturday at Southern Park Mall parking lot
Tickets: $8 for spectators (free for children 10 and under Friday and Saturday; free for children 12 and under Sunday). Available at supernats.com in advance and at the gate.To show a car, registration is $35 for the entire weekend, and includes one vehicle and two weekend admission wristbands.
Information: supernats.com or call 330-883-2644
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
CANFIELD
Hot rods, muscle cars, classic cars and more will roll into the Canfield Fairgrounds this weekend for the annual Hot Rod Super Nationals show.
Thousands of vehicles are expected to be on display at the three-day event this year, which also includes automotive vendors, food vendors, contests and family activities.
“We had 2,000 cars last year, and look to double that number this year,” said Lee Hartman, promoter of the Supernats.
Attendance over the three days topped 30,000 last year.
One Supernats tradition is the evening cruise from the fairgrounds and down U.S. 224.
This year, the cruisers will head to the Southern Park Mall parking lot in Boardman, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The massive lot will offer ample room, with 1,000 spaces reserved for registered Supernats cars. There also will be food vendors and a DJ at the site.
Hartman said car collectors came from at least 15 states last year, with the farthest being California.
This year’s event also will include classic cars from the National Packard Museum in Warren, which will have a display all weekend in the Commercial Building of the fairgrounds. The display will include a 1940 Packard and at least two other cars brought by local owners, said Mary Ann Porinchak, director of the museum.
The Hot Rod Super Nationals has a long history in the car-loving Mahoning Valley. It started at the Canfield Fairgrounds in 1987, and – after a 10-year run at Quaker City Motorsports Park in Salem – returned to the fairgrounds in 2016.
Hartman, who took over the event a couple years ago, said he is looking to add drag racing to the event beginning in 2019 at an off-site location.
This year, gates will open at 8 a.m.
The event will include a Kid’s Town, featuring replicas of Mater and Lightning McQueen from the “Cars” films, an Optimus Prime replica and Santa’s firetruck, a free Bounce House and Kids Autocross.
Each day also will include giveaways.
Saturday will include a Dyno Wars revving contest with $1,000 in cash prizes.
Sunday is Family Day (free admission for children 12 and younger) and Bike Day – all motorcycles will get in free. The Dyno Wars Contest will resume Sunday with another $1,000 in cash prizes.
Car judging will take place Sunday, with winners honored in an awards ceremony.