American Southern Nationals
June 10th, 2012

The PSN / ASN 2012 event photos have been posted and are available for viewing – click here; then on the PSN-ASN Gallery on the right.

The American Southern Nationals was created by the Dallas Area Pontiac Association to allow other makes of American cars to participate in our popular annual event, the Pontiac Southern Nationals.   The PSN has been an all Pontiac 2 day event, car show on Saturday, drag race on Sunday for over 15 years.  The American Southern Nationals will now be the second day of the event with 2 major changes, all makes of American cars are invited to race, plus we’ve added a second car show at the race track on Sunday for all American cars.   Pontiac Owners just wanted to compete with other American makes.

Click here to view Event Registration options

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Event Details:

Sunday, June 10th

The American Southern Nationals will be held at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, TX

Race track gates open at 8:30am

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AutoRama 2012 was a super successful event.  With a total of eight gorgeous cars in the DAPA display the camaraderie was wonderful.  Rob Bender did a great job of arranging the cars to make the display color coordinated.  With cars ranging from a 1939 Sedan belonging to Tom & Judy Rivers to a couple of 1979 TransAm’s, one belonging to Kevin Skaggs and the other belonging to Cathy & Guy Larson.

Included in the display were a 1955 Starchief (John & Colleen Darling), a 1958 Chieftain (Frank & Brenda Moren), a 1969 GTO (Rob Garrett), a 1970 Lemans (Dan Grace) and “Tweetie”, a 1972 Formula (Lee and his daughter Jennifer Green).

With the weather cooperating for move in it made for a smooth and stress free set-up.  Also the addition of corner brackets to the stanchions, using Tommy Rivers’ idea and Frank Moren’s “manufacturing”, the ropes surrounding the display held up very well against the spectators.  The DVD, which was used during the weekend and produced by John Bily, was a huge success.  It was almost a moot point until Frank “found” the club’s TV/DVD player hidden in his garage… right where he left it after last year’s AutoRama.

As far as how everyone placed… does it really matter?  We had such a great time that we all were WINNER’s in our minds.  Never-the-less we all walked away with a plaque.  The three newest participants really seemed to enjoy themselves and we all would like to see more “newbies” at the next AutoRama.

The Photo Album can be viewed here: AutoRama 2012

Write up compliments of Frank & Brenda Moren

ATTENTION: THE PONTIAC SOUTHERN NATIONAL 2011 PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING, CLICK HERE AND ENJOY: DAPA PHOTO GALLERY
The Pontiac Southern Nationals 2011 were home again this year, and since the Dallas Area Pontiac Association hosts the PSN, you do know where home is.

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The All Pontiac Car Show was held in Richardson, TX on Saturday, June 11 at an old friend – The Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel, where we’ve had the PSN Car Show several times before.  This time however, the Car Show was out on the hotel plaza instead of the enclosed parking garage.  The plaza was set aside for Pontiac cars, and the crowd of enthusiasts.

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The following day, Sunday, June 12, was race day  at another old friend, the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, TX –home of the NHRA Fall Nationals.  The PSN drag races have been at the Motorplex many times before and it has always been a great event.

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DALLAS AUTORAMA 2011 at Dallas Market Hall (February 18, 19 & 20)
by Frank & Brenda Moren

AutoRama photos are below

What a show, whether you like cool cars, monster trucks, toys, parts or even just people watching, it was all there.  Setting up the display was easy with all the support we had; and the new rope worked well.  We all enjoyed “Lenny’s” subs as a lunch snack on Thursday, along with the camaraderie.  The display was perfect with Huelyn’s 66 GTO next to Steve’s 79 Trans Am, Frank & Brenda’s 58 Chieftain next to Brian’s 98 Formula, John & Colleen’s 55 Star Chief next to Shawn’s 76 Trans Am and Tom & Judy’s 39 Sedan next to Brenda’s 02 Formula.  Spectacular !!!

Following are words from some of the participants in this year’s AutoRama:

Brian James – hey this is Brian I had a great time at my 1st one and I even got Best in Class !

John & Colleen Darling – Hi ! Well this was our sixth consecutive Autorama (fourth in the DAPA group) , and we received another “Outstanding in Class” award (2nd place). We had a great time the entire weekend at the show, meeting many new people, visiting with friends, our stay at the hotel, ($10.00 for a HAMBURGER ??????????) and snacking on Brenda’s spicy pretzels. Gad ! How can you top that ? – Just do it again next year. John & Colleen D.

Huelyn Duvall – Nice to meet all the DAPA entries at Autorama.  This was a good time for me as I don’t get out to shows with the car very often.  Autorama was a very nice experience.  Well organized by both Autorama and DAPA.  I needed the help and everyone provided it. The sandwiches hit the spot.  I felt right at home each day.  My plaque was for “outstanding in class” which was very unexpected but very much appreciated. Other than the last minute “flu bug” that left me without a place to stay, the experience was good.  I was going to stay in Trophy Club until my grandchildren came down with type A flu.  Thanks to Frank for watching after me and thanks to you (Brenda M.) for helping with my “ZIPPER”.  We will just leave it at that!!!!! Hope to see you again down the road,

Brenda Neyra – 2002 Formula Firebird – Best in Class – Well…it was my first time at AutoRama and I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with our DAPA members who also joined us displaying their wonderful cars, and I wish to thank the other DAPA members who stopped by and helped us by talking to people and promoting the Southern Nationals. We had a tremendous amount of visitors who appreciated our Pontiacs and stopped to chat. I think we all had great eye catching displays, and we had the privilege of having Elvis with us for the weekend – he was quite the eye candy!  I heard a few horror stories about past happenings at AutoRama, and we did not see any of that (at least I didn’t). The event was well organized, the weather was excellent, and there was a fantastic turnout. The cars all had their recommended fuel allowance, drip pans/pads, tape for the fuel caps & ability to disconnect the batteries so we were good to go!  The only negative were the unruly children that unfortunately seem to show up with neglectful parents at most car events, who were evidentially blind, because they could not seem to go anywhere without following with their hands along the rope, but there was always someone with our display to make sure no one bothered our cars.

Shawn Pergande – Ellen & I had a great time as usual spending it with our fellow DAPA Pontiac Lovers at the Autorama. Got to spend time with fellow enthusiasts and my brother was able to come up from Houston in his newly acquired 2001 WS6. He enjoyed the event as well. The outcome with our entry (1976 LE 50th Anniversary TA) was such a surprise as it took “Best In Class” beating our fellow Bandit Runners (David Hersey’s 77 SE TA & Anthony Rusing’s 78 SE TA) and another entry was a 75 1/2 Cosworth. Needless to say we were very greatful. Thanks for the great times and we’ll keep on Pontyaking!!!

Frank & Brenda Moren – This was our third time showing “Ilene” in the AutoRama with only one year being skipped out of the last four years.  She took “Outstanding” in her class; we are oh so proud !!!  The experience we have each and every time gets better and better.  We love spending time with other DAPA members and talking “car” with the spectators.  Most people are in awe of seeing our beloved 58 and many say they “remember seeing these types of cars when they were young”.  It is a wonderful feeling seeing the expressions on their faces as they reminisce back in time.  Overall the show is very well organized, both entering and leaving, and it never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful cars they can get into the building each year, along with the multitude of various vendors.

On behalf of Tommy & Judy Rivers – after speaking with them on the phone they informed us that their car took “Best in Class” for their class and they said they enjoyed themselves very much especially getting to spend time with the other DAPA members.  They look forward to seeing everyone at the Pontiac Nationals coming up soon.

On behalf of Steve Kahn – We didn’t get a chance to speak with Steve, but we believe his car took either Outstanding or Best in his class for his beautiful 1979 Black Trans Am.

Well, before we run out of room we’ll end this write up with a praise to all of the participants for a job well done and thank them for their time.

Oct. 16, 2010 – American Performance & Classic Car Show A Major Success By Don Fenton DAPA and Sewell really know how to throw a party.  Well in this case it was a car show that had a party feel.  On top of all of the fantastic weather, burgers and brats hot off the grill, and a wide array of fantastic American iron we were able to generate a little something for the effort. I would normally start to thank each and every person who was involved, both in the planning and then execution of the event, but just like last year we had so many people step up to help I would be afraid of missing someone.  We did manage to raise over $2200.00 for the American Cancer Society.  Much of the money raised was from a rather large donation from the Dutton family.  The other person who deserves a little shout out is Mark Waterman for donating the air compressor for the raffle from his NAPA Auto Parts store in McKinney.  We took in almost $600 for the raffle alone. The kids band Black Jack came out again to provide the live entertainment.  They were even better this year than last.  If there was one negative it would be that the representative from the American Cancer Society did not arrive until right before the awards.  I am pretty sure they would have pulled in another $400 in donations with just an hour of effort.  Something to remember for next year I guess. Thanks again for all who attended and made this show another glowing example of why we are simply the best.

The Pontiac Southern Nationals 2010! Hosted by DAPA!

The Car Show was held at the Hampton Inn & Suites Mesquite on Saturday, June 5th, 8:00am-3:00pm while the drag racing portion took place Sunday, June 6th at Dallas Raceway in Crandall, TX.

The Pontiac Southern Nationals 2010; We’re Glad to be Back in Dallas, TX  (it was last held in San Antonio, TX)

It’s been several years since the Pontiac Southern Nationals has been held in the Dallas, TX area. Two years earlier in 2008, the Dallas Area Pontiac Association held the PSN in San Antonio, TX.  It worked out quite well, considering the new location, with reasonable attendance for both the car show and the races, however, not quite as well as this June with nearly 100 Pontiacs in the car show field in Mesquite, TX and the 55 cars that registered for the drag races in Crandall, TX.

The car show was at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Mesquite, TX, adjacent to the Mesquite Rodeo, on Saturday, June 5^th.  It was a warm, June day without a cloud in the sky.  Registration began at 8:00am and the Pontiacs began to arrive.  They were trickling in at first and we were hoping to hit at least 70 cars to fill the primary show lot.  Shortly after, we surpassed the 70 cars and totaled 85 Pontiacs registered.  Nevertheless, they kept on coming, even after we went passed the registration time limit, eventually filling a secondary section of the hotel parking lot.

We had a similar pleasant surprise at the race track the following day.  The drag race event was at the Dallas Raceway in Crandall, TX.  This is a new quarter mile track only a few miles southeast of Dallas that opened a few months earlier.  Cars were arriving at the track slowly at first on Sunday morning, June 6^th, but the pace picked up and we were happy to see 55 Pontiacs register for a great day of racing.

For the two day event we saw a number of familiar Pontiacs and faces and quite a few new ones as well.  And this is what makes it all worthwhile for us, the PSN Staff that puts several months into arranging this event.  We would like to give a sincere Thank You to all those that attended, with and without a car entry.  We did some things right, and will improve on others.  So, keep your eye right here on the Dallas Area Pontiac Association web site: www.dapa.org for upcoming Pontiac events… Still Building Excitement.

Further Information on the PSN will be added to this site, so check back often!

The American Performance Car Show was alright. And by that I mean everything about this car show was “All Right” – the weather was right, the cars were right, the music was right, the food was right. Well you get the picture.

This car show also set a record for the partnership of DAPA and Sewell doing a car show together, 104 cars were registered and hundreds of people came by to see the cars, listen to the music, and just enjoy the day.

The American Performance Car Show was a bit of a departure from what DAPA and Sewell have done the past couple of years. It was opened up to all brands of American performance cars which of course allowed a larger number of local car clubs to participate. Consequently, higher registration equaled a larger donation to our charity, the American Cancer Society.

Once again, we need to give a Huge Thank You to the staff of Sewell for their efforts and generosity in putting this show together and serving up a great lunch. We would also like to thank Jeff and Lee from Gasoline Alley Car Shows for their efforts in judging 104 cars in a timely manner which allowed us to stay on schedule and have the awards presentation right on time. Maybe it’s just me, but during the awards presentation the word Mopar seemed to come up way to often… just means us Pontiac owners need to try a bit harder next time.

Autorama Dallas
February 15-17, 2009

The Autorama Car Shows are a series of events at major cities across the country.  Dallas often appears on the schedule the second weekend in February – Valentine’s Day weekend.  This year, Saturday, usually the biggest day of the three day show… was Valentine’s Day.

This dilemma weighs heavily on a man’s mind when he needs to decide if he is going to enter his Pontiac in the Autorama DAPA display; or spend the weekend with his Wife/Significant Other.  Hmm, the wife/S.O., or the other girl in his life, his Pontiac?

But wait! This is not a problem for half of our DAPA displayers.  Their women folk came out to Autorama on Valentine’s Day to spend it with their family members, their husband and their Pontiac!  Brenda and Frank Moren, Colleen and John Darling, Judy and Tommy Rivers, Gloria and Ken Davis, and I think Ellen was there with Shawn Pergande; all spent the day together and appeared to have a wonderful time.  I’m fairly sure the remaining DAPA displayers took off early enough to take their ladies out for the evening.

This appeared to be the case for many of the attendees too.  There was a great crowd in attendance throughout the day on Saturday; right up until about 4:00pm when the Market Hall mysteriously began to thin out – remember the show continues ‘til 10:00pm on Saturday.  Call it a compromise: he gets the day to play with car toys; she gets the evening to toy with romance.  Ahh, “give and take”, the glue of marriage.

OK, reality check, here are the Autorama 2009 results of the DAPA display:

Congratulations to All!  And the rest of you remember, DAPA tries to include different Pontiacs in our display each year at Autorama, so you have a whole year to prepare.

Saturday, October 18, 2008, the day of the B-O-P Car Show hosted by the Dallas Area Pontiac Association, and sponsored by Sewell. Sure, it’s billed as a Buick, Olds, Pontiac car show… but is in fact a Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Pontiac, Pontiac car show since once again Pontiacs ruled the show field! We also had several other flavors of GM vehicles show up, Cadillac and GMC = invited; Chevrolet, maybe not invited but every bit helps towards the charity.

The weather was good as the cars rolled into position in the morning. The more the cars filled the lot, the better the weather was looking. By mid day, we were at 60 cars, blue skies and sunny. Now it’s time for the barbeque lunch Sewell graciously throws in to feed the car worshipping masses. It’s all good – food, people, cars, music, weather. Next it’s awards time and 50 were handed out to the top cars as judged by the participants

By end of day, DAPA and Sewell raised $1,600.00 to benefit the American Cancer Society. And would you believe it, a Cadillac won the Best of Show award. It was a good day all around.

Thank you Sewell once again for your generosity and making the B-O-P Car Show 2008 a great success.

It’s late September and you know what that means: The Tigers Prowl in Grapevine

And so did a whole lot of other Pontiacs. Saturday, September 27th, 2008 was the 11th Annual Tiger Prowl Car Show hosted by the GTO Association of North Texas and sponsored by Sewell. This is an all Pontiac Car Show that has been held at the Bass Pro Shops parking lot for the past few years.

We couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day, a cool morning gave way to a bright sunny day that made those Pontiacs sparkle. The Tiger Prowl show field consisted of just over 60 Pontiacs , primarily consisting of Pontiac muscle: GTOs and TransAms. A nice variety of other Pontiacs were also represented from the 30’s right up to the hot new G8. We are proud to say the Dallas Area Pontiac Association was there in force, with 17 cars entered in the event.

The Tiger Prowl is a benefit car show with proceeds benefiting The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Click a picture to see a larger view.