As street rod meets go, the NSRA Nationals East is big, second only to the Nationals in Louisville as one of the largest gatherings of street rodders in the country. The annual trip to York, Pennsylvania, has become a tradition on most street rodders' schedules for many years. Last year saw the 30th anniversary of the Nationals East. This year's edition saw some changes at the fairgrounds but the enormous size of the event was in no way diminished. A new arena was opened this year, which brought the number of exhibit buildings to three. Another change at York was the elimination of the camping area at the fairgrounds. With almost 5,000 street rods cruising the grounds all weekend, every bit of space on the grounds was needed to showcase the real stars of the weekend: the cars.
One of the things that did not change this year was the size of the kickoff party at the headquarters hotel on Thursday night. With rock 'n' roll playing inside and hundreds of street rods and street rodders rocking and rolling in the parking lot outside, the weekend was off to a great start.
The Nationals East is one of those events that is packed the moment the gates open on Friday morning. You can't help but have a good start when there's an all-you-can-eat pancake area on the grounds. The huge swap meet was moved to a fully paved area this year. Another tradition that continued at York was the annual parade through the city streets on Friday at noon.
Friday's activities continued with the NSRA Safety Inspection, the Michigan Hot Rod Association Rod Repair Shop, an Arts and Crafts area, and street rod seminars conducted by Classic Instruments and American Autowire. The Friday fun continued at the fairgrounds with a rock 'n' roll show by the Roadsters.
Saturday's activities were somewhat dampened by showers, but almost 200 street rod vendors were busy all day inside the exhibit areas. Custom AutoSound and Hot Rod Air conducted Saturday's seminars inside the new arena.
The skies cleared for Sunday's activities. The Circle of Winners area was set up next to the grandstands and over 30 rods were chosen for special recognition. Activities on Sunday afternoon began with a pre-awards concert by True Heart. Event Director Jerry Kennedy hosted the awards program beginning at 2 p.m. By 3 p.m. the festivities were wrapped up with Fred Green of Westminster, Maryland, the lucky winner of the NSRA Chevy Colorado pickup truck.
With 4,858 registered street rods at this year's Nationals East, the York gathering again proved to be enormous. It is certain that next year's 32nd edition will continue the tradition as street rodders make the annual pilgrimage to Pennsylvania.