Event Coverage Hunnert Car Pile Up Traffic Pile Up

Solid Rock, you are correct in all you say about the Street Machine Nats. I went to my first Nats in 1980 in Indy,then Springfield, then St. Louis, then DuQuoin it grew so big so fast, it became our one show a year we never missed. When it moved to our back yard in Joliet, the flame went out. It was just not the same. True it brought in tons of money but then Joliet acted like they did not need the money with the Track, the Cacino. The police were a bit over protective.
Now lets talk about the Pileup. I was at the second pile up in Sycamore and knew right away this would be a gathering I would not miss again and I didn't, it has since grown to a massive amount of cars and people. This just goes to show you, if you build it they will come. My family has now become such a big part of this we plan at the beginning of the year, we take the time off work, we work on the cars and our friends cars. We had a meeting time and place , every one was there on time. The caravan arrived at the show and waited 45 minutes to get in and had a great time all day long, we had 9 cars and about 30 people including the spectators. Not a sad face in the bunch. We had a great time and will be back again next year. My advice to any one is plan ahead and have an alternate plan if things change.
Changing the location like the Nats did could kill the whole thing. Think about it...

 

I was there, and I have to say yes getting in and out was a little bit of a cluster f&*k, but it was awesome!!! I couldn't believe the amount fo support and the great people there. I live 1/2 an hour away and it took over an hour to get out ans we left at 3, but the show was freakin' huge. Finally I got a little respect and love for driving a 60 year old car that by comparison to those "fortunate" few that can afford 100,00 dollar rides, looks les than perfect. Here I felt like I belonged, and most everybody had a work in progress, and we DROVE our cars in-not trailered!!! I am proud to be part of the brotherhood of people that are trying to keep this a grass roots hobby/lifestyle!!! I will be back next year, I will leave the house earlier that 11:00, but I already have the Hunnert Car stickers on my car as a badge of honor. We are leaving in a little bit to go to another car show in Morris today (Lions Club), and I refuse to wash of the mud, or even try to clean up the car, screw it, we are our own type of car show and to hell with all that think they are better because they have all day to wipe their cars down with diapers and put them back on the trailer and right back into the garage!!! Long live Hot Rodding!!!!!

 

The point has been made...the pile-up has once again outgrown it's location. 15 of the Lucky Stiffs arrived in 7 cars at 6:00 to wait in the cold until 9:00 to get in. We were parked within minutes and had a wonderful time freezing various body parts until about 2:30, when we packed up to go, due to other engagements. We spent an hour and a half trying to reach the main road, due to the huge numbers of cars and spectators. One of our club members actually ran out of gas right outside the main gate while attempting to leave. A thousand THANK YOU's to the dude with the flame throwing tow truck (yes, a flame throwing tow truck) who gave us a five gallon can of gas, and wouldn't take any money. He said to just leave some gas in the can, in case he needed to help someone else out. THAT is what makes the pile-up special. No real drama inside the gates, just outside in the real world where it can't be helped.

 

My son and I got there at 9am and had no problem parking or getting in.
This show has clearly gotten to big for this venue but I don't think anyone expected a crowd this size. We left at 11:30 as the fairgrounds was pretty sloppy from the previous days rains and the crowd was building making it tough to get around. The line to get in when we left was unbelievable! Traffic was backed up for miles! I think because this is one of the last events before winter everyone decided to come out and enjoy one of the best events in the midwest.

 

I love this show. This would have been my 5th straight pile up but I was turned away. I have always shown up between 12 and 1 with no problems, due to work. But, I was turned away around 1:30 yesterday. I like the location better than Joliet. It definitely needs a bigger location though. The only other choice would be to close it to the public and have prepaid tickets or something. I don't know. It just sucks that you bust your ass to get out of work, drive 2 hours to a car show, a "car show", and can't get in because it's too crowded. No one's fault. Just an awesome show and people know it.

 

Once again,Chrome Czars and Red Shirt Brigade, a big Thank You for one hell of a good time. I am sorry to hear about those that got turned away from the popo which is a lot like the word poop and that is all I have to say, as many of you can figure it out from there. Looking forward to next years event, wherever it will be.

 

I wonder if the Will County fairgrounds would be better? They have a pretty huge gathering around fathers day and it seems to go off pretty good. just a thought. I was at the gate collecting money when I was told to close it, I felt bad for those that we had to turn away. With all the parking nitemares , I'm sure there was some disapointment to get to the gate and be turned around.Some serious planning needs to happen to keep this show alive and true to it's roots. thanks for all that attended.

 

When you stop and think about all that's been said, about the car show. I think it says alot about how car people hang together, even though there has been so many lay off's and such. Most car show's are over flowing and to me this proves, "where there is a will there is a way". Hotrodding will never die!

 

haha! yeah thats no shit! hell the red shirt army is bigger then our show!!!

 

All I have to say is LONG LIVE THE PILEUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hail,Hail, the Chrome Czars and the Red Shirt Brigade. Dont change a damn thing except for more free PBR. Hell I dont drink but it still sounds like a good idea.

 

Wow gotta say this was all news to me. I had no idea what was going on outside the gates, but what I can say is we arrived about 7:15 am waited in line till the gates opened at 9:00. Was able to talk with lots of folks and pre-view a lot of the cars before the crowds got there. At 9 we drove right in parked and continued to have a great time. I think the Czars did an outstanding job and I'll be back again next year. As said before Long Live the Pile-Up. Gary

 

I volunteered to help out the Czars. I actually had to direct traffic at 2:00 to 4:00. I had to tell people they could not exit at north exit, but instead had to go down the middle aisles. Then we had to tell people they could not enter the parking lot with there cars and finally no more spectators allowed in either. Needless to say there were a lot of pissed off people. It was a really interesting experience. A patrol car actually blocked the north exit after 3-4 people bullied there way through the exit. Most people were pretty cool and just said, your just doing your job, but some(hot rodders included) were total a$$holes and cussed us out, spun gravel/mud all over us, and even bumped into a couple of us with there cars. I probably won't volunteer again if that is the duty I am to perform. The Czars did a great job on the show and just had an overwhelming turn out. It's not their fault. If anything talk to Grundy Co. Sheriff Dept about their lack of organization and subsequent traffis issues causing the Pile up to close early. Other than this and the cold weather I and the other 6 guys with me had a great time.
Thanks
Matt

 

Awsome show again this year, thanks to the Czars and the volunteers for another great one. I left early.. around noon..and saw the all the backups, problems, etc..Even rt. 80 was line up for a couple miles. So ...solutions have been discussed in this thread and others suggesting that it has outgrown Morris. Which may be true. But before you guys bail on this site in favor of a chicagoland speedway or something similar, isnt part of the "charm" of this show the surroundings ? Seems that I saw a great deal of the pit area and pit entrance road empty. And ...a couple fields that could hold a little overflow with a little leveling. Weather permitting. An anti establishment show like this may look out of place at a "poser venue" .. But I would still go if you did.

 

The Morris police told me at 1:30 the show was shut down, turn around and leave! SCREW THAT is what I said, parked on 47 and walked there. I was told I was taking a chance of my truck being towed......400 other cars were also parked along 47........good luck towing ALL of us! Great show as always, but its getting bigger every year and little ass Morris is too small........no matter what, I will be there next year. where ever it is!

Cheers

 

22 hours round trip in a late model truck just to take pics and see the show and I thought it was great. Thanks to everyone who has a hand in putting the show on, you cannot control the weather or predict how many people will show, all in all I was very pleased with the show. I'm planning on bringing my 63 Galaxie next year

540 pics going up tonight hopefully on my site, I'll pick my favs and post them somewhere here maybe tomorrow.

 

Had a ball again! Thanks for coming out, I got there at 7 am, and we left around 6, by then it wasn't bad at all to get out. The 45 minute drive in Evil Step Dads roadster was a blast too!

I were a volunteer,, and I can assure you that the DW and the Czars were not responsible for the pileup in the parking lot. This show is professionally managed as I have ever seen. Way too many cars trying to be in the same place as those that were leaving.

I had a ball anyway, even though I was freezing my ass off all day. And for those that got stuck in line, Hope the show was worth the wait anyway!

 

I am red shirt brigader for past HCPUs. I didnt attend this year due to family obligations. However in there defense they never expected for this to occur and its up to the Czars to make a decision for next years Pileup.

To make a thread about something they had no control over is immature.
If anything to have a show this big shows the dedication that the Czars and the red shirt brigade to traditional hot rodding. In my eyes the traffic is a valid complaint. Yet its also a testament to high quality of show that HCPU is for traditionalists due to such popularity.

Just my 2 cents from a fricking noob.

 

I went and got there at about 1:15. My bro came out of the show to meet me and said no more people could come in. Lots had parked in other areas near the entrance. I wasnt pissed only SAD. Fortunetly John got back in alright. I geuss the real losers are anyone who drove far or was to benifit from the charity bucks.
The red shirt guys I saw at the gate as I went by looked sad as all the cars drove by that wanted to get in didnt.
Ron

 

New guys here...I would like to thank everyone involved with the Pile-Up.
The Pile-Up will only get bigger, no one could predict how "HUGE" this years show would have been. Keep up the great work and I'll be back next year. Just a few more pennys.....The police may have been doing what they thought was the safest thing to do at that time, I'm sorry for the people who did not make it in to the show......I also agree, you need to get there early.

 

My adventure into the world of Kar Kulture and traditional style hotrods and Kustoms was interesting to say the least. I don't have a car that would qualify for the Hunnert, but I do have smoothies on the old HHR Panel trucklet. Drove down 47 only to be blocked at Woodstock and at Sugar grove because of street repair, I guess. It took me five hours to get to Morris. i got turned away so I did not get a chance to see the show, or draw cars. The highway was a show in itself and I got to see some pretty good cars. As I was stuck in traffic, i got to talk to some of the red shirts and we had a good conversation about the situation. I cannot believe that some hoons thought that harassing the volunteers was a good idea. I heard about the cussing, the spitting, the threatening to get hit. I guess these cowards wouldn't lip off to the Grundy County Deputies. Let's not let this turn into a Sturgis. I want so bad to go as members of my own car club (Wisconsin Street Rod Association...and yes we put on a great show in Fond Du Lac every Labor Day Weekend, just so you know) had been going and raving about this event. Well, maybe next year I will finally get to go, no matter where it winds up. And thanks to Chromeczars for the hard work and allowing me to be on their forums. I am the Mighty Lord Air Gtar...and I told you so!

 

That would be my only bitch about the show. The abuse that the Redshirts (and Redpants) had to take out front was inexcusable.

I was out there for a few minutes and got yelled at a couple times and there were a lot of other folks that got ALOT worse.

 

If you guys were not such a bunch of Sally's and hung around with us for a bit longer you could of driven out of the fairgrounds in about 10 minutes....LOL!! Hey I put a couple of fliers and booklest in your front seat please hang on to them for me.
Three Sisters is a great idea its a huge park with a fourlane highway out front.
As far as my experience with the show goes it was a great time as usual arrived early, left late, drank beer, had a good time with friends and brothers.
I went to the Lions Club show and the swap today and I have to say that show was alot bigger than I thought it would be. The cops got it right this time they were there early and directing the traffic.
See ya all next year where ever the show is.

 

I drove 18 hours and 1,260 miles from Montana. We had a medic who came from Iraq. Think about that before you complain about driving down from Milwaukee. (Not directed at you, personally, just the complainers.)

 

This was our 1st HCP & we went as vendors, (because I hurt the roadster's engine). We were in the outside area with old friends like Lenny from Speedcult & new ones like Andrea from Indy. Damn it was cold, I hope to thaw out by wednesday!

I have to say that the CC's did a bang up job on the show! I hope they beat last year's donation by a margin. Kudos to the Red-shirts too.

IMHO, ANY ass-pack that treats the volunteers in any manner that's less than courteous should be BANNED from events for life! This hobby doesn't need or deserve any bad PR, there's too many good folks here!

Thanks Czars, seeya next year!

 

totally off topic for this thread, but I feel the need to say Cob, you do an outstanding job on moderating this forum, I don't think I would be as civil as you in handling some of the matters you have to deal with .

 

I was there at 10:30 and got in coming from the north. I drove up from St. louis and spent the night in Rockford with family.

I left at 2:30 because I needed to be in Rockford for my wife's 40th class reunion at 6:00 PM. It took an hour to get out of the lot.

My opinions:
The show is now wayyyyy to large for the venue. It was close to that last year.
The porta potties had lines formed when I got in. There weren't enough of them.

The group of volenteers did a great job under some VERY tryuing coircumstances, and I did not see any one of them be anything except great to the HOARDS that had descended upon them. EVERY one I spoke to was pleasant, civil and helpful.

I would wager that 75% of the folks that were there had never heard of the HAMB. I talked to a few guys waiting in the exodus rush. NONE of then wer HAMBers or even knoew of the HAMB. My point is that the crowd was not the guys here on this board for the most part, so the tempers were out of control and there were a lot of idiots on the grounds. I saw one "tough guy" in his knit hat and sweats give a worker some grief then walk back to his car...a Hundai van.

There were more strollers there than previous years also. It looks like mainstream America has found out about the Hunnert.

I do hope a better venue can be arranged, but I think that the past days of the Hunnert being a great personal HOOT ROD show and an asshole free environment seem to be over. There were too many pure rat rods there.

PERSONALLY, I would rather pay $50 to get in to the show like it was in the past than $5.00 to get into what happened this year.

This, the Rust Revival, and the HAMB drags are my 3 favorite events. I do hope they can fix it!

Glenn

 

I'm wondering if it may be time to consider limiting the entry numbers, and/or "jurying" the applicants to limit the Pileup to traditional vehicles. Another possibility would be to raise entry fees...

Glenn's comment about the non-H.A.M.B.'ers is interesting...I have noticed that a great many of the people commenting in these HCP threads are brand new to the H.A.M.B., and, apparently, only felt the need to join here just to comment about HCP. Not sure what that means, if anything, except there seems to be some perceived connection between the two in people's heads.

 

I was a red shirt volunteer, first year at the show too.

I did spectator parking from 9 to about noon. Was supposed to get off at 11, but the crew after us needed a little help. By noon, the lots were basically full.

I was the guy at the end of the line telling people what space to park in. No one shit on me or treated me poorly. A few looked like they might have tried, but realized I was 6'5", 220 lbs

One guy complained about another red shirt attempting to park him next to a Toyota. Once he turned his truck off, I waived a Honda Civic ahead of a few others to park next to him Douchebag.

I have parked a few large events like that, bottom line, it only takes a few slow people in teh line to slow the whole line. We would have needed a much different arrangement from local PD to make it better.

Great show, I feel for those who didn't get in. I will be back and volunteer again, without a doubt.

Thanks to the Czars - a very cool group.

 

This was my first year at the Pile-Up and I had an awesome time! I would disagree on the first two points above and agree on the last.

I drank a few PBRs throughout the day and visited the porta-johns a few times. There were lines at the johns down the main strip but if you walk to the other end of the livestock barns they were just about empty.

I know parking was a big issue but I thought the fairgrounds were very cool. There was a ton of open space in the back and if there is not enough space between the rows up front (which seemed alright to me but others may disagree) than a half of a row, or maybe a full row, could be moved to the back to open up space.

I loved how Morris was packed with hot rodders after the show. A ton of very cool, very fun, people. In a big city it would be just another group of people in town, insurance convention last week, hot rodders this week, office supply convention next week, etc.

Did anyone else eat at Tobby's Mexi-Mart down town? Delicious and inexpensive!

I do agree that there were too many pure rats there. There was a group of older guys with 40's PUs all hacked to crap with junk welded all over them. Dumb, ugly and gives traditional hot rodders a bad name. I would like to see "no rat rods" added to the list of criteria. I don't think Hot Rod Magazine's hack job of an article last year helped this situation at all.