Still undecided about making a trip to the Americruise? Well you've got less than a month to make up your mind and get your hot rod or custom ready for an event that's guaranteed to keep you and your car busy. We'll have driving activities that'll test your ride's limits, the first of which will be an autocross course set up with cones in the parking lot. Every driver will be timed on each lap through the course and, not surprisingly, the fastest time wins bragging rights and a trophy. Should be plenty of tire smoke and wild action as the hot rods are pushed to their limits.
The opportunity to test your car's acceleration and braking will be available during the Go & Whoa contest. Your reaction time will be important as you accelerate in a straight line (with tires smoking, we hope) and brake just in time to stop within a preset area marked with two lines. The car and driver who can do this in the quickest time wins. Specialists from ABS Power Brakes will be on hand to answer questions or suggest improvements for your brake system if it seems to be out of balance or isn't performing to the level you think it should.
If participating in these two events sounds like something you need to do, your car must have seatbelts and go through a quick inspection to make sure it has stuff like working brakes and throttle return springs. If you have a roadster or convertible and want to participate, you'll need to bring a helmet.
What are you waiting for? Get out in the garage and get ready-we'll see you in Lincoln.
Rod and Custom of the Year AwardsIf you think your car might have what it'll take to win the title of Rod & Custom Rod of the Year (pre-1949) or the Rod & Custom Custom of the Year (1949-1964), you'll need to be at the Americruise on Friday and be parked in the specified area. The R&C staff will go around and select the Top Five in each class based on the following judged categories:
| Exterior Design | 100 points |
| Fit and Finish | 100 points |
| Interior | 100 points |
| Engine Compartment | 100 points |
| Undercarriage | 100 points |
Once the Top Fives have been selected, it'll start getting interesting as we run each car through a safety inspection, and then on Saturday make some timed runs through the autocross course, do a 0-40-mph acceleration test, and a 40-0-mph brake test. The best car in each event will be awarded 100 points and the rest will be awarded a percentage of points based on how close they were to the best time. On Saturday night the 10 cars will be required to participate in a cruise (Reliability Test) to somewhere in Lincoln. The cruise will be pass or fail-if you make it, you get 100 points, if not, you get none.
Getting Your Money's WorthYou might not be able to fill you gas tank for $20, but you can have a weekend full of fun for that amount. Pre-registration is only $20 and includes a vehicle, a driver and co-pilot credentials (kids 15 and younger get in free), a goodie bag, and your chance to take part in any of these activities: