It's Not a Contest

Our friend Tim is pretty adamant that NNL's are intended to friendly, non-competitive events.  He should know, as one of the original NNL participants 32 years ago.  Never-the-less, NNL's can still feel competetive.  Maybe because the state of the art is so high.  Maybe because they are non-judged events and those few People's Choice awards are so coveted.  It says a lot to have one's work recognized by peers based on whatever criteria they deem fit.  Noone is holding a given voter to a standard of judging objectivity.  People just vote for what they like.
 
The NNL National held last Saturday in Sylvania, OH had a big turnout for the theme class, "Straightline Racers"  I think the sponsoring club did right by splitting the award into Contemporary and Vintage Straightline Racer.  The Contemporary award went to Clay Kemp's Pro-Mod Camaro.  And I'm pleased to report that the Vintage Straightline Racer theme award went to my Freight Train twin engine dragster.  It must be noted that the Best in Show People's Choice went to Randy Derr's exquisite large scale sprint car.  It's an honor to be in such company, and I'm not just referring to Clay and Randy-there were a many, many great models at Sylvania and great people.