Entered the first car show I've ever entered this past weekend. It was an all Corvette show and covered every generation. I'd say 200 cars total, give or take a few. Each generation had it's own stock class and modified class with modified being anything with more than 6 mods. Several generations, including the C6, were even divided in half by year ranges so the older C6's weren't competing with the newer ones. I went for the experience and wasn't expecting any awards, but after arriving and only seeing maybe around a dozen C6's that weren't obviously "modified", and realizing they were split in half by year and each half had 1st - 3rd place awards and then an overall award for all C6's, and then walking around and looking at all the cars, I thought maybe I had a shot at something. I was at my car when the judges came around. Looked like they barely looked at it much less ask any questions. Needless to say, my name wasn't called for any awards. There were quite a few white vette's at the event and I didn't see a single white car when a single award in any class. I guess white was just too plain for the judges. The blasted through the field so fast, an announcement was made on the PA that the awards would be moved up an hour - until they realized many people were out getting lunch so they changed the time back to the original. I'm probably just whining or will be seen to be just whining, but for a paid event with supposedly "qualified" judging, I was a bit disappointed. Seemed to be more eyeballing went on more than judging if they spent no more time on the other cars than they did on mine. I did have a good time hanging out with the rest of the 20 guys that went from my club. We did, at least, win the club participation award. So, while I'm proud to represent as the stock C6 of the year here on the forum, that didn't help me much at the show.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/185576320@N03/, on Flickr

 

White is always a tough sell at the shows. Red, black, and yellow win more often than not.

 

IMO to win at car shows you need the gaudy custom pieces. I personally don’t like that stuff, so I go to shows just to hang out. Never expect to get noticed.

 

Participating in a show and expecting any award is defeating the purpose of going to a show which SHOULD be nothing more than idle chit chat and day long car conversation. People get way to wrapped up in the pat on the back award.

 

I'd call it a damn successful show for you.
But if you must win did you go look at the cars in your class to see how they differed?

 

I go to many Vette shows to socialize and I do not expect an award but at one show I was shocked as I won the award and $100 cash!

 

My wife & I brought our '70 and '12GS to a show last weekend - both cars won a trophies!!! I'm thinking 18 cars, pouring rain & 75 trophies had something to do with it.

 

Congrats on the new experience! I usually enter 3-4 shows a year, and the local Corvette Club show is my favorite. As others have said, you can't ever expect to win an award. Just go for the experience and any trophy is just a cherry on top. I have felt slighted at shows where much lesser cars (IMO) have won and have also won awards I didn't think I had any business winning. It is a total crap shoot.

 

I participated in maybe six Pacific Northwest Shows last summer.......All of them sponsored by a different Corvette Club.
Most (all) of these shows , every entry/participant gets a ballot and walks around to vote for their choice
of C1 thru C7 and maybe Best Eng, best paint ent

My general conclusion is that the majority of the Top Awards (1st, 2nd place) go to Club members that accumulated
the most votes by their friends (other club members).

Ive worked long and hard to polish my paint and add some exterior mods to my 12' Grand Sport. The Physical award
is not all that important to me, but I do like my car being recognized when/if it appears "better" than John Doe's

In my opinion the best venue show, best organized show, best music show, biggest attendance show I Participated in
was the SALEM,OR Glass On The Grass / Willamette Valley Corvettes Show. with 160 Vettes......

While I didnt win any Class awards I was thrilled to receive the below plaque presented by a sponsor...........

Chuck S Auburn,WA

 

Well I guess you did not read the complete post. The OP clearly said that the classes were stock and modified.

 

Once people learn that going to shows is not about a trophy, but just the fun of hanging out with people that have the same interests. If you ae really concerned ask before you start or as soon as you get there, how will the cars be judged. While I was never a fan of the participant judging, I never felt that the host club won because in most cases the host club only displays their club cars, or are judged separately from the other cars, or at least that is how it should be. I find that many people really don't judge fairly in the participant style of judging. Many simply don't really walk around taking the time to look over each and every car, so they stick close to home (area of their car). A good judged show will spend time and have a real judging sheet breaking down the specific areas, Interior, exterior, wheel and tire and engine. It should take a little time to look all these areas over and then there will be the tiebreaker items. I have judge many shows when I was in a large club, We were assigned a specific class and it would normally take around 1-2 hours to judge the class.
Again don't go expecting a trophy go for the fun and should you win, that just makes it all the better.

 

The OP also said that stock was anything up to 6 mods.

 

Always loved the C6 GS in white. Very nice.

 

Why can’t it be about both winning and the camaraderie? I expect to win every show I enter.

 

I was told by a judge at one show that he was deducting points because I had a white car
and they are to easy to keep clean and hide swirl marks.
No trophy for me that day. It’s given me a good story for several years!
My car has won best in class several times and come within a point of best in show, yet I don’t
need another trophy. It feels good to win but it’s ok if I don’t

 

I think I would have complained to the show people. No judge should ever first do anything like that and second never admit it. I have judged white cars before and swirls will still show.

 

While I agree and I did read that as that can be a very common part of classifying a car class, the person I was quoting said "IMO to win at car shows you need the gaudy custom pieces. " The reason many shows set many shows have that little point of 4-6 changes is because, if you don't someone can come in with a set of after market wheels and they would be considered modified and then be in a class where other cars are truly modified with a lot of things. A good show will also have a Custom class. But either may most local shows are supposed to be based on overall cleanliness and a good judge will and should only judge on that.

 

Appreciate the responses. Just want to clarify a few things. First, I absolutely did go for the experience and did enjoy spending the better part of a day with my club and other vette lovers. One of our guys even organized a scenic route to the event and we caravan'd over and that was fun. I had no prior expectation of an award and am not crushed that I didn't win one. It was just that, as circumstances unfolded, I suddenly felt like I may have a shot. The hosting club did not do the judging - they hired that out to a third party. Also, it appeared that the club reserved a separate set of awards for their members to avoid the appearance of their members getting preference for the regular awards, so I give them a lot of credit for that. I guess my rant is basically that the judges appeared to take very little time to look closely at all of the cars - so much so, that the awards could have been moved up an hour or more. On the other hand, in a stock class, how much can you really analyze and compare between multiple cars other than things like standout colors vs. white, etc. The rules stated that stock is 0 to 6 minor changes and no paint or interior changes. My interior has aftermarket Lloyds floor mats and a Proclip cell phone holder. If those count as interior changes, then I guess I got DQ'd right there. I did look at many other cars and paid particular attention to the other C6's and in no way feel like the winners were undeserving. There was another C6 (vert) from my club there and it was every bit as clean and like new as the others, but it was also white. Not sure if they would have given it to me, but it would be nice to know what we lost points for so we'd know in the future. I don't know if I was being BS'd or not, but a guy I met asked me if I had a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit in the car because points are added for those. I don't have those things and didn't notice whether or not others did. If that was true, I suppose that could be a deciding factor between any 2 otherwise very similar stock cars.

 

Let me see if I can break this down for you seeing I have been going to many Corvette shows and I have judge many also. First " I guess my rant is basically that the judges appeared to take very little time to look closely at all of the cars - so much so, that the awards could have been moved up an hour or more." I can only guess that more cars attended then expected and the judges were rushed to get their judging sheets in so all the scores could be totaled. I agree if you are a paid judge you should spend the same amount of time on each car and look at the same areas. Also a good judge that is doing a specific class may know what points have been awarded to other cars in the class he judged and when they get to a car that they see issues that would take off points need there is no time to simply look at the car as if it has a chance of winning, not that I am saying that is what took place in your case. As for your interior "My interior has aftermarket Lloyds floor mats and a Proclip cell phone holder." I have never seen that as being considered modified, but a properly run show would have given you the opportunity to remove the mats and holder. Next, " it would be nice to know what we lost points for so we'd know in the future." Most clubs will take the time to let you see your score sheet but they will not always want to discuss it. Finally, " I don't know if I was being BS'd or not, but a guy I met asked me if I had a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit in the car because points are added for those. " I have been to shows in the past where they have given a few extra points for specific safety items that you mentioned, but it is always it is spelled out on the show application, if not then no extra points should be allowed.
Remember ever show is different when it comes to classifying the car class, judging, and so on. Some clubs do straight participant judging, others used their members to judge and other hire judges. Most shows will also use some form of judging sheets and unless there is a glaring issue on vehicle when the judge first gets to the car they should take the time to judge the car completely. Most of the big Corvette shows the judging can be real tough and they really go over the car completely which as I mentioned in an earlier post it would include wheels & tires, interior, exterior and engine. Those four areas can take some time to look over. Most of the shows the judges check inside the wheel wells for dirt with their hands as well as the barrels of the wheels for brake dust. Engine they look for dirt and oil leaks and overall cleanliness and of course the exterior they look for swirls and scratches in the paint body, gaps, overall shine in the paint and any damage to the body and paint.
I hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the info. There was a separate award for "participant's choice" where everyone voted on their favorite. Everything else was strictly by the judges and I don't believe the judges were from the hosting club - they hired out the show and judging to a third party. Not going to give the name because I don't want to be bashing anyone - that's honestly not my point here. The weather was unseasonably cold that day so the turnout was about average, according to those that have gone before. There certainly weren't too many cars or more than were expected. I think you hit on what really is the source of my concern with respect to "those four areas can take some time to look over". I didn't see anyone taking any particular time to really look and check for things like that. What I saw was 2 guys with clipboards basically come and walk around it, jot something down, and then move on to the next one. But, to be fair, I believe that was the same amount of scrutiny all of the other cars got as well. Again, though, it was my first experience on that side of it, and I did enjoy the parts I went there to enjoy.