July 17-18, 2010, was the Import Alliance 2010 summer event at the Nashville SuperSpeedway. The event this year was pretty much a “mini-meet” versus the normal full-blown national NICOfest event it has been the previous 3 years. Still, for those in the Southeast and Mid-central areas who could not attend the Carlisle nor Omaha event it was a place to gather and IA assured us our usual location for the meet would be open for us.
Friday is usually the day we setup for the event and get things ready. This year, with less people being in town on Friday, along with other issues, we had to push setup until Saturday morning. Unfortunately, as Saturday morning came around, the IA staff started filling the designated NICO area up with vehicles first. By the time we could actually get someone inside there was only a minimal number of parking spots available for our members to gather. IA apologized but what was done was done. We did what we could and actually did have room for putting up some canopies and making an area for ourselves.
Saturday itself was crazy. There were thousands of cars on hand to the point that IA was parking cars throughout the morning on the raceway itself. It took some of us 1.5+ hours just to get through the line and into the track for the event. Pretty frustrating when you do get in only to find out you can’t park near your group. The weather was hot but at least it did hold of on raining. Great turnout for the Honda guys, not such a great turnout for other car manufacturers. Some suggested next years event should be called “Honda Alliance”.
By late Saturday afternoon the NICO gang was tired, hungry and ready to get out. We all packed up and headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and chatting. Afterward we headed to your respective hotels and the majority of us gathered for drinks by the pool and some swimming. In general, this was probably the most fun time the members had the whole weekend.
Sunday started off wet and late for the NICO team. Instead of an early start as planned the late night kept us from being early. We rolled in and staked our claim, this time a much larger claim at least. Sunday was less busy than the prior and the track was opened up for racing as well. Less crowds, more heat, less to do. Still, a good time talking to members and enthusiasts. So ended IA 2010..
Matthew Moody, NICOclub Administrator
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