The Bristol Bash Becomes The Commerce Challenge in ‘04

We’ve got some big news - we’ve made a major change in our show schedule. We’re moving our signature event, the Bristol Bash, to Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia for 2004.

We’re renaming the event the Year One Commerce Challenge, and it’s been moved up one week, now scheduled for October 8th, 9th, and 10th, 2004. The Commerce Challenge will be similar to the Bristol Bash, although the change in venue means there will be some changes to the program. Why the change? Primarily it’s because we wanted to host our big annual event a little closer to home. Atlanta Dragway is a mere 20-miles from our headquarters in Braselton, Georgia. This will make the logistics of putting on the event much simpler, and it’s a great way to get our local friends and customers more involved in the activities. Atlanta and the surrounding metro area is a great automotive enthusiast town, and holding our big event at home this year is a good way to support the local enthusiast community. We also wanted to support our local track – Atlanta Dragway. We’ve had a relationship with the facility for a couple of years now. We sponsor the Friday night test and tune program, known as Year One Fast Fridays, and by holding the Commerce Challenge at the Dragway it reinforces this important relationship. We have to give a special thanks to Craig Armstrong and Ron Snell from Atlanta Dragway for being so accommodating to us. Ron and Craig have been great to work with on our Fast Friday program, and they were certainly instrumental in our decision to hold the Commerce Challenge at their facility. Moving our event from Bristol is definitely no reflection on the people at Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway. Their facility is without a doubt one of the nicest in the country, and the personnel there always made us feel welcome and did everything they could to help make the Bristol Bash a big success. Our three years at Bristol have been great, and it will be a challenge for us to match the standard set at the Bash. Thanks to everyone at Bristol for all the help the past three years. As mentioned earlier, the Commerce Challenge activities will be similar to those at Bristol, with a few changes. We will still be having a huge, multi-make car show with awards based on participant vote. We will also have a number of activities for the kids to enjoy – fun for the family is a recurring theme in every event we hold and it’s something that will never change no matter where we go in the future. The Year One Cup, our annual award and amenities package presented to a deserving vehicle and owner, will be presented at the Commerce Challenge in 2004. And, as always, the Cup winner will be determined by a select group of industry VIPs and members of the media. We think the Year One Cup is one of the most prestigious awards in the industry, and we intend to keep it that way. Since the Commerce Challenge is being held at Atlanta Dragway, there will be plenty of drag racing in the schedule. We will once again host a F.A.S.T. Shootout for the wildly popular factory appearing cars. The factory appearing guys always put on a fantastic show, and the F.A.S.T. class is our signature drag racing event. We’re honored to be associated with this type of drag racing and the enthusiasts that make it happen. If you’re a muscle car and drag racing fan, the F.A.S.T. Shootout alone is worth the trip to Commerce. You just won’t believe how nice these cars are, or how fast they cover the quarter mile. We’ll also hold a True Street Challenge at Commerce, which is very popular with both the late-model enthusiasts as well as owners of early models. Participation in this race has been outstanding at Bristol, and we expect even more cars to enter this year in Atlanta. Along with the F.A.S.T. and True Street race, we’ll have a bracket race program, too. We haven’t finalized the bracket plans yet, but we’re thinking about holding two races, one class for slicks and electronics, and another for street tires and foot-brakers. We’ll let you know as soon as these plans are put to bed. Along with the organized racing, there will be plenty of test and tune time for everyone else. What else? There will be a swap meet area where bargain-hunters can look for those hard-to-find used parts, and of course we’ll have a Manufacturers Midway with displays from the biggest names in the automotive performance and restoration world. There will also be a chassis dyno present for those interested in learning how much power their ride makes at the rear wheels. One traditional element of the Bristol Bash has been the autocross course. We’re still trying to put together a suitable course at the facility, but we’re running into some space issues! We’re working with the SCCA on the autocross course again, and if it’s possible at all we’ll have one at the Commerce Challenge. Check back with us in the next couple of months if you’re an autocrosser to see if we’ve got everything worked out. Finally, here’s a little teaser for next year. We are working on a plan to hold the largest event we’ve ever hosted in the spring of ’05. This event will include everything we’ve discussed above, plus a lot more. We’re talking two racetracks, Atlanta Dragway along with the world-class Road Atlanta road course (only six miles from our headquarters). How about a huge car show, drag racing, road racing, driving schools, autocrossing, dynos, the ’05 Year One Cup, and special events at both tracks and our Braselton headquarters? No names or dates yet, but if everything comes together as we want it to, the Spring of ’05 event may set the standard for all future automotive happenings. Stay tuned for more details… As always, thanks for your support of Year One, and if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact us.