NorCal Knockout car show enters third year in Vallejo

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Want to see a lot of old steel fashioned into hot rods, kustoms, bombs, gassers and nostalgic race cars and gassers?

Well start your engines: The NorCal Knockout is gearing up for a lot of big block action this Saturday in Vallejo at the Solano County Fairgrounds.

Hank Forrs and Korena Goldstein founded the NorCal Knockout three years ago. “We run a music festival in Sweden. That’s when we decided to book and run the show, so actually we had only three months to promote the first show,” Forrs said.

Northern California is no stranger to car shows. What makes this one different, Forrs said, is the era and the variety.

Other shows commonly feature cars from before 1963-64. The NorCal Knockout cast a wider net.

“It is a car show for cars made before 1970,” Forrs said. “The criteria is American-made. We’re doing it old-style, so it’s hot rods, kustoms, gassers, race cars, motorcycles.

“Since we’re heavily into drag racing ourselves, we’re just going to keep spinning on that.

“We want to have a healthy mix of race cars. Then of course we have several nice hot rods and kustoms. It’s a big variety.”

That variety was on display last year, when the show drew “about seven ’55 Chevy gasser race cars, and we had a few top-fueled sling shots from the ’60s,” Forrs said.

He and Goldstein’s love of drag racing is part of what inspired the creation of this show. “Me and Korena, we were heavy into nostalgia drag racing, but also hot rods and kustoms, and motorcycles, and music,” he said.

They wanted to do something different with their show, so they decided to put a greater focus on the race car element. That approach also gives people who have old race cars a chance to let their rides shine.

“There’s so many nice old race cars up here, and they don’t get a chance to display their cars,” Forrs said.

For those old enough to remember the Vallejo Speedway on Sonoma Boulevard, which closed in 1974, Forrs promised some of the cars that actually raced at the Speedway will be on display at the show this weekend.

NorCal Vintage Hardtops, of Santa Rosa, will bring some cars and talk about their history, Forrs said.

“We’re really stoked about this. We’ve been trying to get them for the past three years. But they’re out, they’re racing, doing events and exhibition races.

“Finally they decided to come to our show this year.”

The show will be hosted by Vallejo-based car club Swanx, and will feature two live bands, that play early-1960s rock and roll. There will also be about 30 vendors, tattoo artists, and some race car exhibitions.

Among the artists will be pinstripers and a tiki carving artist — “a lot of things to look at if you walk around,” Forrs said. “There’s going to be a lot of nice stuff there.”

Two new elements they are adding to the show this year are the moustache competition and the car raffle. For a $5 dollar ticket, visitors can enter for a chance to win a 1962 Ford Ranchero.

And if you want to bring your pre-1970 American-made hot rod, kustom, bomb, gasser or nostalgic race car to the show, it’s not too late. Pre-registration is not required.

“It’s a huge fairground, so they don’t need to pre-register,” Forrs said.

The NorCal Knockout is a family-oriented car show on top of every thing else. “That’s the way we wanted it from the beginning,” Forrs said.

“If you can’t bring your kids into a car show and into a nice relaxed environment, it kind of takes the fun away.

“It is a kicked-back, relaxed car show,” he said.

If You Go
Round 3 of the NorCal Knockout will take place Saturday at the Solano County Fairgrounds, 900 Fairgrounds Drive, in Vallejo. Show vehicle registration gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 1 p.m. Spectator gate opens at 10 a.m. For more information, visit www.norcalknockout.com.