Jim Goodale explains there is a science to picking the 'best'
By Sharon Letts, The Eureka Reporter
With some 300 cars entered on Main Street and 40 classes of cars, judging Fortuna's Redwood AutoXpo is no small task.
"There are 16 stock classes, 22 modified classes and two special interest classes," said Jim Goodale, Downtown organizer and Vice President of the Redwood AutoXpo.
However, the job of who gets what award is not left up to just a handful of experts in classics or hot rod cars.
"The participants judge the cars," said Goodale, "We line the cars up on Main Street in a certain way that makes it easy to walk by and judge."
In effect, all the judges are experts in their own way. What better judges to have than the owners themselves?
"We have an unsaid code of ethics, too. You don't vote for your own car."
"The owners are more understanding of the work that goes into a good car," said Goodale. "We have an unsaid code of ethics, too. You don't vote for your own car."
According to Goodale, the list of what goes into considering the best car in a certain category is a science. Each year it's a little different, depending on what's entered.
"If we have 40 cars entered into the 1940 to 1950 category, that's a whole decade we have to break down. Because if we have five cars that are 1940 to 1946, we then need to adjust our categories to make it fair."
Making it fair is what it's all about. While the event gives out a lot of awards, they don't necessarily want to lose their competitive edge.