Carlisle Events and its staff have won numerous awards since its inception in 1974.  Founded by Bill Miller and the late Elliot “Chip” Miller, the events at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds entertain over a half a million guests annually, plus draw over ten thousand classic and collector cars to America’s Automotive Hometown each season.  None of this would have been possible without the passionate efforts of two men who shared more than just the same last name.  Their efforts and decades of work/contributions within the collector car hobby have earned them a VERY special honor – being named 2019 Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum Automotive Heritage Award recipients.  The ceremony takes place at the AACA Museum’s “Night at the Museum” gala and silent charity auction on October 9 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

There’s a bit of irony surrounding this award for Bill and Chip, as the October 9, Hershey based ceremony is also home to where it all started for the Miller’s (not related) more than 45 years ago.  It was 1973 and Chip was selling a ‘50s era Corvette at the AACA’s big event in Chocolate town.  What the young men didn’t realize at the time, was that while the Corvette in question seemed “old” to them, it did not classify as a classic car.  As such, they were asked to remove the car from the grounds. 

“We decided we needed a place for guys like us who liked the kinds of cars that we did,” said Bill Miller.  With a rented fairground and some loan money, Bill and Chip set out to make history, and they most certainly did.  Over the years, their efforts have resulted in billions of local economic impact dollars, countless jobs, thousands of dollars in charitable monies, dozens of cars given away, proposals, marriages, babies, generations of guests and a mecca for car lovers from around the world to converge and “talk shop” for a weekend.

After many years of hard work, the duo receives this amazing honor, albeit posthumously for Chip.  The Automotive Heritage Award is designed to honor and provide public recognition for an individual(s) who made an exceptional contribution to the hobby by preserving antique automobiles and motorsports vehicles, exhibiting their vehicles, promoting the hobby, engaging in sustained, noteworthy activities that have positively impacted the hobby and using his/her position in the hobby for philanthropy and service to others.  This is the third annual offering of the award.  Past award recipients include race car driver Bobby Rahal and Gale Halderman, the man who sketched the first Ford Mustang. 

This recognition is the latest in a line of honors for Bill and Chip since the inception of Carlisle Events.  Past honors include the Meguiars Award, Central Penn Business Journal Persons of the Year (with Lance Miller), the Others Award from the Salvation Army and many more local and regional honors.  In addition, Chip was posthumously inducted into the National Corvette Hall of fame in 2013.

Lance Miller, Chip’s son, will accept on his behalf, while Bill Miller will join Lance on the stage for this amazing recognition.  Complete event information is available at www.aacamuseum.org/events or by calling the AACA direct at 717-566-7100.

Herb Houston of South Carolina has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the MotorCrush 100K Sweepstakes.

The public announcement came at the IMSA Northeast Grand Prix—part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series—on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at Lime Rock Park just before 10:00am. MotorCrush users and Grand Prize-hopefuls were able to tune-in via Instagram Live to hear the winner’s name, but only one of them went home with a modified Nissan GT-R valued at $70,000.

Houston, who had been contacted prior to the event and was flown-in the day before, accepted the keys. “When I received the news, I asked myself, ‘Is this for real?’ There was disbelief, coupled with a lot of excitement,” he said. “I was sworn to secrecy up to this point, but now I can finally share this with my friends, family, and the MotorCrush community.”

Shortly after Houston got behind the wheel, he was asked to slide over to the passenger seat as professional sports car champion and ALIVE® founder Andy Lally took him out onto the track to show Houston the full capabilities of his new ride. The GT-R is outfitted with a 3.8L twin-turbo V6 engine, 6-speed dual clutch, and 480 horsepower—all wielded with the expertise of a pro driver.

The experience, and the car, were made possible thanks to MotorCrush’s partners, Lockton Motorsports Insurance® and Lime Rock Park, as well as the hard work of their build contributors, including:

• K&N® Filters
• Motul
• Designer Wraps
• Committed Service Brand; and
• J-Tune Performance

The app serves to connect enthusiasts to all aspects of the motoring community. For Houston, this is what drew him to MotorCrush. “I've been into cars almost my whole life,” he said, “and grew up in a thriving car culture.  But since I have been raising a family in a very rural community, it's all removed. With MotorCrush, I was able to interact with other enthusiasts in spite of the distance.”

Houston said his top priority after leaving Lime Rock Park will be to show his new ride to his father.

The sweepstakes, which ran from November 1, 2018 to May 15, 2019, may be over, but there is more to look forward to from the ALIVE Team. In the fall, Lally will be taking the six recipients of the Andy Lally Track Day for a ride of their own. The Team also plans to host sweepstakes for ALIVE’s two other products: Track Rabbit and Awesome Joe Auctions. 

Life is Good – that’s what Chip Miller would always say.  For a pair of recent fund-raising events hosted by the late National Corvette Hall of Famer’s namesake foundation, not only was it good, it was great!  On Friday, July 19, the Chip Miller Amyloidosis Foundation welcomed hundreds of surfers and dozens more families for its 16^th Annual Surf Fest and 4^th annual Slide for Amyloid & Taste of OC.  

In the days leading up to Surf Fest, the ocean was calm by surfing standards, but with Chip Miller looking down on an event he’d surely be proud of, King Triton rose up, offering perfect surfing conditions with waves not seen in OCNJ all summer. 

Registration got things going at 7:30 a.m.  with surfers of all ages and skill sets taking part in the fun.  Nearly a hundred surfers took part with the top 6 being recognized in 7 different categories.  Those categories included Girls 12 & Under, Girls 13 & Up, Boys 12 & Under, Jr. Men, Men, Longboard and Parent/Child.  Category winners (in the same order) include Brynn Gallagher, Mia Gallagher, Cruz Dinofa, Tucker Collins, Stephen Zakroff, Kaiden Cameron and the Edington Family.

Complete results are available HERE.

As if cooling off IN the ocean wasn’t enough on a day when temps touched triple digits, the CMAF had more water themed fun planned for the evening.  Just blocks from the surf beach sits the Ocean City Water Park and as the sun faded to the west, the 2019 turnout and subsequent festivities topped last year’s event.  Earned money was well over $30,000 and surpassed last year’s totals, while sixteen restaurants and eateries in OC donated some of the best food anyone could want as part of the evening.

My father, Chip Miller was looking down on us this beautiful beach day,” noted CMAF president Lance Miller.  “We haven’t had waves all summer and everyone couldn’t believe their eyes once they peered towards the ocean and saw some incredible surf pouring in for the contestants to enjoy. We couldn’t have asked for better surf and weather,” continued Miller.

Miller also noted that the weather (and his wife) played a key role in the Taste of OC/Slide for Amyloid event too. 

“The weather couldn’t have been better for an evening at the OC Waterpark. My wife, Michele, really took the helm this year and worked diligently on getting local eateries behind the Taste of OC.  I was simply stunned at the transformation she and her friends did to make the waterpark an elegant yet laid back setup. The food was out of this world! The outpouring of rave reviews were constant all evening long, people really loved the food. We couldn’t have done it without the amazing OC community.”

These two events are just two of many on the summer schedule for the CMAF.  The next event happens Saturday, July 27 at the OCNJ Skate Park as part of the 3^rd Annual Skate Fest.  Following Skate Fest, the CMAF turns its attention to Carlisle Pennsylvania for Corvettes at Carlisle, the annual CMAF dinner and Corvette raffle giveaway hosted by the Lancaster County Corvette Club.

As with all events, prices and participation vary, but complete details on the 2019 season can be found online at www.ChipMiller.org or via the CMAF Facebook page, www.facebook.com/AmyloidosisAwarenes.  Can’t make the event?  Donate today via the CMAF web page.  Either way, join in the fun and support a great cause along the way.

Since 1982 Corvettes at Carlisle has been hosting the hottest cars and coolest guests associated with America’s Sports Car, the Corvette. In some cases, event weekend coincides with the pending release of the next generation of Corvette as was the case in 2013 when the C7 Stingray helped usher in a then Fun Field record of 2,823. That number was surpassed last year with 2,842 Corvettes in attendance and both are in serious jeopardy as part of the 2019.  Why?  Because Team Chevrolet announced that the all-new 2020 C8 mid-engine Corvette will be in Carlisle.

This year’s show, presented by Corvette America, runs August 22-25 at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds and will not only host the C8...it’ll host another C8...and another...and another.  That’s right, not one, not two, but 14 C8s will be on hand.  Five will be within the Team Chevrolet tent on the midway for product walk arounds with Team Chevrolet engineers.  Two more will be right across the aisle, including one C8 that will be showcased within an impressive 30 x 30 foot glass display with info monitors, tech sessions and more. This set up will also include a second Corvette on a display platform.  The other seven cars will be positioned randomly on grounds, offering a thrill of the hunt type experience for car lovers.

Team Chevrolet always brings a solid core of engineers and product specialists to Carlisle and 2019 is no different.  Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter is expected to be on hand, while Harlan Charles is confirmed to appear.  Additional Team Chevrolet members will be on hand too, in fact, 33 of them are scheduled to appear.  They’ll all be at Carlisle to join the over 60,000 guests for this annual summer Corvette celebration.  Bringing these minds behind the machines to Carlisle helps further their relationship with its core enthusiast base. In addition, positioning the C8 at Corvettes at Carlisle solidifies the show’s place in automotive circles.

With such fanfare surrounding the car, the Team Chevrolet members and the show itself, Corvette owners and lovers are encouraged to make plans for the weekend fun. In addition to the amazing C8 debut, Corvettes at Carlisle welcomes a Challenge Car reunion, race prepared Corvette display, Modified Corvettes as part of Chips Choice, a special 50th display of 1969 Corvettes, autocross backed by Lingenfelter Performance, the downtown Corvette parade, annual Chip Miller Amyloidosis Foundation dinner and more.

“The new generation Corvette is the biggest transformation Corvette in history,” noted Lance Miller, co-owner of Carlisle Events and host of Corvettes at Carlisle.  “I’m a huge advocate of mid-engine sports cars and I’m thrilled Chevrolet ran with it!  I drove my C7 daily and truly cherished each drive I took in the car.  I’m eager to get behind the wheel of the new mid-engine C8,” continued Miller.  “The Corvette team shares a sincere passion about the car and this passion spills over to the lucky owners/drivers of the Corvette.  I often hear people talk about how great the 60’s era sports cars were, but today is simply mind boggling. It’s a great time to be alive! The best American made sports car just got better,” added Miller.  “Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better it has and I applaud the Corvette team for looking outside the box and running with what they feel is the best product for the enthusiasts to enjoy.” 

Complete details about the event, include links to register for the Fun Field and buy tickets can be found at www.carlisleevents.com or by calling 717-243-7855.

Annually the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals are a crowd pleaser, both with the diversity of its showfield and the depth of its automotive flea market.  Those aspects, combined with some stellar cooperation from Mother Nature helped power the 2019 event to an all-new showfield record.  In fact, this year’s record turnout was the second consecutive year that a record was broken and the fourth time since 2015 that the feat has been accomplished.  After all the cars came and went, the 2019 total reached 2,803.

By mid-day Thursday, the grounds were coming to life as patrons were trickling in, along with the cars and vendors.  Everyone onsite came looking to catch a glimpse of a bustling showfield in the making, plus beat the competition as it relates to parts shopping within the automotive flea market.  Speaking of the flea market, it was beyond sold out for 2019.  So much so that extra space was added on the east side of the grounds just to accommodate the demand from sellers.  This has never happened before during Chrysler weekend.

In addition, the featured vehicle displays took shape.  Building Y hosted a dedicated Summer of ’69 showcase, with a dozen or so of the best examples from 50 years ago.  This display welcomed a non-stop flock of enthusiasts.  Within Building T, a general snapshot of cars and trucks filled the floor and were anchored by some gems.  Themes included A12 cars, additional best of the best featured cars, Daytona & 500 cars and M-Codes.

While Carlisle welcomed individuals as special guests, Dodge hosted the true stars of the weekend, the cars (and trucks) that make their brand so popular.  Within the Dodge garage were RAM trucks, Hellcat Challengers, the Durago and the biggest car star of them all, the ALL-NEW 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody.  This car was the featured attraction both in the Dodge Garage tent as well in front of the stage with two walk-arounds where Dodge product host John Hammer offered an exciting look at the latest Dodge offering.  Following the walk-arounds, Dodge thrill ride driver Mike Burris wowed the crowd with a meaty Hellcat Challenger burnout.

As far as special guests go, Dave Rea and Chris Jacobs, both with ties to MotorTrend TV (formerly Velocity) were the big names on the roster for event weekend.  In addition, the Ramchargers and Golden Commandos were represented, Mr. Norm returned to Carlisle and Herb McCandless offered an impressive display of cars just opposite the Dodge Garage.  In fact, McCandless was more than a little bit of a star during the weekend, as a production crew was on-site following him daily as part of a project that chronicles his life and success both on the track and off.  He even hosted seminars packed with standing room only crowds.

The sights and sounds of the event were palpable too, with engine revs, horn honks and tires squealing all weekend. Some of the best sensory moments came from Dodge via their wildly popular thrill ride program, while the Saturday afternoon burnout offered a little added fun, with Dodge putting a Hellcat into the pit, plus more than a half a dozen enthusiasts competed to be king of the hill.  In all, the weekend was truly amazing!

Day three of the event was also the last day of the 2019 Carlisle Chrysler Nationals.  The gates once again opened at 7 a.m. and like minded Mopar fans took one last pass on the showfield.  At 9 a.m. the Salvation Army hosted its non-denominational worship service, while the awards parade featured the best of the weekend, representing over 150 classes.  In all, it left guests wanting more and looking forward to next year.  Speaking of next year, the 2020 dates are July 10-12 and event registration is open now!