From Jonathan Lamas,
Your Guide to Mustangs.
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On March 29th, 2008 the 4th Annual Get Out of the Cold Mustang Event took place at the Maryland International Raceway (MIR) in Budds Creek, Md. In all, more than 125 Mustang enthusiasts gathered for the event which was presented by the Bad Mustangs Club.

About the Event

The history of the event dates back to March of 2005. At the time, event visionary Jason Heinz decided he should get out and meet all the Mustang enthusiasts he had been talking to on the internet. Heinz said, "My wife pointed out to me that I was talking with fellow Mustang enthusiasts and thinking of them as friends; however I had not met any of them in person. 'Are they actually real people?' So I decided, 'You're right, I need to meet some of these people in real life'." Jason's goal was to hold an event before the April Show season began. He settled on the 4th or 5th Saturday in March.

As for the first event, Heinz said, "We had 11 Mustangs show up at an abandoned parking lot across from King's Dominion just north of Richmond, Va." He might not have known it at the time, but his event would grow and grow each year, from 11 attendees in 2005 to 125 in 2008.

The 2008 Show

Like many Mustang shows across the country, the Get out of the Cold event offers a variety of activities for those in attendance. "We do group runs down the race track, a best in show competition, sound off, raffles, and we have a dinner afterwards for those that want to come," said Heinz.

This year's show even featured a swap meet. Heinz explained, "The swap meet was actually the racetrack's swap meet. They let us have our event there while they were having their swap meet. I think that helped more people see what we were about because a lot of people walked through taking a look at all the other Mustangs on display."

Heinz's favorite part of this year's event was his time behind the mic as the event's MC. He said, "My favorite part of this year's activities was giving the commentary as our members raced down the track. We had a few grudge matches that came up, so it gave more of a personal feel with me making the announcements. I got comments from both the people in the stands as well as the racers that were listening on their radios."

Speaking of the track, this year's show featured a 1978 Mustang II that ran 10's in the 1/4 mile. This second generation pony won the Lowest Elapsed Time category. The Highest MPH award went to a 2004 Comp Orange Cobra at 125.65 MPH driven by Mel who is known online as Chvyetr. Jeff/06VistaBlueGT won the award for Best Reaction time at .007. Best In Show, a 1991 Retired Georgia State Patrol LX Coupe SSP Mustang, went to Lisa/93FHPSSP. The car had been completely restored to its patrol days. It even had a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the front seat!

The show also featured several raffles. The 50/50 Raffle was won by JB/Baulkin. UPR gave the Get Out of the Cold crew a set of their 05-08 Mustang Billet AC Knob Covers to raffle. The owner of a 2008 Mustang, Joe/NJJoe, won the prize.

In all, attendance at this year's show consisted mostly of local clubs in the area and online clubs. Heinz said, "Most people that attended in 2008 were from New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia."

2008 sponsors of the event included Bad Mustangs Club, UPR, Corsa Performance Exhausts, Edelbrock, March Performance Pullies, and Moss Motors.

Next Year's Show

Looking to next year, Heinz said he plans to hold the show again. He said, "This is the 4th year I've had the show. I will keep holding them as long as there are people that want to attend. Plus it gives me an excuse to hang out with my Mustang friends for the day." There's no doubt about it, Jason is a true Mustang guy through and through.

Next year's show will feature a "How-to clinic" where Mustang owners can learn how to install products on their Mustangs. "I want to show people that you can actually do a lot of things to your Mustang yourself", said Heinz. The sound off will also return next year. According to Heinz, it was so crowded at this year's event they decided to scrap that part of the show. Then they read surveys from those in attendance talking about how much they missed the sound off. As such, it will return in 2009.

To learn more about next year's event, visit www.getoutofthecold.net. To see more photos from this year's event, check out photos taken by the club, or visit our Show Gallery.