The Hot Nights and Hot Cars summer cruise-in series returned to downtown Pilot Mountain on Saturday and, to the delight of organizers, was met with clear skies.
The combination brought out a massive crowd composed of car owners, enthusiasts and others looking to enjoy the beginning of the Labor Day weekend. The atmosphere was festive throughout the evening as patrons lingered to enjoy the music, weather and fellowship.
“This was probably the biggest turn-out we’ve had in over a year,” noted Jerry Venable of the sponsoring Mount Pilot NOW group. “Our last event of last season was rained out and we’ve had to deal with rain or the threat of rain throughout this year. We thought that if we got some nice weather to go with the holiday weekend, we’d have a big turn-out today — and we did.”
The summer series will conclude with a Friday-Saturday pair of events on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
The third annual Race Car Friday Night on Main event, scheduled for Sept. 30, will see Main Street closed to traffic at 5 p.m., allowing spectators the opportunity to admire a wide assortment of race cars to be displayed beginning at 5:30.
The show is open to all types of cars from dirt, drag and stadium racing, including drag cars, open wheel modifieds, old and new stadium modifieds, street legal, pro street, road course, pro-mod and gassers.
“We’ve already gotten a lot of commitments and we’ll be working throughout the month to get the word out. We’re expecting a big show,” Venable said.
Main Street will be reopened on Saturday, Oct. 1, for the final cruise-in of the year. The event will follow its now familiar format featuring live beach music to be provided on the Depot Street stage by the award-winning band, North Tower.
