Man, the $2017 Challenge Concours is GOING TO BE AWESOME!

Yes, I said it. The Challenge concours is going to be awesome. Yes, spectating is still free, and I can't wait to see everybody there.

What's making it so awesome this year? Three things:

1. No more staff judges.
Say it ain't so, but we've listened to your feedback and we're changing things up this year. Instead, our own David Wallens will be head judge, an honorary position where he won't be judging cars, but he will be guiding our guest judges through the process and showing them how everything works.

2. Awesome guest judges.
Seriously. We're bringing in experts from as far away as California! Here's our current judging roster. Note that this is subject to change, and not everybody has finalized travel plans yet, but I think this is who you'll see at the event judging your cars:

Paul Fenner, past Challenge competitor and near-winner.
Jason Cammisa, formerly of MotorTrend on Demand.
Steven Cole Smith, producer of some of the finest automotive journalism in the world.
Chris Brewer of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
Keith Tanner of Flyin' Miata.

3. A rule change.
I think this one speaks for itself. For those that are there for the party, now you'll have more time to kick back and enjoy the show.

Challenge Rules said: Any entrant that does not want to go through the concours judging process may decline to be judged by writing "Don't Judge Me" on a piece of tape placed on the upper driver-side corner of the windshield of their car. Cars properly displaying this message that are parked in the centralized concours judging location for the duration of judging will be awarded 12 concours points. 

What does everybody think?

I like it.

However, it should say "Don't Judge me Broh".

Well I know that at least two of them like Miatae.

Well done, Tom!

Is it safe to assume that no judged car will score less than 12 Concours points?

You forgot "Hours of Live Coverage."

Wear your best pant.

Great job on the Guest Judges!

Guess I'd better get a plane ticket. Florida, right? That's near Texas, I think.

AngryCorvair wrote: Well done, Tom! Is it safe to assume that no judged car will score less than 12 Concours points?

Seems to me that takes all the fun out of it. Do you feel lucky?

I can live with those rules. The simplicity of the new concours rule is quite elegant.

AngryCorvair wrote: Well done, Tom! Is it safe to assume that no judged car will score less than 12 Concours points?

Nope! Not at all.

In reply to Tom Suddard:

A cursory review of 2016 results show that only 21 cars scored above 12 points. So it's a gamble to enter judging.

Excellent! Great news that you can choose to be judged and score less than 12.

I'm excited about the guest judges roster, too.

Keith Tanner wrote: Guess I'd better get a plane ticket. Florida, right? That's near Texas, I think.

I sincerely cannot wait to meet you Keith. Don't let my enthusiasm and LS swappitude sway your judging. Of the Team Alavanche Datsun 2x0Z. Seriously. That's my car, don't be influenced or anything by my comments about your awesomeness and the prowess of your mechanical abilities and most certainly manliness beyond compare.

Also Paul don't let it influence you that I believe the Mumpkin is the single greatest challenge Miata ever, in an event where that is the easy button. Also pay no mind to when I told you it was the most glorious sounding non flyin miata lsx swapped miata ever.

Patrick wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: Guess I'd better get a plane ticket. Florida, right? That's near Texas, I think.

I sincerely cannot wait to meet you Keith. Don't let my enthusiasm and LS swappitude sway your judging. Of the Team Alavanche Datsun 2x0Z. Seriously. That's my car, don't be influenced or anything by my comments about your awesomeness and the prowess of your mechanical abilities and most certainly manliness beyond compare. Also Paul don't let it influence you that I believe the Mumpkin is the single greatest challenge Miata ever, in an event where that is the easy button. Also pay no mind to when I told you it was the most glorious sounding non flyin miata lsx swapped miata ever.

You, sir, are kicking ass on judge bribery. I ain't gonna try to compete.

But i am bringing a car! And its named gary after the snail from spongebob and the name of the dude that assembled the doors.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

I will admit, turning down his other bribe was pretty hard!

Poran wrote: Hello, guys. After reading the whole post, we can get solutions to deal with the trouble quickly and safely. Thanks for your nice sharing.

Um, a canoe without a hook? What gives

In reply to Patrick:

Wait for it ...

I tried goggling to find out more on the judges. Most I knew but this Paul Fenner guy came back with some questionable results.
Is he the convicted British rapist or the IT Support Specialist for The Tennessee Titans?
These are the actual #1 & #2 search results that Google gave back to me.

Robbie wrote: Excellent! Great news that you can choose to be judged and score less than 12. I'm excited about the guest judges roster, too.

From going back through Challenge issues, it looks like judging got a lot more harsh starting in 2014. Without staff judges, I don't know if it'll make the judging less or more exacting. As it is, I'm leaning towards taking the 12 points, and being a bit more relaxed at the event.

Whoo! Keith Tanner.
Our Challenge Miata has several brand new Flyin' Miata parts on it, and a Flyin' Miata sticker on the back (cleverly hiding some factory holes). Even with the strict budget a handful of brand new FM parts were our choice for best bang for the buck.

We got a 13.3 the last time we brought this car. We we'll likely take the 12 and enjoy Saturday morning instead of spending it cleaning the car.

Olympic judging right? Drop the high and the low so the Russian judge does not play with the results. Damn Russian Judge!

Lof8 - you are about to get your highest concourse score Ever.

I'll take the 12 and offer to to park ratty B&S C4 next to anyone entering concours so they will look better by comparison

Florida, right? That's near Texas, I think.

Well, it's less than one Texas away from Texas but that would still be at least 3 normal states worth of distance. I'm just glad Florida is in the direction that it only takes me 5 hours to get out of texas instead of the other direction which takes 9 hours. Come to think of it, from the East border of Texas, it's about the same distance to Gainesville as it is to the West border of Texas. Just avoid Texas.

Sweet!

John Welsh wrote: I tried goggling to find out more on the judges. Most I knew but this Paul Fenner guy came back with some questionable results. Is he the convicted British rapist or the IT Support Specialist for The Tennessee Titans? These are the actual #1 & #2 search results that Google gave back to me.

I tried looking him up too.

I found his obituary. And something about a Pumpkin.

Can't wait to see how it works out!

Only dilemma now is should I just give up on making my car presentable in my limited time left before the event.

Should be one car of the non judged cars that gets a 0 just so we don't show up with piles of poo.