By Tracy McNew
Over the weekend, over 400 cars, trucks, motorcycles and other unique vehicles graced the streets of downtown Libby for the Igniters Car Club’s annual Ignite the Nites event.
With poker runs, a cruise, burn outs, the show on Saturday, a street dance and a culmination event on Saturday evening, there was no shortage of things to do in Libby last weekend.
This year’s cruise route was expanded so that traffic was only moving one direction. The route went up Mineral Ave. across Lincoln, down Louisiana, and back to Mineral. The new route made things safer for participants and it also allowed spectators to view the cars from other areas including the Libby Care Center.
The weather was warm, dry and smoky, but the smoke did not seem to stop crows of visitors from enjoying all that Libby has to offer.
This year’s winners, as provided by the by Igniters Car Club are as follows:
Antique Stock ‘40 and older: Mel Burnett of Libby with a 1930 Model A Ford
Street Rod ‘48 and older: John and June Sine of Spokane Vally, Wash. with a 1936 Chevy sedan.
Classic stock ‘41-’59
Paul and Marcia Wingfield of Post Falls, Idaho with a 1950 Mercury coupe.
Classic Modified ‘41-’59: Bryan Tolbert with a 1947 Chevy Sedan
Custom ‘49-’75 Present: James Monse of Hayden, Idaho with a 1950 Monterey.
Rat Rod: Robert Vierqutz of Libby with a 1941 Ford Rat Rod.
Late Great Stock ‘60-’79: Dean and Heather Swan of Cataldo, Idaho with a 1965 Pontiac GTO Convertible.
Late Great Modified ‘60-’79: Jay Smith of Sagle, Idaho with a 1969 Chevelle SS.
Late model ‘80-’99 Modified: Levi Zimmerman of Libby with a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am.
Late Model Stock ‘80-’99: Mark Schell of Libby, Mont. 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo.
Sport Compact: Richard DuBois of Castle Rock Colo. With a 1962 Austin Healey.
Sports car: Jack and Serry Learn of Rathdrum, Idaho with a 1963 Corvette Stingray.
Muscle Car ‘2000 – present: Shane Freeze of Newman Lake, WA. With a 2018 Ford Mustang.
Neon Lights: Nancy Roberts of Kalispell, MT with a 1929 Model A Pickup.
Antique truck stock ‘40 and older: Libby Volunteer Fire Dept. with a 1932 fire truck.
Antique truck modified ‘40 and older: Chet Jackman of Sagle, Idaho with a 1934 Dodge Pickup.
Classic Truck Stock‘41-’59: Ray Leonardt of Great Falls, MT with a 1947 Studebaker M5.
Classic Truck Modified ‘41-’59: Ray Simpson of Whitefish, MT with a 1941 Willy’s Pickup.
Late Great Truck Stock ‘60-’79: Jerry Canrol of Libby with a 1978 Ford F250.
Late Great Truck Modified ’60-’79: Rod Thomas if Kellogg, Idaho with a 1961 Ford Unibody.
Late Model Truck Modified ‘80-’99: Tom Coon of Hinton, Alberta with a 1990 C1500 Chevy.
Truck Stock ‘2000-present: Randy Buckner of Libby with a 2013 F.350.
Truck Modified ‘2000-present: Brian Berreman of Avondale, Ariz. With a 2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
Motorcycle Stock: Matt Fulk of Kalispell with a 2017 Indian Chief.
Motorcycle Modified: Kevin Burck of Ephrata, WA. with a 2005 Fat bastard.
Special Interest: Cliff and Nancy of Mullen, Idaho with a 1970 Plymouth Super Bird.
M.S.R.A: Joe and Charlene Spencer with a 1966 F-150.
N.T.S Award: Curtis Ethington of Kalispell with a 1951 Chevy.
Peoples Choice: Leonard and Marcia Panks of Spokane, WA. With a 1952 Ford F1 pick up.
Friday’s poker run winner: Larry Knoke
Saturday’s poker runwinner: Andrew R.
a view of the cars lined up for Saturday’s show, a view of the crowd from a car participating in the cruise on Friday night, and a classic car burns out on Mineral Ave.
A jeep gets a bit of air under its front tires, Rotary sells water during Saturdays show, and fire shoots from the tailpipe of a vehicle during the neon lights and flame throwers cruise. Photos courtesy of Bob Henline and Rita Wickham.
