Chuck the Writer Crosses His Fingers for a third IAMA Award

In 2004, my editor at RoadKing alerted me that she had submitted my "Convoy Rides Again" article on country musician C.W. McCall to the International Automotive Media Awards. The article claimed a silver medal, which greatly pleased me.

Last year, I submitted my article on the history of the Speed Racer animated series to the IAMA's, and was extremely surprised (and honored) to learn that it received a prestigious gold medal from the judges.

So this year, I decided to submit two articles to the IAMA's - "Diecast Dreams," a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Hot Wheels cars, for RoadKing; and "Redlines, Orange Track and Blue Streaks," an article about the collecting culture of Hot Wheels cars, this article for Toy Collector Magazine. I entered "Diecast Dreams" in the print media category, while "Redlines, Orange Track and Blue Streaks" was designated for the Internet category.

Now comes the waiting.

The IAMA Awards will be given out this summer, most likely in June at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, within sight of The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. I had the opportunity to tour the Automotive HOF and The Henry Ford last year, and it was a fantastic experience.

The Hot Wheels articles were especially fun to write. I met several collectors of Hot Wheels cars and memorabilia, including Mike Zarnock, whose extensive collection is housed at the Children's Museum in Utica, N.Y. Really worth the trip to see these rare artifacts. From there, I went to the New York Toy Fair to see the 4 billionth Hot Wheels car ever built, a commemorative car laden with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds and rubies. Talk about pimping your ride!

Crossing my fingers... let's hope my hard work pays off!