Green Street Cruise Night a roaring success - bodes well for hot cars this summer

Scott Norton (left) and Denny Norton
(center) present an award to the owner
of a '63 Plymouth at Green Street
Cruise Night Monday, May 18.

Green Street Cruise Nights kicked off in McHenry with a roaring success Monday, May 18, with Mopar Night. There were 458 cars entered in the event, including a wide range of makes and models. There were new cars and old cars. But, regardless of the age of a car, it was generally in pristine condition.

The spotlight, for this show, was on the Mopars – Chrysler products. This included Roadrunners, Chargers, Vipers, Cudas and more. A powerful throwback to the classic Muscle Car Era was also present with several of the new Hellcat Dodge Challengers. The Hellcat Challengers are monsters with 707 horses under the hood.

Among the featured Mopars were three winners – a 2014 Dodge Challenger SRT8, 1963 Plymouth Belvedere and a 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner. Awards for the cars were presented by Sunnyside Dodge, Performance Unlimited and Letizia Financial Group, respectively.

This is the sixth year for the event, which is coordinated by father and son Pat and Paul Letizia of McHenry based Letizia Financial Group.

“We have a passion for the community and we wanted to be involved,” said Paul Letizia when asked why they put the time and effort into Cruise Nights. “And we have a passion for cars, too.”

Green Street Cruise Nights also feature live music, food and booths where businesses that sponsor the event show their wares and meet the public. One long-standing sponsor of Green Street Cruise Night is Performance Unlimited of Ringwood.

Performance Unlimited provides quality auto repair services, as well as high performance auto services.

“This is a great event,” said Denny Norton, the owner of Performance Unlimited. “For car enthusiasts in the area, this is the place to be Monday nights through the summer. Even for people who aren’t as passionate about things automotive, it makes for a pleasant evening.”

For those who missed the first night of Green Street Cruise Night, Norton said there are plenty of Monday nights to go. The event took a break for Memorial Day but returns to the municipal parking lot south of Route 120 and west of Green Street on Monday, June 1, with Ladies Night. Here is the complete list of the featured events for the rest of this summer:

June 1 – Ladies Night
June 8 – Corvette Night
June 15 – Racecars, Exotics and Motorcycles
June 22 – Buick Night
June 29 – Ford Night
July 6 – Pre-WWII Night
July 13 – Pontiac Night
July 20 – Orphan Makes Night
July 27 – Street Rod, Custom and Street Machines Night
Aug. 3 – Oldsmobile Night
Aug. 10 – Back to the ‘50s Night
Aug. 17 – Chevrolet Night
Aug. 24 – Motorcycles, Model T & Model A Night
Aug. 31 – Trucks and Motorcycles Night
Sept. 7 – closed for Labor Day
Sept. 14 – Ladies Night
Sept. 21 Pony Cars Night
Sept. 28 – European Sports Cars and Fast & Furious Night

For more information, to setup a booth, enter a car or just about attending; call 815-728-0404.

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