Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.157 | Brian Badger from Cavalcade of Cars CNY

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Cavalcade of Cars CNY Returns to NYS Fairgrounds Expo Center April 18–19 Host Noah Chrysler interviews Brian “Badger” (operations manager for Syracuse Nationals, LLC) about the Cavalcade of Cars Syracuse Edition, acquired in 2025 and entering its second year. The two-day indoor show runs April 18–19 at the New York State Fairgrounds Expo Center and features over 200 displays including cars, trucks, Jeeps, bikes, customs, classics, and motorcycles, plus vendors, live music, kids’ activities, a pinup contest hosted by Rosie Rockabilly, and a charity pinstriping/lettering event benefiting Ronald McDonald House of CNY where attendees can bring items for artwork. Badger explains moving from the Center of Progress and shifting dates from March to April to avoid snow and expand space (110,000 sq ft), with registration selling out April 1. He discusses CNY car culture, family focus (kids 12 and under free), and ticket info at cavalcadeofcarscny.com. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 00:51 What Is Cavalcade 01:30 Why Move to Expo 03:39 Growing the Show 04:20 Running Nationals Since 2023 05:42 Weekend Highlights and Music 07:48 Pinup Contest Explained 08:56 Charity Pinstriping Details 10:08 Why Syracuse Loves Cars 12:15 Family Friendly and Kids 13:52 Hot Takes and Car Opinions 18:24 Why You Should Attend 19:26 Dates Tickets and Farewell

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Good News York. My name is Noah Chrysler, and I am here today with Badger from the cavalcade of cars. Badger, welcome. Thanks for having me. Why don't you choose yourself, but? So my name is Brian Badger. Everyone knows me as Badger, obviously. That's my last name.

I am the operations manager for Syracuse Nationals, LLC, the Syracuse Nationals, the Syracuse Nationals Car Show, the largest car show in the Northeast. I'm sure everybody in town has heard of it or been a part of it at some point. in 2025 we acquired the cavalcade of cars Syracuse edition and we took that over and started getting our hands involved in that and we're coming into our second year of cavalcade of cars so we're excited tell us about cavalcade of cars and what can viewers expect okay so the jammer's sports bar and restaurant

cavalcade of cars is a two-door indoor car show okay at the new york state fairgrounds in the expo building all right it's now Next weekend, April 18th and 19th, we have over 200 displays of cars, jeeps, trucks, bikes, customs, classics, motorcycles. We have vendors. We have a pin-up contest. We have a charity pinstriping event. We have stuff for kids. We have live music. Just a whole bunch of good stuff going on, man. Awesome. Oh, very cool. Cool. So it moves to the Expo Center. Can you tell us about that? What you guys expanded significantly? Right. So, yeah. So we first started working on the cavalcade of cars last year in 2025. It was our first time as owners of the event. When I say we, it's, I mean, the Syracuse Nationals, right? So it was the first time we started working on the cavalcade of cars. And we knew it had a lot of potential. The only thing is we were a little bit limited on two things, right? So like the building and the center of progress building where it's been held for the last, you know, a bunch of years.

it's only so big, right? The other thing was, traditionally, the dates have always been towards the end of March, which anybody in CNY knows. Syracuse knows that March means snow. So we were heavily reliant on car owners who could trailer their vehicle in or dig a pathway out of whatever garage it's in and be willing to drive it in whatever weather we have that weekend to come bring it to the show. So last year we had a little over 100 vehicles, and we knew that if we kicked the dates back a little bit into like the second or third week of April, and we could move to the Expo building and the fairgrounds, brand new building, excellent lighting, huge floor space, we knew that, you know, that the potential was great.

So that's what we did. and we, you know, we had to, we had to cut off our registration sold out on April 1st. Like, we ran out of room, you know, that building's 110,000 square feet. And I tell you what, as soon as you start putting 10 by 10 vendor spaces and 10 by 20 car spaces and sponsor areas, the walls shrink really quick. So we're pretty much maxed out with space in there. We got a great show about 200, like I said, 200 exhibits, including vendors and sponsors. stuff like that. Very cool.

Yeah. I love that story too because it's like a, you learned from the, you know, the year prior to, you know, you made some mistakes, right?

Oh, the weather, you know, knocked us all out. And so this year, you're doing it different. Right. And you're moving it back.

Exactly. It's one of the things I tell people too is, especially like with, with a show like the Syracuse Nationals that happened yearly in the cavalcade of cars, which is going to happen again in 2027, right? So if we come across a situation this year where we were like, you know, if we tweaked that,

by an hour or if we started moving people in it, you know, everything is fixable for next year. So I tell people, if something didn't go right, right, the best thing we can do is the, is we can fix it next year and it'll be better, you know, so we, every year we learn. We're about getting bigger. We're about going better, going, going bigger, you know what I mean? And just taking things to the next level. So, you know, that's what we're going to do. Very cool.

So how long, you've been involved with this for a while, yeah? Yeah. How many years? So, 2023 was. when the company that I work for started having the ownership of the Syracuse Nationals. They bought it from the previous owners, the O'Connor family, who have owned it since the day it started in, I think, 1999, 2000. Yeah, cool. Since then, how much, what other things have you learned that have kind of transformed the event?

Oof. You know, a lot of things, right? So we've learned how to navigate through the attendees. The participants themselves, it is a very demanding industry, right? The people who join us for our show are our content, right? So they technically make our show happen for us, right? So I've learned, you know, just a lot about relationships, a lot about friendships, I've learned a lot of operational things, things that I did year one, things that we all did,

you know, the whole team that we did year one that we're doing differently now, you know, as far as parking and entry and where we should have people come pick up their credentials and, you know, just processes and systems that make more sense, you know what I mean? So for sure. Very cool. Very cool. Well, wonderful. Can you talk about some of these things that are people are going to see at the event, right?

So you've talked about live music. You've talked about the pin up contents. Right. You talked about the vendors, right? Can you tell me more about that? Absolutely. So we have a stacked weekend, really, at the cavalcated cars, starting out on our upstate imports Saturday, right? We have, you know, a good buddy of mine, local talented musician Jimmy Falco.

He's going to start the day off on Saturday with the live performance of the National Anthem on guitar, right? Jimmy Hendrick style. So we start every morning of our car shows with the Canadian National Anthem, Oh, Canada. and then we go right into the Star Spangled Banner, right? We have a lot of Canadian friends that join us, participants, attendees, you know, because we're so close. So we like to make sure we honor them, and then we go into the Star Spangled Banner. So Jimmy's going to kick off the day on Saturday with the Star Spangled Banner Live. We have our friend Lori Ann.

She's a Syracuse Nationals alum over in the Sparky's Rockabilly area. She does a really good tribute to the oldies. She'll be in our old school area doing that. We have, let's see, our buddy's a hot rod Ford and $2 bill. They're going to be jamming some tunes on the stage throughout the day. Then we go into our pinup contest. We have our charity pinstriping auction, which happens all weekend. The charity pinstriping happens all weekend, right?

People will be able to do that all weekend. And, you know, one of the things that's cool about that is, is we encourage people to bring something of their own to get pinstriped or lettered. any type of artwork done, right? Motorcycle helmets, laptops, mailboxes, toolboxes, anything, you know, don't bring in your refrigerator from the garage, but, you know, bring stuff in.

Everything goes to Ronald McDonald's house, CNY, all the proceeds, right? So if you're looking to have something done for yourself or for a friend or something, if you're going to pay money for it, it might as well go to charity. Bring it to the show and have it done. So can you explain to me more what that is?

So pinup contest, I don't think I understood exactly what that was. So the pinup contest, we have our good friend, Rosie Rockabilly. She is the facilitator of our pinup contest. She hosts this at the Syracuse Nationals as well, right? So it only made sense to bring her in for this, for this show. She has about 20 ladies that she works with. They get dressed up, pinup style. They come in.

I don't want it. She'll probably kill me if I say the words beauty pageant. but that's the best way for me to kind of describe it to somebody who doesn't know. You know, so it's very oldie style, pin-up style. They ask questions, they have talents, they, you know, and they get judged, and they crown a winner. So it's fun, it's classy, it's clean, it's not, you know, risque. Sure. It's not a burlesque show, right?

So it's really cool, and it's something that fits the car show vibe. It's been a part of the car show theme and the Rockabilly theme for years. So it only makes sense to have it. No, very cool. So that actually does, that I do actually understand what that is. I think the thing that you mentioned is the pinstripes. Can you tell me more about that? Right.

I didn't understand that. Okay. Okay. So we have a lot of local artists coming in. Yeah. Who specialize in all kinds of art, but especially like painting, lettering, pinstriping. You know, you see a lot of vehicles that have a pinstripe design down the side or on the hood or on the trunk. So all of these artists donate their time and they're supposed.

applies to come to the show and we spend two days giving them space to to create their art, sell their art, and all the money goes to charity to local Ronald McDonald's. Oh, very cool. Very cool. And so you're saying I could bring an object. I can bring an item. Absolutely. That's what we encourage. You know, bring something from home. Tell them what you're looking for. Excuse me, they will, you know, they'll decide what type of cost and what type of labor's involved and getting it done for you and they'll give you a price and if it's something that works for you you can make it happen there's also going to be already pre-done artwork there on the table to look at some really nice stuff and it'll all be priced you know accordingly and if if people see something

they like and they want to they want to spend some money for charity they can take that stuff home very very cool why do you think car culture is so important to the Syracuse area here oh man um for me personally it sounds uh counterintuitive but i think it's because of the winter, right? So when you think of winter, you don't think of, you know, the car culture, but I think it's because we in upstate New York spend so much time cooped up in the house that it means so much more to us, right? So as soon as April hits, that nice weather starts coming, we're ready. I have a custom vehicle myself that, you know, we're all chomping at the bit to get these things out of storage. And we also know that we have a very limited time

to enjoy them, right? So when it happens, it happens and we're all in, you know, I can't, I can't speak for people on the west coast or in down south in warmer weather states, but I feel like, you know, cruising around in January in Miami in your, in your car is just regular everyday life, right? That doesn't happen for us, right? So we, I think, I think we appreciate a little bit more because we know how valuable it is because we only get a small dose of it. So that, that's, that's my take on that. observation. I mean, that I totally agree with that, right? You know, I mean, most, my dad is a mechanic. He runs Chrysler Treasure Automotive over on Factory Avenue and he's a big car guy. Right. My last name is

Chrysler, you know, so cars are a big part of my family's culture. I don't know anything about cars. I probably should. But yeah, no, he, you know, I mean, throughout the winter, you store your car in, you know, in a garage and then when you take it out at the beginning of the summer or the beginning of the spring, right? That's a big momentous occasion for him. And it's always like a big momentous occasion. Yeah, for sure. And I think, think that's what we're trying to capture too with the cavalcade of cars being in April. Yeah. Everybody's ready. So March, everyone's still kind of down in the dumps a little bit. There's still snow on the ground. People aren't ready. But, you know, I'm looking forward to some nicer weather and some, the salt being washed off the roads.

And we're going to, you know, set the standard for being really like the first, the first car show of the year to get people out and kick this thing off. Fantastic. Cool. When you're at the show, I'm assuming that, families come to this and you probably have an opportunity to see kids, you know, interacting with car culture for the first time. Absolutely. Do you think that this is a good way to kind of get the younger generation involved in car culture and that sort of thing? Absolutely, 100%.

One of the things that we try to really focus on is the family aspect of it, especially Syracuse Nationals, first and foremost, and then we're carrying that over to the same model with cavalcated cars. Right off the bat, kids 12 and under are free. They're always free. Kids riding in show cars up to 16. years old are free coming in the gates with their parents, right? So, you know, once kids are inside or they're at the show, there's probably a lot of kids who know what they're looking at,

but there's probably also a lot of kids who don't, right? So you don't, I don't think kids forget these types of experiences, and it could be the catalyst that kicks off a whole different lifestyle for them, right? You know, they don't forget. You know, I remember the time mom and dad took me to the car show and I saw a Mustang for the very first time and I've been a fan of Mustangs ever since. I remember the time I first saw a big lifted truck with huge tires on it, you know, and I talked to the guy and he let me sit in it, you know, so like things like that, they go a long way and I think it creates a vision for kids for the future, right? So they see what's possible. If A, they have patience and B, they, you know, they keep their head down and focus. They can,

they can have something of their own that's, you know, that's special. Yeah, something to work towards. I love that. I love that idea. Fantastic. Okay, cool. We got some hot takes, potential hot takes for you, okay? Here we go.

Cool. Are you a Ford guy or a Chevy guy? I'm a Chevy guy. You're Chevy guy. I'm a Chevy guy, grown up Chevy guy. But it's funny, I drive a Dodge. My customer vehicle is a Dodge. But, yeah, I'm a Chevy guy.

Gotcha. Cool. What is the most What is the most overrated car At a show like this? You're going to get me in trouble You're going to get me in trouble That's the idea

If you don't want to answer it's totally cool Be honest with you Yeah personal opinion Most overrated car at any car show Is something that Somebody buys at the dealership a week before the show And drives it in completely bone-stop right off the showroom floor.

You know what I mean? Not to say that it isn't special, and I'm sure they feel really good about it, but just seeing a bunch of cars that you can drive down, you know what I mean, Genesee Street and see it, all the dealerships is, you know, that's just personal. We do have lots of nice new cars that come from the dealerships

that are at our show. You know what I mean? sponsors, things like that, they're showcasing things for sale. The difference to me is, is like, that's the business end of things, right? These people are car dealers and their car sellers. Buying a brand new car with nothing done to it and registering it and bringing it to the show and putting it there, just the pizzazz isn't there for me. No, for sure. Some people enjoy it. For me, I like, you know, I like things that are a little done up or modified, you know. Yeah.

No, I can imagine. I mean, you know, it's like, it's something that I think I've been to a handful of these car shows, right? And you can tell, you can tell the person that's been doing this for 30 years, right? This is their favorite car. This is their favorite thing, right? Yeah. They've painted it, a custom color based on something from their life that they love, you know? And they've got all the little, like, you know, little accoutrements in the car, right?

They've got the little locks with the dice on it. Absolutely. You know? And so I can totally see what you're saying, right? with the brand new cars off the lot. You know, it's like, yeah, cool, you've got a lot of money, but like, do you love this? The only, the only exception, something to consider is like, young man who had a 69 Camero in 1969, bought it new, had it, kept it forever, has grown old. He can't sit in those seats anymore.

His knees don't work. He might not be as mobile as possible, but he still loves that 69 Camero, but he needs something with a little more comfort. So he buys a 2024 Camaro with air conditioning and more comfy seats and, you know what I mean? Better steering and stuff like that. That, you know, I think, you know, there's some relevance there. Absolutely. Okay, I'm still in this. I just can't do what I used to do anymore.

But, uh, but yeah. What is one car opinion that you have that might start a fight at the nationals or at the cavalcade of cars? Any hot, hot takes that you've got. Hottest car take. hottest car take i don't know i like uh i like the uh i'm not an old muscle car guy i'm not an old classic car i mean i guess they're classics but i like gangster stuff right like like i like i like the stuff that i grew up watching on m tv you know i'm a low rider guy i'm a bouncing guy i'm a loud stereo guy tinted windows guy you know um you know i didn't grow up riding in

the back of a 32 ford with my parents i grew up watching dr dr dr d'top doug on mtv so uh you know that's my, I'll take, I'll take something like that over, over any of these other cars any day. A lot of people, I get into it a little bit with people, you know, I, I have friends in the world that, you know, they have a really old Cadillac and it's all stock and it's all original. And I'm like, when are you going to slam that thing to the ground and put some wheels on it and tint the windows? No, hell no, or keeping it stock. I'm not doing anything to it. I'm like, slam that thing to the ground. You know, let me buy it from you.

I'll buy it from you. No, or I'm not selling it to anybody who's going to do anything to it. You know, so, you know. I love it. I like to, I like to make them jeed up a little bit. You know, that's my. Fantastic. Fantastic.

Cool. Beautiful. For someone who's never been to this event before, for someone who's never been to Nationals, for or cavalcade of cars, right? What would you say to them? Why should they come? And what is the experience like when they get there? Listen, I'll go back to it.

It's a family event, right? I mean, we all know that it's tough out there right now. You can't take your wife and your two kids out for a Saturday without taking out a second mortgage these days, right? So to be able to have $10 pre-sale admission tickets on sale, you know, available to you. And kids 12 and under free, you know, you and your wife or you and your buddy, you and your sister can come out with the kids for 20 bucks and have a full, day of live music, food vendors, you know, see a cool pinup contest, see a bunch of cool cars, participate in the charity, you know, pinstriping. It's just, you know, it's, it's something cool, right? Absolutely. Fantastic. Cool. Where, uh, excuse me, you're fine,

where could people find out more? How can they get more information? www. www.cavalcative cars, C-N-Y.com. Fantastic. And the dates one more time. April 18th and 19th. We are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday the 18th, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday the 19th. 18th and 19th next weekend, right? Beautiful. So, yeah, cavalcade cars, CNY.com. Tickets are on sale now.

$10 pre-sale advance tickets, $20 pre-sale weekend tickets available. Very cool. Well, Brian, thank you so much. Thank you guys so much for watching. This has been Good News York. My name is Noah Chrysler. Goodbye.