The major tools needed to get news coverage for your car club event are plenty of lead time, involvement of civic or political leaders, and full consideration of what local journalists need to do their job.
Radio likes telephone interviews where they can do an interview without expending personnel.
Add a charitable organization or educational element to your event. Besides giving your club a chance for more publicity, you can cement a relationship which can run throughout the year. The educational connection, which could take the form of an elementary school class tracing the history of the automobile or biographies of Indy 500 winners, could lead to car shows at school, increased membership recruiting opportunities, and even more publicity. Create a news release giving the basic event information. Use our sample as a guide.