*pics* a year in retrospect, pics of the hamb drags

*pics at the end*

i finally got around to organizing my photos from this summer. after 2 (!) computer failures, and a super hectic work and art school schedule, i figured it was way beyond high time to get these pics posted for all to see.

i had one of the best times of my life the week of the hamb drags. i left 3 days early and flew in to KC to meet up with my buddy jay. hadn't seen him since he left newport a couple years ago. drove back to the abilene country spread, and tinkered on his coupe until the wee hours, including a last minute legalization at the dmv. got to sleep around 3am, and rose at 6 to travel further into nowhere and spend half a day driving around exploring while he paid his dues to the man.

we finally got on the road to mecca after lunch, and pushed that poor old chevy truck beyond its desires. we got in touch with reinforcements, just in case, as we filled up gas, oil, and water in emporia. t-squared was at the ready with a 'modern' truck should the ol' chev give up the ghost. but true to old american iron, that chevy just keeped on chuggin' and we rolled into joplin around dinnertime. none to soon, too. we rolled out with t-to-the-2 and his buddy jim, and filled our gullets with chicken fried steak and ribs. then i promptly fell into a food coma, but they would have none of it.

thursday night was a beehive of activity, with cars rolling in, new friends being made, old friends getting reaquainted, and burgers being burned. oh, and maybe a little alcohol being consumed. just a little. i got to meet denise, kevin, rashy, fiddy, bobk, holy smoke so many more. bed came just in time to get up for friday's adventures in springfield.

in one of the most incredible downpours ever, we marched a****st the storied iron of yesterday. for a small price you could own just about anything your heart could desire. my heart is broke, so i didn't buy a thing, but i built about a dozen cars in my head as i walked the aisles.

friday night even more folks arrived and we meet jeff from omaha,
guys from dallas, and austin, and new york, and philly. more liquid was consumed that night than i have ever seen, and the folks at the ramada just kept putting up with us. such a beautiful thing. the buzz for the morning grew intensely, and you could feel it in the air.

saturday dawned bright and sunny, i woke a little late to find jay wrenching on the coupe, trying to get the throttle dialed for the maiden voyage down the strip at mokan. with that squared away, we made the trip to the parts store in an attempt to give the old chev a little more life. points, condenser, cap and rotor, and she was a little happier. happy enough to get us to mokan with the coupe in tow at least.

my heart beat faster and faster the closer we got to the strip. when we finally pulled onto the driveway, we drove back in time to about 1962. i swear it really happened. hot rods lined the access road, others staged at the start line. the smell of burgers wafted through the air, and t shirts flew from one side of the counter to the other at record pace. everyone smiled, even the guys with holes in the sides of their engines. it was amazing.

and then the lights went out. and it started raining. hard. really hard. but not before jay got to drive his screamer of a model a coupe down the strip at a blistering speed of 62.62mph. holy smoke he really did it. what was a pile of s**** metal buried in the woods only a few years before, what took pieces of 14 different bodies to put back together on the most shoestring budget in history, made it down the track like an old pro. a really old pro, with a walker and an oxygen tank. but it made it.

as the rain fell up almost as far as it had to fall down, a couple hundred people huddled under the carport at the ramada, and told lies. drank a little refreshment, and said hello and good bye to friends. with so many people to talk to, we decided that going to bed was really not all that important. i could sleep on the plane, and jay is just tough like that. so we kept making the rounds until there was no one left, and we packed up the truck and rolled out for KC and the airport. dawn broke, grey and cloudy, and we pulled into the airpost departure line with the coupe following behind. the few at the airport that early looked on in wonder. jay and i said our 'until next years' and i headed to the gate with one thing on my mind.

the hamb drags 2007.

 

we'll miss you paul. just finished a small edition of your roadster prints. i'll have to get one to you somehow...

 

Nice... can't wait for next year.

 

thanks pops. you will be there next year. for sure.

 

that yours gene?

nice car.

 

well, we had illusions of terrorizing the joplin neighborhoods, but the thing just wasnt running al that well until the last minute.

besides, he's pretty straight laced. can't bring himself to do anything that might be construed as rebelious. really, the dmv part was pretty quick and painless. it's just that a ride in to town out there is like a 1/2 day road trip out here. i live 5 minutes from the dmv here. the only thing he has out there that is 5 minutes away is the end of his driveway...