So.....let's talk about the next HAMB DRAGS...

I'll second that...I'll help out anyway possible...and I agree...leave it at Mokan...and a little earlier in the year to beat some of the heat.

Brian

 

I enjoyed watching the old stude run. It was a beautiful car, well done. I think the locals with the cars that fir the criteria aren't a problem. I agree that we kinda owe Mo-Kan, they went out of their way to let us get away with silliness.

Where else would the announcer challenge allcomers to run against his 2 ton yard truck. I'm gonna run him with the motorhome next year......

 

since this is an opinion post, i'd like to put in my 2 cents. i'd like to see it a two day event.

i agree that if you're driving a long day (or more) each way to the drags it would be way more bang for the buck if you got to stay two days. also, i tried to meet every hamber there this year and probably missed half of you.

i liked mokan and agree that it was pretty close to perfect venue for what we did. that said, however, even though mokan is only about 4 hours drive for me, i'm not opposed to driving further, although preferably for a two day deal. (this year i combined it with a b'ville trip so probably drove clarence 3-4 thousand miles that week)

the california folks drove way more than that, though. for me it would be pretty hard to justify driving two days (or more) each way for a one day party.

ryan, could your wife just show up for one day and you be there both? or maybe your wife and some other wives could make a mall trip to springfield one day. also (for the ladies entertainment) the precious moments museum is only a half hour away or so. i've never been there, but i've been told it's pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing.

 

As far as helpinf out goes...
Why not havew people assigned a one or two hour stint helping do what needs to be done?
Instead of Ryan or his wife having to stay at the registration booth all day, have a rotation? I'd be up for that?
You might need some there that's proven trust-worhty to supervise us low-lifes so that no one walks away with any $ (not that they would be able to walk for long or far...).
Mo-Kan is a great place to hold an 'old-time' drag race and I'm not saying that because I live realitively close. It's got a great feeling there.
My 2-cents worth would be the suggestion to let us race longer. By the time I got the courage up to bring my old, slow truck to withstand the jeering of the crowd, the track closed. Even after it was stated that we would be allowed to race after the drawing...
oh well, next year...
r

 

I had a great time this year, and didn't even have my own car there. If we had more time the plan was to use my 37 Chevy truck instead of my late model dually to tow the digger, but like seems to always happen, we ran short of time to build a custom trailer for the digger. Sure it was a long haul to get there for us CA boys. I would like to see it as a two-day event, maybe Saturday with drag racing and Sunday with a car show to unwind a bit and have fun shit-talking about the previous days racing? I know that I would have liked an extra day to really look over the cars better, seems that at the drags it was very busy and i did not see as much as i would have liked to. The hotel was a nice location and they were cool about the hanging out in the parking lot.

Even though Mo-Kan is far away for many, it does seem to be an ideal location for the drgas and I second the vote for doing it there next year.

 

I'll definitely go again- And Ryan, if you need help at the booth or with reg crap, count me in. Maybe the A roadster can go next time, but then again nobody wants to see my car do a 20 sec. 1/4 mile!!!
I know Gordini would probably do it again too... We'll drag more Vultures there for next time.

jay

 

Jive Bomber, I am sorry I missed ya at the track....maybe next year.

 

This time I can volunteer to make a poster for it a long time ahead. Or colaborate on it or whatever.

 

I am a good part of the blame for the locals. I did not talk up the event locally until there was a post on the MO KAN message board. After that and Ryan made a post about so few pre entrys I was afraid we were not going to have enough to pay for the track. I mentioned the event to some of the locals that I thought would come and that might join in on the HAMB afterwards. So if you got to blame someone about being beat by one of the local hillbillys, I guess it is my fault.

 

Your Fault????? For what?...If we have anything to blame on ya' it will be for the good time and the great hospitality.....

 

I didn't meet a local I didn't like. They were all friendly and outgoing. You have some really nice friends John. The trophies they took home probley meant more to them then it would have to us and I get the feeling most HAMB folks don't really give a hoot about a trophy. The HAMB folks that were there were all winners just for attending. So please don't feel bad about inviting them, they were a pleasure and did help with the costs.

I love my HAMB Drags t-shirt and have worn it once a week since the event. It brings back great memories every time I look at it, more so then any "trophy" packed away in a box ever could. I also love the timing tag which is leaning right up next to my monitor waiting for the day I take it to the engraver. These two items, which commemorate the event mean more to me then a trophy would.

 

I don't think you need to apologize for anything John... seeing that 14 year old kid run his car was inspiring! He was also nice to talk to...
Sam.

 

Well, next time I will make sure Fraz'z rad is working. We started early enough but took many many hours to make a short trip.

We would be more than happy to volunteer to do bout anything that you needed done. I can letter some, used to paint signs, can do calligraphy very well, but cant draw for a poop.

Can do carpentry, weld, drive anything with wheels and some stuff without. Work for myself so I can go anytime I wanna go. Do puter stuff, but Fraz is the supertech. I sellem, he makesem run n stuff.

We just need somebody to say hey. Could you guys do X? We will try or find somebody to make sure it gets done.

I loved MO-KAN. Just like long time ago. Relaxed tech. Hell Fraz's Byooick don't gots a floorboard in the driver's side and we went down the strip. Slow, but more fun than I've had in a long time.

People were the best. Locals and HAMBERS both. Although I must say I leaned towards HAMBERS a little more. We hung out with Marcie and JK's wife WarPigg and his new wife and they shared stories, time, beer, and shade which was a great commodity that day.

Hell where can you go, hang out with the cream of the crop, and have a great time that you will remember for a very long time?

Let's have another MO-Kan HAMB Drags and Rod Show and have as much fun as last time. Oughta be easy...

Seriously, let us know what's needed and we're there.

Later
VonDad

 

I am running at MO KAN again in two weeks at the Hot Rod Reunion Race. http://www.mokandragway.com/ahrr/ I am doing a little work to the truck and I am hoping for a 12 second pass.

 

Wz Junk, your truck hits pretty hard...you might just do it if the air is cool.

 

All of us from up north had a blast and will make it to the next one no matter what.I loved MO-KAN,had a 50's-60's look,feel and smell or was that the dead armadillos on the side of the road.Also liked the real laxed tech inspect (none)made you feel like it was real street racing,run what you brung.See everyone next year for sure.

DAN

 

so i read this post about once every two weeks and this time i feel a need to make a comment, if for no other reason than to bring it back to the top for further discussion.

1. ryan doesn't sound like he (or his wife) can handle a 2nd day.

2. 38chev mentioned having a car show on sunday.

this sounds better every time i think about it. accomplishes what just about everyone says they missed. namely more time to get to know everyone else, look at each others' cars, tell lies, bench race, talk tech, and in general enjoy each others' company.

if we do this it needn't even even entail much planning. all we need is a local park or someone's house where we can all meet and bring buckets of kfc or something.

i'm surely not saying i wouldn't enjoy another day at the track, but this would be waaaaaayyyyy better than heading home after the drags.

another idea that no one's mentioned is an actual rod run. you know, someone familiar with the locale lead us on a 100 - 200 mile trip around the area and stop at points of interest. have food stops at restaurants that the locals frequent or picnic at a park somewhere. there's got to be at least a half dozen places that would be cool to visit within 50 - 75 miles of joplin that we could hit. if nothing else we could cruise on some of old route 66. i think that there's an old bridge on route 66 somewhere around there that i've always wanted to visit that would make a million dollar kodak moment if we parked 20 - 30 hot rods on it and took pix.

an additional thought is that a lot of us need to be making plans to get off of work by the first of the year. that's not that far off, folks. a date would be really nice to know.

who has other &/or better ideas? opinions?

 

A second day doing anything would be fine. Show, cruise whatever. Im trying to get a little press together so we can stamp our timing tags. I had a blast last time and looking forward to next years already, and the coupe will definately be there this time.

 

I'll second the motions that have been made...a second day would be cool, be it a cruise, show, or just hanging out in the motel parking lot. Would like to get a date soon, the vacation schedule will be coming around in a few weeks, got to make sure I get it scheduled off.

Brian

 

My thoughts on extending the event would be to arrive in the Joplin area a day earlier. This way the actual drags would be the climax. You guys understand that a climax to an event is important, right? Anywho, arrive at the Holiday Inn on Thursday evening, Friday morning take a HAMB cruz thru the countryside, maybe a poker run type event with about 5 stops, ending back at the track for an evening of testing, tuning, and comerRODerie. I would have liked to have gotten to know more of the folks BEFORE the drags last year.

Because we got into Joplin late on Friday, we missed the "action" at the track with lots of HAMB folks hanging out. I don't plan on missing that part again.

I honestly don't believe I would hang out on Sunday for an "event" where I have already seen the cars and met everyone. I would probley head for home since it was almost a 16 hour drive for me. Just my thoughts

 

I gotta agree with the climax girl. Sunday is reserved for returning home in time to watch both Seinfelds on Fox. I think a Friday of cruising the local sights and scenery is cool. If you can't make it early, you could still race on Saturday. And Saturday night in the hotel parking lot is mandatory to rehash all your trick race moves at the track...uhhhh, well, it is for most people if they don't bust their radiator on their pro-race nashes.

 

An extra day? Cool! Turn it into a PPV for those that can't make it. Great! then it could be a pay-per-view, much like the pro wrestling antics, it could culminate into another "Kiss my ass" grudge match. All filler and no killer. "Kiss my ass match?" that is not drag racing gents.

 

My wife and I recently made the run to the KCSP tour. We had a great time and I have been thinking of doing something like this during the weekend of the HAMB drags. I have not mentioned this to Ryan and I have not done all the research yet but I have it semi organized. As some of you know Route 66 passed through the Joplin area. Much of the route is still derivable and there are lots of points of interest. It is also possible to travel in three states on Route 66 in a matter of less than 15 minuets (MO, KS, OK) from Joplin. I have a list and a route in my mind. Depending on the number of cars participating we could have more than one route with all of us starting and ending at the same point. I would need help with the organization and the details. Ryan and his help did and incredible job at KCSP.

 

John, if you plan it for the Friday before the drags, I will do anything and everything to help you out. Whatever it takes. I can't imagine there will be more cars then one route can handle. Keep it simple and it will be a smashing success.

 

Maybe our race nash will be run by its new owner this year? Last year was fun... I only hope I can afford to go this year. Maybe ill hitch a ride in the back of the rocky good time van, those guys know how to party...

 

How about a HAMB Drags East and a HAMB drags WEST with the winner of each squiring off at Mokan?
Seams I remember a East/West thing from the 60's.
That way more people could be involved with it that can't make the trip to Mokan.
Fred

 

WZ, that is a KILLER idea!!! I would help out in any way, even if it just means following you around the country in my Touring

 

Great photo, Tuck...those Rambler look even faster than the mid-20 second timeslips attest to.
John, lemme know if there's anything I can do to help with the brand new 2004 "Hamb Drags Friday Ralley Tour". It's a helluva idea.

 

BYW, I'm in favor of keeping the date in mid-summer to lessen the chance of rain screwing up race plans it takes an entire year to make. A little heat doesn't bother me and the 105 degree temps endured last year were a fluke, according to the locals there.

 

"A little heat doesn't bother me and the 105 degree temps endured last year were a fluke, according to the locals there."

I would rather have a dry 105 day, than the 90 degree, 90% Humidity that we usually have in the summers here.