The History of Mo-Kan (Part 1)

Almost fifteen years ago, I was living in Kansas City and looking for a drag strip to rent. The idea was to get a few pals together on a quarter mile for the day – raise hell, have fun, hot rod… But I didn’t want some NHRA drag strip with a huge tower and grand stands and… I wanted to find a track with some history behind it and some soul left over after years of use and abuse.

Before too long, I stumbled across Mo-Kan Dragway in Asbury, MO. It was perfect for two reasons. One, it was close. And two, it was built in 1962, had only changed owners once, and still had the ambiance of a real honest-to-goodness drag strip. I called Carl (the fresh new owner of the track) and set a date.

I will never forget the feeling in my stomach I had that first year when cars started showing up. What was supposed to be just a couple of friends at a race track turned suddenly into an event of some kind. Instead of 10 to 15 guys, we had over 70 cars. I was so nervous and filled with so much anxiety, that my wife had to take over and run the race for me – a job she still does to this day.

Anyway, the HAMB Drags have come a long way since then. In fact, the event is pretty well known now as one of the best pure drag racing experiences in the country. The reason for that is primarily due to Carl and his staff as well as you guys – the folks that come out with a laid back attitude, bitchin’ cars, and the idea that nothing can stop the fun. That being said, I’ve always felt that the track’s history has played a big part in the event’s success as well. Oddly, however, it’s rare that we get a glimpse of that history.

Every year, I bug Carl about getting my grubby hands into his photo archives. Last year, he finally relented and sent over some shots taken in the early 1960’s. They represent the golden era of drag racing and the birth of my favorite drag strip in the country. The plan is to run most of these photos in an upcoming issue of The Jalopy Journal in print, but this morning I got a wild hair up my ass and decided to let fly with a select few in anticipation of the upcoming 2015 H.A.M.B. Drags. Here they are:

Wait… Were these taken in 1962 or were these taken at the 2014 H.A.M.B. Drags? It’s almost too hard to call. And that’s the reason I chose these photos to show today. Study them closely and you can really see how very little the track has changed through the years. And that illustrates my point better than my words ever could. Mo-Kan is a very special place.

Anyway, if you are interested in registering for the 2015 H.A.M.B. Drags we still have room left in the field… But you need to hurry and get it done. For details, just go here: www.hambdrags.com.