The 2016 H.A.M.B. Drags

I think a lot of people that hold events try their damnedest to paint it with a positive brush no matter what happens. I’m just not that guy. In fact, I can still vividly remember the 2009 H.A.M.B. Drags. It was a mess. It was also the last year we ran without a cap. I think something like 300 cars showed up. The pits were over crowded. Parking was impossible. And the line to get in ended something like five miles down the highway – even late models were over-heating as they waited in line for over an hour to get inside the track. The only thing that saved the event was the patience of the actual HAMBers that were there that day.

My conclusion the next week? Here’s a direct quote:

“This year’s event kind of sucked. Sorry fellas… I’ll make it up to you next year.”

I bring this up, because I want this year’s coverage to have some legitimacy behind it. I don’t want you to think I’m blowing smoke up your ass when I say, “this was one of my favorite years.” It was. And I think it was because the threat of rain kept the event very personal. Sure, we still had 170 cars go down the track and there were still over 3000 spectators… But, the rain earlier in the morning kept the weather cool and people just seemed to be in a more jovial mood.

If you think about it, it makes sense – right? The forecast was pretty damned gloomy. So if you came to the drags despite the weather predictions, you almost had to be a “glass half full” kind of guy. You took a risk and gambled. And that risk payed off by way of cooler than normal weather and a really fast track. People just seemed to be happy… and the environment just seemed to be even more laid back than normal.

Hell, I didn’t get yelled at one time all weekend. And I promise you that I screwed some stuff up and probably deserved to be yelled at a time or two. But, everyone just seemed to be in the mood to laugh… and smile… and have a good time. As a result, I had one hell of a good time.

Of course, judging an event by my own experience is a pretty selfish way of doing it. I guess that comes with the territory of not really being a “promoter.” But it’s important to me that you guys in attendance know how appreciative I am. I feel like I owe you all a big pat on the back and a thank you. Sincerely. Next year will be our 15th. There is no way in hell I could do anything for fifteen years unless I truly enjoyed it. And there’s no way in hell I could enjoy something as big as the HAMB Drags unless you guys made it something very special. You have.

Oh… There’s some other people I’d like to thank as well:

1. Miller and Presley Cochran. Now this is weird. Ten years ago you guys held a baby shower for Presley Cochran on the starting line at MoKan. This year, Presley lead her younger brother in a very big project. Together, they stuffed every single one of the registration packets on their own and without any help from their mom or dad. How about that?
2. Marcie, Jill, Holly, and Katie. This is a family business… My wife and her sisters have made a tradition of running the event booth. But it’s more than that. These days, I run the pre-event. These girls actually run the event the day of the race so that I can hide, watch some racing, and hang out with pals. I love them all.
3. Carl and the MoKan staff. From the track crew to the gate keepers, there is no more professionally ran track in the country. They are pals as much as they are partners. After almost 15 years, how many people can really say that about their business partners?
4. Kevin Lee. He’s one of my best friends in the whole world and one of the things I most look forward to doing every year is getting to hang out with him. I love you man.
5. Ryno. I don’t think people realize how much he does for the Drags. Seriously. I honestly don’t know if there would be a Drags without him.
6. Reggie, Norm, Will, Blake, Steve, Cliff, Danny, Ben and all of my buddies from Texas that drive all the way to Missouri to support me. I’ve got the best friends anyone could ever ask for.
7. The LaQuinta Hotel. I had gotten really used to being treated pretty poorly by host hotels. Mike and the folks at La Quinta treated us like kings… We got off to a rocky start because of the cramped parking lot, but we are already working on ideas to fix that.
8. I’m sure there are others. My mind is tired… But man… I’m so damned appreciative of all you guys. Words can’t describe.

Coverage. Every year I get about 20 minutes to walk around and take pictures… This year I decided to dedicate that time to flying my drone rather than manning a camera. Now, you can’t really tell a story with just drone footage. I realize that. But, I just love this perspective of MoKan:

Thankfully, we aren’t limited to just drone coverage. There’s a ton of coverage on the H.A.M.B. and Blake Burwell was there with his camera and was nice enough to share his shots. Dig on this: