Hot Rods and Kustom Cars
The 2015 Meltdown Drags action started shortly after I arrived. I made my way to the starting line of the Byron Dragway. The air was heavy, the clouds were thick, but the reports were that the Friday temps were much worse than Saturday’s. It didn’t take long for the lanes to fill up and the cars just kept coming and coming until I finally had to take a break.
Continue reading “2015 Meltdown Drags Part 2 Coverage Brought To You By Speedway Motors”
For a couple of years I’ve seeing and hearing photos of this near mythical drag event near Chicago called the Meltdown Drags. So in my quest to hit a bunch of new events in 2015, the plans were made to head to Illinois to find this mythical event. 2015 marked the 6th annual Meltdown Drags held at Byron Dragway outside of Byron, IL just southwest of Rockford.
That’s about 650 miles one way from my place, what the heck, I wanted to go for it. When I got to the track on Saturday morning just looking through the fence at the cars in the pits it was all worth it. This was the greatest collection of vintage drag vehicles that I’d ever seen and I wasn’t even in the gate yet.
Continue reading “2015 Meltdown Drags Part 1 Coverage Brought To You By Speedway Motors”
2014 Day of the Drags
by Heath Icenhower – Wide Whites Photography – On Instagram at @widewhites
It’s a universal fact that we can’t make every event, every year. So we must pick and choose. After seeing photos and hearing stories of last year’s Day of the Drags hosted by the Kontinentals, I decided that DOTD would be added to the list for 2014. Plans were made and cars/trucks were tuned up for the 333 miles drive to Little River Dragway, Holland, Texas on October 11th. However, good old Mother Nature had a different plan. Forecasts of 100% chance and significant rain resulted in a one week postponed Day of the Drags 2014. So, back to the day job for five more days.
After completing this year’s Drag Week 3rd in class, Mike decided to put some 4.11 gears in the Henry J. The extra torque to the ground put the nose up in the air, that’s power. You HAVE to see the pics of Monkey flag starting the drags later in this post!
There were lineups from just about every combination of vehicles that you could imagine at the 2014 Duck Drags. It was a lot of fun to see what came to the line together and see who could pull of the win.
I’d been hearing for a couple of year about the DuckusCrapus Drags at Tulsa Raceway Park. DuckusCrapus.com is a website that has amongst other things an active forum. The drags are a way for the members of the site to come together and have some fun at the strip. Lots of great cars were there and I got some fun photos. If you see a photo that you’d like to have as a print, click on it to go to the gallery page where the photos live and you’ll see a “Buy Photos” button that allows you to pick any size you want.
After seeing some friends saying they were going to head out to the Kansas International Dragway for some “Throwback Drags” last Saturday night, I decided I needed to go check it out. I was in the area anyways for the Blacktop Nationals after hitting the Rev It Up show in Lawrence, KS that morning.
Continue reading “2014 Kansas International Dragway Throwback Drags”
One of the great things of this event is how many cars come just to park in the “cool kids” parking lot. This post finishes off my trip through the preferred lot and heads back over to the drag racing action!
The temps were up as was the humidity. The only thing making the weather bearable was a breeze and some killer rides running down the track. The 2014 HAMB Drags was a blast all around.
Saturday Morning it was time to head off to Ryno’s place for donuts and b.s. sessions with friends. Some damn cool cars showed up!
The 2014 HAMB Drags weekend is done! Folks from all over the country, and a couple from the UK all came to Joplin, MO to hang out at the H.A.M.B. Drags out at Mo-Kan Dragway just outside of Asbury, MO right on the Kansas-Missouri State Line.
Guest Blog!
My buddy Dan Podobinski is a photographer based out of Indiana, he attends a lot of the same type of shows that I do. Since I can’t be everywhere at once, Dan was nice enough to share some of his images from the 2014 Meltdown Drags with all of you through the blog here. You may have seen some of his work recently in Car Kulture Deluxe Magazine, or on the HAMB. You need to go follow his page on Facebook here and buy some prints of his great photographs! And now on with the show!
In the five years since its first appearance, the Meltdown Drags has grown from a very small gathering of vintage drag race fans to an event of major proportions. This year drew over 500 race cars, some from as far as California, in addition to a nice little show ‘n shine area and a swap meet.
The organizers have managed to put together one hell of a show, at a cool old dragstrip…at a reasonable price. If you love vintage drag racing, the way it was in its heyday of the mid 60’s, then you absolutely must make plans to attend the 2015 Meltdown Drags in the quaint river town of Byron, Illinois. You will regret it if you don’t!
Well it’s almost that time again. August 16th at the Mo-Kan Dragway in Asbury, MO folks from across the country will gather for the H.A.M.B. Drags. I’ve been going for years and it’s become a family affair with about 20 family and friends going as a group.
4th and Final Post! Thanks for following along!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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Order your 2014.5 Stray Kat Calendar today, they’re going fast and will not be reprinted!
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4
See you at a show,
Royboy
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May Subscriber Giveaway!
If you want to this blog in your email inbox each time the blog goes live, go on up to the top right hand corner of the website and enter your email address. The last day of each month I randomly pick 1 subscriber to win a prize package.
May Prize Package includes:
A shirt from Gear Drive Speed & Custom
A copy of the latest Gears And Gals Magazine
And special grab bag item from Royboy Productions, could be an embroidered hat, a t shirt, a poster, anything on the site is up for grabs!
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$1000 Up For Grabs! Click here for more info!
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Thank you to the first 2 sponsors of my site, quite frankly the only 2 that I’ve asked to sponsor the site so far. If you’d like to help sponsor Royboy Productions and provide the koolest car show coverage to folks worldwide, click here to ask me about it.
More from the show and the start of the drag action!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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Order your 2014.5 Stray Kat Calendar today, they’re going fast and will not be reprinted!
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
See you at a show,
Royboy
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April Subscriber Giveaway!
If you want to this blog in your email inbox each time the blog goes live, go on up to the top right hand corner of the website and enter your email address. The last day of each month I randomly pick 1 subscriber to win a prize package.
This month’s prize is a DVD copy of “This Is Long Beach” 
from Atomic Hot Rods,
a print from artist Ben Dragdaddys and
2 DVDs from Vintage Torque.
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$1000 Up For Grabs! Click here for more info!
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Thank you to the first 2 sponsors of my site, quite frankly the only 2 that I’ve asked to sponsor the site so far. If you’d like to help sponsor Royboy Productions and provide the koolest car show coverage to folks worldwide, click here to ask me about it.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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Order your 2014.5 Stray Kat Calendar today, they’re going fast and will not be reprinted!
——————————————————————————————————————————–
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
See you at a show,
Royboy
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April Subscriber Giveaway!
If you want to this blog in your email inbox each time the blog goes live, go on up to the top right hand corner of the website and enter your email address. The last day of each month I randomly pick 1 subscriber to win a prize package.
This month’s prize is a DVD copy of “This Is Long Beach” from Atomic Hot Rods,
a print from artist Ben Dragdaddys and
2 DVDs from Vintage Torque.
———————————————————————————————
$1000 Up For Grabs! Click here for more info!
———————————————————————————————
Thank you to the first 2 sponsors of my site, quite frankly the only 2 that I’ve asked to sponsor the site so far. If you’d like to help sponsor Royboy Productions and provide the koolest car show coverage to folks worldwide, click here to ask me about it.
This past weekend (April 26, 2014) was the 3rd Annual Throttle Jockey Car Show & Drags in Herington, KS. I’ve known a few members of the Throttle Jockey club for awhile and I’ve been bummed to have missed the first two shows due to a busy schedule. Herington has the perfect business district for a car show, the main highway was moved out of the city decades ago so there was no issue with the city blocking off the main drag for the show. Registration was 8-10 and the show went to 12 then the crowd moved to the Herington Regional Airport, an old WWII airfield east of Herington out in the sticks.
One of the runways of the old airfield has been converted to an 1/8th mile drag strip. The city of Herington has a big history with railroads and that’s evident with the railroad tie barriers that were separating the track from the crowds. That was some serious protection! The pics of the drags will come but we’ll start with the shots of the show.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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Order your 2014.5 Stray Kat Calendar today, they’re going fast and will not be reprinted!
——————————————————————————————————————————–
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
See you at a show,
Royboy
———————————————————————————————
April Subscriber Giveaway!
If you want to this blog in your email inbox each time the blog goes live, go on up to the top right hand corner of the website and enter your email address. The last day of each month I randomly pick 1 subscriber to win a prize package.
This month’s prize is a DVD copy of “This Is Long Beach” from Atomic Hot Rods,
a print from artist Ben Dragdaddys and
2 DVDs from Vintage Torque.
———————————————————————————————
$1000 Up For Grabs! Click here for more info!
———————————————————————————————
Thank you to the first 2 sponsors of my site, quite frankly the only 2 that I’ve asked to sponsor the site so far. If you’d like to help sponsor Royboy Productions and provide the koolest car show coverage to folks worldwide, click here to ask me about it.
The Texas Thaw is an awesome drag race/car show event held March 1st at the North Star Dragway along I-35 just north of Denton, TX. In 2013 I made my first trip down to the Thaw, what I found was a great selection of vintage drag machines and hot rods that were out taking some passes on the track.
Below is a slide show from that trip, if you don’t see it, click here to see the entire gallery.
See you at a show,
Royboy
Two or three years ago a friend of mine was talking to me about another photographer that he wanted me to meet. He was really talking this guy up so when we finally crossed paths later that year I really felt like I kinda already knew Steve Giangreco. Our mutual friend Herb had filled me in on many of Steve’s kool projects but one that I didn’t know about was Gears and Gals Magazine. A year later I see the first issue of Gears and Gals and to be honest I was a bit jealous, I wanted to do a magazine! But this was far beyond what I was capable of at the time, and even today. Steve has put together a great publication in Gears and Gals.
Now on it’s 11 Issue, Gears and Gals is an indie publication that is largely the work of just a handful of people. The text is large, the photos are large, the ads are sparse. It’s a great magazine for just visually perusing or for sitting to read some great articles. I’ve supplied show coverage for the magazine in the past and I’m planning on doing so again in 2014.
If you like beautiful tasteful pinups and great hot rods, kustoms, trucks and drag machines, you need to check this magazine out. The majority of the vehicles featured are from the Kansas City area as that’s where the magazine is based out of but the feature vehicles are starting to be shot from farther and farther away from the home base. Issue 11 for example features Chicago area’s Voodoo Larry’s newly redone Voodoo Kreeper and the lovely Collette on the cover and as the feature story.
So now that I’ve told you a bit about the magazine, let me tell you about the experience that this magazine gives me. The paper is thick, the magazine feels substantial in my hands, almost like it’s made to be a collectable. Throwing it away would feel like a waste. Gears and Gals is printed right here in the midwest too, not outsourced to China like so many other magazines. The photography is all well done, the articles are informative and well written. The layout of the magazine is straight ahead and simple with many full page photos featuring some of the many beautiful pinups that Gears and Gals regularly work with. When I was going through the magazine looking for faults the only glaring one was that it was that I wanted more. I don’t know if that’s a fault but it did leave me a touch less than satisfied, meaning that I will patiently be waiting for the next issue to show up. This magazine features many of the shows that I attend and a handful that I don’t make it to as well. There’s great event coverage, feature articles, personality features and more in Gears and Gals.
To summarize, yes the magazine is published by friends of mine, yes I will have articles in it in the future, and yes I’m recommending the magazine to you. First I wouldn’t be submitting articles to this mag if I didn’t believe it was a good product, and second this is as indie as it gets, no corporate politics, no big publishing company games, this is one small teams’ vision and effort going into making a great magazine that shows off some of the Midwestern car show scene. THAT’S something I can get behind. A subscription would make a great Christmas gift, even if you’re getting yourself a gift!
Head over to Gears and Gals on facebook and like their page, go to their site and pick up an issue or better yet subscribe!
See you at a show,
Royboy
20 copies remain! Order today to get yours!
From time to time while I’m doing my normal car show coverage I’ll take an extra second and do some multiple exposure shots. When I get time I merge these HDR shots for a bit of a different look from normal. Mostly I try to keep them fairly realistic looking but occasionally I will get a bit wild. Here are some from the H.A.M.B. Drags. Remember if any of these shots are something that would look good on your living room or garage wall, click the photo to go to the shopping cart and order any size you’d like.
See you at a show,
Royboy
Yes, I’ve already given you a heads up that the H.A.M.B. Drags were on the way Aug. 17 at MO-KAN Dragway.
Rumor has it that Pushrod is playing again at the Friday Night Pre-party
Royboy
5 weeks from now folks from all over the country will be rolling towards Joplin, MO to assemble for the 2013 H.A.M.B. Drags
For the last few years (2012, 2011, 2010) I’ve been heading down to the time capsule that is MO-KAN Dragway in Asbury, MO between Joplin, MO and Pittsburg, KS.
Part 3!
That’s it for the Texas Thaw through my eyes!
Thanks for looking, and remember you can click on any of these photos to see the entire gallery, there are more photos in the gallery than what has been posted here.
See you at a show,
Travis
Update 9/17/13: You can also see more coverage and writing in an article I did for Rod Authority here.
