2016 Retro Rewind Coverage Pt. 2 Sponsored by Speedway Motors

2016 Retro Rewind

This post of the Hot Rod Hill Climb is brought to you by Speedway Motors. Thank you Speedway for making this coverage possible. Visit the the Speedway Motors site here, on Facebook here or on Twitter here.

This post of the Retro Rewind is brought to you by Speedway Motors. Thank you Speedway for making this coverage possible. Visit the the Speedway Motors site here, on Facebook here or on Twitter here.

The 2016 Retro Rewind in Dubuque, IA is physically a small event in a fairly small venue, but it’s HUGE on heart. That’s what the Retro Rewind, Vintage Torque Fest and Iron Invasion events are all about in a word, heart. John Wells and company put these events on to raise money for the 501(c)(3) Helping Hannah’s Heart Foundation. PLEASE go check out this foundation, it’s so very important that us in the hot rod and kustom world help out foundations like this that help out good hard working folks going through some of the toughest times in their lives.

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2016 Retro Rewind Coverage Pt. 1 Sponsored by Speedway Motors

This post of the Hot Rod Hill Climb is brought to you by Speedway Motors. Thank you Speedway for making this coverage possible. Visit the the Speedway Motors site here, on Facebook here or on Twitter here.

This post of the Retro Rewind is brought to you by Speedway Motors. Thank you Speedway for making this coverage possible. Visit the the Speedway Motors site here, on Facebook here or on Twitter here.

My 2nd trip to Dubuque, IA for the Retro Rewind went down over the weekend of Jan. 9, 2016. The 3rd annual Retro Rewind was a lot of fun, even if I decided last minute to not bring my ride. The bitter cold may have kept my car (I wimped out after being sick all week) and some spectators away but there were still a ton of great cars, trucks, bikes, vendors, bands and awesome car people at the show.

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2015 HAMB Drags Part 3

Still waiting for the track to be prepped for the 2015 HAMB Drags, I wandered around the preferred parking area. Normally it takes a day for the track to get cleaned up after a rain storm, the track crew had it ready to run in about 5 hours. Kudos to everyone on staff for getting things going! The photos you see here take you through the preferred parking area and right up into the action!

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2015 HAMB Drags Part 2

As you can see in the photos it was wet at MO-Kan Dragway for the 2015 HAMB Drags. That slowed the show down but didn’t stop it! By 3pm the cars were lined up and the tree was lit. I continued in the pits and car show area for awhile and finally made my way over to the sidelines to take some photos of the action.

 

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2014 HAMB Drags Part 5

The 5th and Final post from the 2014 HAMB Drags!

Part 1 | Part 2 Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Click here to see the final 70 images!

2014 HAMB Drags Part 4

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!

Click here to see 50 more images from the 2014 HAMB Drags

2014 HAMB Drags Part 3

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.

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2014 HAMB Drags Part 2

 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!

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2014 HAMB Drags Part 1

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.

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Event Coverage : 2013 Starliner Part 6

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6 | Art 1

See you down the road my friends!

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Event Coverage : 2013 Starliner Part 5

LOTS of photos in this one folks!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6 | Art 1

The family that hangs out at the cars show together…is kool.

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Event Coverage : 2013 Starliner Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6 | Art 1

For Part 4 we’re still at the show, and we start with Aaron of Fast A.L.’s Upholstery’s Ford and Mickey’s  (StrayKatKustoms’) 60 Chevrolet flattop with 60 Merc Grille and Pontiac taillights.

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Event Coverage : 2013 Starliner Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6 | Art 1

So here we are on Saturday morning at the Kansas Aviation Museum.

I backed the Galaxie up under the wing of the KC135 as far as I could to keep in the shade.

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Event Coverage : 2013 Starliner Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6 | Art 1

The 2nd stop on the Garage Krawl for our group was my friend Roger’s house. Due to it being a private property I will not mention his last name or where it is. Roger has a fantastic collection of Fords mostly 40’s of various types and a couple of Falcons and more, but his automobilia collection is equally as impressive.

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Event Coverage : 2013 Starliner Part 1

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 | Part 6 | Art 1

As I did last year, I got to the Host Hotel on Thursday evening about 7pm so that I could wake up ready to go on the Garage Krawl on Friday morning. After dinner with some friends I shot some night shots in the parking lot.

One of my favorite Mercs around.

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A Look Back: 2010 Hot Rod Revolution – Austin, TX

Still one of my favorite shows that I’ve ever attended. The cars, the venue, the bands, everything just came together to make it a fantastic weekend. The Hot Rod Revolution in 2010 was the first year for the show in Austin, TX, it’s only about a 9 hour drive so it sounded like a great excuse to drive down and check it out. Leaving home at 6:15 pm I checked in to my hotel room at around 3:30am and went to sleep, 6 hours later I was headed to the show. The City of Austin Seaholm Power Plant made for a perfect backdrop of about 100 hot rods. 1948 and older only, traditional hot rod styling only, this show couldn’t help but be awesome. Here’s a slide show of that gallery, click here to go to the gallery directly.

Since then the show has moved to a new location in Austin at Camp Maybre. I attended the 2011 show there and shot photos that can be seen here. The show’s date has moved around and has conflicted with other shows that I needed to attend since and I’ve not been able to go again. Hopefully one of these years I can get back to it because it’s a great show of my favorite type of hot rods.

See you at a show,

Royboy

Event Coverage :2013 H.A.M.B. Drags Weekend Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Thanks folks for following along with all of the H.A.M.B. Drags coverage.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

That’s it for the basic coverage of the 2013 H.A.M.B. Drags.

See you at a show,

Royboy

Event Coverage :2013 HAMB Drags Weekend Part 3

Finally we hit the track!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Of course my friends from Wichita the McGregors are there, any time  you see these sombreros there’s a good time somewhere close by.

 

Hot Rod Hill Climb  and Grandpa’s Hot Rod Booth

Really nice ride

Nick’s roadster is just getting better and better

Model A John’s ride

Some of my Mulvane Marauder friends were in attendance

Of course the Lil Honker, always a favorite.

My buddy John’s barn find gasser

The man, the myth, the traveling legend Bob K!

Butch M’s 56 Chevy Gasser got some new touches

Perfection.

Simple, cool, I want one.

Some of the best curves in the automotive world.

Bill Moore’s “High School Dropout” Merc

This is one of the slickest flatties I’ve ever seen.

Don’s 53 is always looking good.

Another view of Rick’s new shoebox.

Krobe’s fastback fleetline Chevy

There are a couple of shoebox utes in the area, this one has a ton of work in it.

Mike’s bad blue Chevy Truck

Kerry’s rail, I hear tell that about the time I headed for the hotel he pulled a 165 mph run, congrats man!

John and Butch warming up the hides.

That’s it for this HAMB Drags post, 1 more tomorrow and then maybe some special edits on Friday.

Thanks for following along on all of my adventures, remember if there are any photos you’d like to own a copy of for your wall, click on the photo here, and the site will take you to the appropriate page to buy prints. Every print you buy helps put gas in the tank to get me and my cameras to another show to bring you more show coverage.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

See you at a show,

Royboy

Event Coverage :2013 HAMB Drags Weekend Part 2

Here are some more shots from the HAMB Drags Friday Night’s pre-party shenanigans

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Mike and Daddy-O from Pushrod (and Atlas Speed & Custom)

This looks like a good time…

Dick’s Chevy is simple and clean and a driving machine.

Stray Kat Kustoms (Mickey) has just about finished his 60 Chevy with 60 Merc Grill as his daily driver.

Early Saturday morning after a hearty breakfast I roamed the parking lot a bit before heading out.

Here’s my buddy Rick’s new shoebox.

A whole lotta kool in the host hotel parking lot.

On the way to MO-KAN Dragway we stopped by Ryno Built for a coffee and donuts open house.

A few cars were taking advantage of the shop, like Jason swapping his slicks on.

Others gathered to help a friend 1/2 a country from home.

Then Jason tacked his grill support bracket back in place.

150 miles each way and consistent 10 second passes all day. Mike had a good debut weekend for the Henry J.

The next stop is the track for the main event!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

See you at a show,

Royboy

Event Coverage : 2013 H.A.M.B. Drags Weekend Part 1

Another HAMB Drags weekend has come and gone.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

As usual for this event I decided to leave my ride at home and catch a ride with my folks down to Joplin. With all of the travel that I do, it’s good to spend a couple of those weekends a year with them on the road. As I loaded my bags into the back of the truck the rain was pouring down in our little town. We headed south as quick as we could to try to outrun the storm. The route between Gypsum, KS and Joplin, MO has a few turns so every time we out ran the storm we made a turn and drove right back into it for the first 2 hours or so of the trip. 15 or 20 miles in a massive hail storm and torrential downpours were lowlights of Thursday evening’s drive.

Friday morning we assembled some of our friends and headed for Springfield, MO for the swap meet. The Ozarks Antique Auto Club Swap Meet is massive. There is no other way to describe it really. The car corral is usually loaded with good buys and some that are a bit over priced. There are top notch vendors from across the country and a truly staggering amount of individual sellers covering the fairgrounds. I didn’t find anything that I couldn’t live without, actually I had my heart set on an Offenhauser 4bbl intake for my flathead and some matching heads, but some new Royboy computer upgrades had that cash spoken for. Ahhhh, maybe next year.

Then it was back to the host hotel area for the Friday Night pre-party! Tons of folks drove their rides from all over the country to attend the drags and the pre-party. Music was provided by my friends Pushrod and they rocked the party like non-other.

To see all of the photos in the gallery go here.

Then it was off to bed to get up for Saturday’s shenanigans, more about those tomorrow.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

See you at a show,

Royboy

Royboy’s August Schedule

 


June and July are the slow times for me, just a couple of shows to hit and lots of weekends that I’m not on the road, it drives me crazy to sit at home that much. Mid August is when the schedule ramps back up and runs nearly without a weekend off until around Thanksgiving.

For me in 2013 it starts back up at the H.A.M.B. Drags held in Asbury, MO at the MO-KAN  Dragway on Aug. 17th. We usually show up to the hotel in Joplin on the 15th, head to Springfield, MO to a swap meet on the 16th and then it’s all day long at the drags on the 17th.

The next weekend has been the Blacktop Nationals in Wichita for the past 3 years. Last year I arrived to Wichita in a torrential downpour. Something that I did not think my camera would enjoy so I effectively skipped the show last year. But the previous two I was there and here’s some of what I saw. This year the event goes down on Aug. 24th.

2011 Blacktop Nationals  0030
2011 Blacktop Nationals  0086
2011 Blacktop Nationals  0103

Following that is Aug. 31 and the Labor Day weekend goodness that is the Greaserama in the KC area (Tracy, MO to be exact). I’ve been attending the Greaserama since before my car could make the drive somewhere around 2007 or so, I’ve always had a good time and I’ve always wished it wasn’t over when it was.

That’s it for what’s coming up in August on the Royboy Schedule. If you will be at any of these events or on my way to or from them and  you want a custom photo shoot of your vehicle, book a shoot with me then to save $ since I can combine the travel, shoot me an email for more details.

See you at a show,

Royboy

Upcoming Event: Automobilia Moonlight Show

Each year I try to make this show, but last year was the first one where I was happy with my photos from it. The show attracts all manner of rides from the region and a huge amount of people. Getting there early for photos was the only way to go.

I’m a sucker for Caddys
All the way from WI I believe for this 60 El Camino, we crossed paths again at Iron Invasion later in the year as well.
This wasn’t the first or the last time seeing this great little hot rod pickup last year. I really dig it.
A row of alligators.
This 49 Ford Coupe was new to me.
John Sinfellow’s gasser is just too kool of a barn find.
I should have come back and shot this again in the dark.
Those are some of my favorites from the show from 2012. The 2013 show goes down in Downtown Wichita on July 13th.
See you at a show,
Travis

Build Threads!

I’m off traveling this weekend, today I’m driving back from the Texas Thaw. I should be stopping at Atlas Speed & Custom for a shop visit. I’m writing this on Thursday night and the plan is to stop by Chaotic Customs and Premier Body & Paint tomorrow on the way to Texas, as well as pick up some freshly embroidered hats for sale.

So since I’m off gallivanting around on the road I thought I’d share some more build threads with you from the H.A.M.B. Click the titles to see the threads!

The Chemical City Coupe ’32 5-window build thread

 
Enjoy!
See you at a show,
Travis
 

Next Weekend! 6th Annual Texas Thaw

I’m embarrassed. Next weekend is the 6th Annual Texas Thaw, and it will be the first one that I attend. Sorry to Big Ken, I should have been there years ago.

7 DAYS............ 

 

This is a Run Whatcha Brung pre ’73 drags held at the North Star Dragway in Denton, TX.

View Larger Map

For all the info on the event go here.

And for some coverage of last year’s event go here.

If you’re going to the Texas Thaw, look for the big guy in the red rb hat!
 
See you at a show,

Travis

The show that started it all…

Essentially I started this kustom and hot rod photographic adventure in 2006. That’s the first photos that I have from my old Sony Digital camera with the small CD discs. I remember that first day in Lawrence, KS filling the camera up with about 180 photos and resorting to my phone’s camera to cover the rest of the show. Those photos were less than inspiring… from both cameras. The show was the 2006 Kruzin’ In The Heartland held in Lawrence, KS.

I’d seen the ad for the show in Ol Skool Rodz I believe, my uncle Paul (povertyflats to many of  you) and my father and I headed up early on Saturday morning to see the show. It was supposed to be hot that day and we were leaving by about noon, but there were only a couple hundred cars max so it wasn’t hard to get all the way through the show in that time.

I had never really seen a hot rod like this, I was used to street rods, this was something new to me, many of these rides looked attainable. Most of the street rods were kind of about how big the billet wheels were, or how much it cost to have this or that machined, these weren’t about that game at all.

The first time I really stopped to look at a FED. I was amazed that the driver was resting his important parts on a part of the car that seemed somewhat fragile kind of like sitting on a grenade and then pulling the pin.
 

I’ve seen this one around a few times, as I remember it was pretty fast in Salina a couple of years later, then it got kept out of Hunnert a year or two after that for wheels that were too new or something along those lines (those wheels are not on it in this photo).

Don’t shoot into the sun!

I did that a lot that day

Dad in his somewhat goofy hat on the right.

I shot a lot more engines and interiors that day than I do now, maybe I should take the time to do more of those shots, some of  you might appreciate that.

Hey I know that car! Krobe’s other ride! See an article about his 30 Model A Coupe tomorrow here on this blog, use the subscribe feature on the right to make sure you don’t miss it.

This ride would drastically change over the next few years. Built by Bright Built Hot Rods in Salina, KS. After an unfortunate accident with a Subaru, it would become much different.

Hmmmm this one looks familiar too… right Eric?

My first photo of The Tiki Taxi, now Steve has become a good friend.

Jack’s 30 Coupe, Jack’s not too bad a fella either. He also owns the 29 Roadster on 32 rails that I shot a video of last year, and his 51 Ford is under construction now, see the post on Fast AL’s Upholstery for a shot of it.

I wonder now how different my life would have been for those next few years if I’d actually met a few of my hoodlum friends that day instead of seeing their cars and meeting them 6 years later.

Any way that it happened, I’m glad to be able to look back and see my friends were there all along, we just hadn’t crossed paths yet. Get out to a show this year, take a kid and get them involved, meet the people, scope the cars, enjoy it all.

See you at a show,

Travis