They said that gas was too expensive..
They said fewer cars would show up because Goodguys were right down the freeway in Columbus…
They said there wouldn’t be any race cars there because the 2 step was not permitted….
They said the event would be a wash because there was an 80% chance of rain on Friday….
They were wrong!
The 2022 version of Rock’N’Race was by far the smoothest and most organized event to date! Gas expensive, no worries we had cars from Connecticut to Montana, Texas, Alabama, Florida and Canada! I am sure I am missing some other far away states but they came!
We might need to re think the show area as we were running out of room! We know what to do and it will be better next year. Moving the Hauler’Back Trucking Stage to the hill with the car show and vendors was a huge success! Cleveland Audio stepped up their game, and the bands could be heard all the way to the end of the track! Fans went from watching racing, to car show, to watching the band all within a few yards of each other. Racers could watch the bands and hear the bands while in the staging lanes! Speaking of staging lanes, the addition of Racer Rich in the tower along with Dragway 42 providing a staff member at the rear of staging, made things move way better than previous years!
Here is what I will say about the no 2 step rule; I did not hear any cheating in any division. The car count did not suffer that much. The starting line sounded like the late 60’s. If your “nostalgia event/group” permits 2 steps it is just another modern race.
Thursday the pits were about 75% full! It looked great and that is what makes doing these events rewarding. Most of these guys/gals get it and will have fun no matter the weather! Fans these days watch the weatherman and we all know that is the best job in the world! They can be 75% wrong and that would be considered good. Friday it was supposed to get a break from about 4-8 then rain till about 2am….we got half a cycle in then the skies started to drizzle on us. Whenever it stopped the 42 crew worked their butts off to get the track ready only to have it drizzle again. It never rained hard, but it was enough to keep the track empty. Then when the bands started to play, so did the racing! The flag girl contest sponsored by the Choppers Hot Rod Association was a big hit and the girls did a great job. We wanted to get everyone a couple of rounds of test and tune. As per the schedule we had our first round of qualifying for the Funny Cars and AA/GS. Unfortunately one funny car had a transmission failure and yours truly 33 Willys ripped all the teeth off the ring gear. We finished the second cycle around 10 and did not do the Gambler’s Race. I decided that working the crew super late didn’t make sense when Saturday is the bid day and we were starting 2 hours earlier to get everyone more track time on Saturday to make up for the rain delay on Friday.
Saturday was about as perfect a day as you could ask for! The track went hot at 8 am and made noise till midnight! That is 16 hours of racing! We got the gamblers race in because we care about our charity! We won’t know for a few days how much we raised for UH Rainbow Babies Children’s Cancer Research but we were glad to add it to the schedule. Larry Dixon and his 2 seat Nitro Top Fuel Dragster nailed 2 great passes. All the divisions and classes put on a great exhibition of heads up racing with many close races! I believe the Perfect Convertor Muscle Car class was the biggest class this year but I have not gone over any numbers as of yet. We will get winner circle pictures and car show winners posted in the next couple of weeks. We printed more event shirts this year than ever before and still sold out by 10:30am on Saturday. We don’t even start selling them until noon on Friday. I also noticed the swapmeet keeps getting better as well! I saw a super cool FED for sale and even a 33 willys! I did score a 3rd member with 35 spline spool for my 33 however the axles did not fit the swap score so we were dead for in the water for the weekend.
Sunday the weather was again near perfect and we did not mess around after the marathon Saturday. We started eliminations at 10 am and secured the track by 3pm! We got everyone on the road with a smile on their faces.
I couldn’t do this without the help of my friends: Wayne and Pam, Tech by committee performed by Richie, Matt, Shannon, Wayne and Scott, Our little compound of chefs Oscar, Tom, Bill, Kim, Pam, Dan, Heather, and Michelle. Thanks for making sure I eat even if it is midnight. The Slick Devils taking care of business with the car show field, and the pics along with the presentations. My crew Jacin, Squirrel, Jeremy and Ashley doing their best to get the Hart Automotive coupe back on track. Servicing the fuel system when we were finished was a huge help!
Every year a little more gets completed at this massive venue. Trees were added and racers were excited to see light poles and power stations going in the pits. The Matchams and provided us with such a fantastic venue for Rock’N’Race. Ron had that track on kill when so many other facilities around the country are running out of VHT: Kudos to an owner that manages his own track surface and the crew with him. The safety squad did a fantastic job when they were needed. Best year ever in by the girls in the tower! We had a bunch of photographers at this event and I am excited to see all the images they produce. We racers only see our cars through their eyes! I also want to thank all the food venders that provided for the photographers in the hospitality loge! I would also like to point out that I looked at the menus and I am happy that I did not see any price gouging! I have been getting rave reviews for the bands on stage and I know the sound was great. Also thank you to Alan Ward on the PA, Joe Rossman for color commentator, John Sarver from CKIW for the live feed and great interviews! Thanks Bob Riggle of Hemi Underglass fame for hanging out and signing autographs. Larry Dixon and crew for bringing top fuel to our crowd, nothing like it! Mike Charlton for making a pass on a jet powered motorcycle!
Thank you Mickey Thompson Tires, Perfect Converter, WAC Kustoms, Kenda Tires, Choppers Hot Rod Association, Slick Devils, Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston Powered Cleveland Auto-Rama, 911 Clothing and Collectibles, East Coast Air Brush, Gellner Engineering, Merchants of Speed, Here Comes Kovach Media Blasting and Cleaning, Hood Rats, The Foat, Gasser Magazine, Cruzin Times, Drag List, Mikes Transmissions, WINT EGRITY Radio, and everyone else that helps out throughout the year.
Last but not least, my family for putting up with me each year for the time I spend doing this, and you, the fans and racers for being part of it! My marketing style relies on assembling an event that exceeds your expectations so you tell other folks. Every year Rock’N’Race gets bigger and better!
Thank you!