Carl Blanton, MoKan Dragway owner, ought to get some kind of award for putting on satisfying nostalgia races. They aren't big affairs and don't have the big name cars that populate the big name races, but they are a lot of fun and user friendly to the average guy.
This year's classes were Slingshot/Altered, Open Gas ('57 and older), and Super Stock ("58-72), all of which were run as bracket classes. The winners of Open Gas and Super Stock ran each other for Top Eliminator. There were also a muscle car shootout and a street rod shootout in which the two top qualifiers ran each other for a plaque. A Drag & Shine offered plaques for Best Street Rod, Best Muscle Car, Best Original Drag Car, and Best Restored Drag Car.
This year had a fair representation of front engined dragsters and classic gasser-like cars, but the hits of the show for me and many others were the H.A.M.B. Gas Rails (HA/GR). If you aren't familiar with the H.A.M.B., then shame on you. Go here and be enlightened. I'm afraid the nickname "HAMBsters" has caught on despite H.A.M.B. founder and webmaster Ryan Cochran's wishes to the contrary and they were announced as such all day. Really, it just flows off the tongue - HAMBster... But I digress.
As of this race, there are only three HA/GRs in existance. However, I think they will catch on. The object is to race heads up (no bracket racing) cheaply and with old time pre-slingshot dragsters. The basics are flatheads and fairly early ('62 and earlier) inline engines are the only permitted power. No alcohol. No nitro. Period correct carburetors. Narrow bias ply tires. Driver ahead of the rear axle. They run heads up - no sissy bracket racing for them!