KSHE95 Rock 'n' Roll Car Show

Went the the to the KSHE95 Rock 'n' Roll Car Show at the Gateway International Raceway in Illinois today.

The raceway has a NASCAR circuit & a drag strip on a single site. It is fairly new, with this year being their 'Turnin' 10' season (it opened in 1997). Compared to the UK drag strips that I have been to, the facilities are really good. It hosts some major events with both the NHRA Midwest Nationals drag racing & the NASCAR Busch 250 being held there. They also hold regular 'Midnight Madness' events where the drag racing takes place between 8pm & 3am!

The car show was really good & included aspects not usually seen at UK shows. There were free kids entertainments that Beth enjoyed &, as the drag strip was there it would be a shame not to use it. Real street racing was the order of the day with the cars being flagged off the start by a bloke raising & then dropping his arms (rather than using the 'Christmas tree' start lights). Even the Hooters girls that were walking around got in on the act & started a few races.

Alot of the cars (about 750 apparently) just parked up, although some of them had a go on the dynomometer. This is a trailer mounted device that the cars have to drive up onto & produces a graph that shows horsepower & torque. The rear wheels sit on a set of rollers & the car is tied down to the platform. When all is ready, the cars accelerate & perform a full power run. The noise is pretty amazing & the sight of seeing a car six foot in the air at full throttle, yet not moving, is pretty mad. I wouldn't want to be in the way if something went wrong, especially after seeing how much the cars loads up under acceleration & move about when not under full throttle!