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Stop Teasin' Me...

Above: That's my 1988 Sportside at the 1994 SM Nats. That's my good friend Andy Clark's Ranger behind it. Okay, I admit it. Part of me has a really hard time believing that the greatest car show of all time is really possibly coming back to DuQuoin. I entered my '88 Chevy in the 1994 and 1995 shows. I wasn't a partier, but the place was rockin'. The folks in DuQuoin didn't seem too thrilled with it then, and it managed to hang on for a few years after that before finally being kicked out "for good" in 1998. But would it ever come back? Time will only tell, but things seem to look promising at this point. If they do, you can bet I will take my kids. The thing was a rite of passage for me, and my dad introduced me to the wonderful world of car crafting just before we attended the first event held in DuQuoin in 1986. We attended every one after that until the 1996 show. That said, here's my personal list of Top 10 Street Machine Memories, numbers 10-6.

#10. The PA Announcer

In watching some of the old videos of the event that are now on youtube, I heard the old SM Nats announcer and it was like I went back in time. I can remember his voice so clearly, and it brought a smile to my face to hear him hype the "Performance Corner Manufacturers' Midway." I distinctly remember one year where he was trying to recruit folks to enter to win a free engine. Two attendees were finally enticed into competing for a brand new crate engine. The catch? Both participants had to drain the oil from their engines, then drop a brick on the accelerator. Who ever blew up first got the new engine. Sucked to be the other guy!

#9. The Airbrush Guy

Growing up in a small town (if you can call a spot on the road 15 miles south of Harrisburg a "town"), I never had access to artists or services like the ones who descended annually on the State Fairgrounds for the SM Nats. I looked forward to, if nothing else, just standing outside the guy's trailer and watching him work. I was amazed by the ability of someone to take a photograph of someone else's pride and joy and hand airbrush an incredible likeness of that image onto a t-shirt in no time flat. I'm still mesmerized by airbrush artists, but the first I ever saw were at DuQuoin.

#8. The Food

By the time I had reached the age of 11 (the first year of the show in DuQuoin), my dad had held down a good job for a few years. While I wouldn't consider us "rich," we weren't poor, either. We didn't go on fancy vacations or do a whole lot of "extra" stuff, because dad was in high demand at work and often worked weekends. Without fail, though, he would take off for DuQuoin weekend and spoil me a bit. Bratwurst. Funnel Cakes. Lemon Shake-ups. Taffy. DuQuoin had it all. Like all carnival/fair food, it was ridiculously overpriced. But dad didn't mind splurging on me, so I grubbed out...and man, was it good! Nothing better than an ice cold lemon shake-up in the stifling southern Illinois summer heat!

#7.  The Ladies

Okay, I might take some heat for this one (for including it at all, OR for putting it way down at #7!), but I'm gonna keep it real. I love my wife and would never go to a show today to check out the chicks,  but for an 11 year-old little boy, college-aged girls hanging out of convertibles in their bathing suits wasn't what I was used to hanging out on the farm in Pope County. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

#6.  The Traffic

This one surprises even me, but growing up in southern Illinois all my life, I can't ever recall a traffic jam at any time other than street machines. Our first year, we got hung up trying to get through Galatia (Old Settlers' Days always seemed to be the same weekend), we got stuck in traffic before we got to Christopher. The line to get into the fairgrounds was backed up forever. Dad and I were going in a blue 80-something Olds Cutlass with custom wheels, and I vividly remember looking at him when we saw the endless stream of taillights and him saying to me, "Man, I guess this is kind of a big deal." I couldn't agree more, pop.

So what about you? Any memories of the show you care to share? If so, comment below!