Page 20 - Issue 34

There is no cooler setting for
a car & bike event than on the
grounds of an old steelyard.

who safely guided us the rest of the way to Shapiro’s Burnouts.
place. There weren’t a whole lot of other people up and Lots of them.
about on the streets of St. Louis at that hour, but those Natural Bridge Road became Pomona Raceway
that were all gave us smiles, waves, and thumbs-ups… east. Anybody with a heavy right foot and an affi nity
along with a couple of ‘what did I just witness?’ glances. for the acrid smell of obliterated rubber felt obliged to
Once there, we were able to situate all of the build- stage themselves and at least attempt to smoke the
off cars in a juicy spot right up front so everybody hides. While some either failed or barely managed a
in attendance could appreciate all their hard work in chirp, there were far more that managed to temporarily
one place. As fun as this show is, it was now time for enlarge the carbon footprint of St. Louis to the size of
judges to get to work and undertake the unenviable China. There were rat rods, hot rods, baggers, choppers,
task of, well… judging. It’s a given that every one of the donks, tuners, diesels (including a sick
participants sacrifi ced family time, relationships, blood,
and mental health to get there. The creativity that they This epic burnout as seen
displayed was overwhelming. Additionally, the evolution from two perspectives
of the builds over a mere three years has been nothing simultaneously.
short of astounding. Combine all of this and the only
conclusion that one can draw is that every participant
is a winner. But rules are rules, and it’s not a build-off
without awards.
Ok. Regarding all of those superlatives about
Steelfest in the fi rst paragraphs… the reason that those
who can’t get into the show park along the street for a
half-mile in each direction.

20 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE THIRTY-FOUR

18x23_RR1601_Steelfest.indd 20 10/26/15 2:52 PM