fans for our brackets !”
After being an independent track for 30 years , Mo-Kan joined forces with IHRA in 2014 , which Blanton feels was a great move . “ I ’ m just thrilled to death to be IHRA . They ’ ve got a tremendous sportsman program ,” insists Blanton . “ We ’ ve also got some great bracket racing talent in the area .”
Dustin Avondet , who won the 2019 IHRA Mod World Championship at Memphis , is a regular at Mo-Kan . “ Rachel Meyer bracket races with us nearly every weekend when not on tour with the Top Alcohol car ,” Blanton adds , “ and [ her sister ] Megan actually came here earlier in the year and drove Rachel ’ s bracket car . We ’ ve got a great group of bracket racers , some have been here 40 years .”
Mid-season , when Mo-Kan held its annual Mopar Day event , the attendance numbers were again through the roof , this time producing roughly a 100 % increase from prior years , while Mo-Kan ’ s nostalgia races packed the place as well . “ At the IHRA Sportsman Spectacular , we were able to book in outlaw Fuel Altereds for the first time in five years and it was a great show for us .”
The hits kept coming with Mo-Kan ’ s Labor Day weekend event , which produced the single largest one-day crowd in track history ! The event was headlined by the Funny Car Chaos series and also featured the Dirty South Gassers , small-tire cars and much more . “ I like to keep events manageable . I don ’ t like to feel like we ’ re losing control and it was borderline on Saturday night during our Labor Day race ,” laughs Blanton .
Indeed , while everyone was well-behaved and “ crowd control ” wasn ’ t a problem , the track still ran out of parking , T-shirts and staple food items at the concession stand , which was a reflection of just how many people turned out for the event .
In October , Mo-Kan held their own independent team finals , a practice they ’ ve engaged for 25 years , and also hosted the Titans of 10.5 World Finals the last week of October . “ We typically do test and tune on Sundays in November and that usually wraps things up for us ,” says Blanton .
So , as the oddity that is 2020 rolled to a close , Blanton is anxious to see what lies ahead . “ I ’ m just waiting to see what 2021 brings !” he laughs .
From a business and car count standpoint , Blanton says he wished the last 20 years would have been a mirror reflection of what this track experienced in 2020 , and he ’ s more anxious than ever to see if Mo-Kan Dragway can pull off a repeat in the upcoming season . DI
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