It ’ s amazing to imagine how an event that started with just five cars could grow into such a celebrated and heavily attended attraction , but that ’ s exactly the kind of growth the Stick Shift Nationals has enjoyed in just over a decade . The event was birthed in North Carolina , where there ’ s no shortage of highwinding , gear-banging race cars , most notably within the ranks of a well-established traveling series called the Classic Gear Jammers . It seemed like a no-brainer that a once-yearly gathering of clutch cars would be a huge hit . That ’ s why it was rather puzzling when the inaugural Stick Shift Nationals held at Farmington Dragway yielded just five cars . Ken Regenthal ,
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who retired from the Pro Mod scene and now races a straight-drive Corvette , remembers the event well , mainly because he won .
“ After the race , [ Farmington Dragway announcer ] Mark Joyce walked up to me and asked if I had any ideas on how we could improve and grow the event , and I told him maybe if we could get some sponsors we could improve the purse and maybe that would help ,” Regenthal remembers telling Joyce .
It sounded good on paper , as the saying goes , but Regenthal decided to take it a step further and put some action behind his own words to try and drum up some sponsorship , beginning with his own business , Clemmons Concrete .
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What happened next is textbook sponsorshipgathering on the grassroots level , as Regenthal simply started calling everyone he knew in racing and in business , believing that any business owner could afford a meager , entry-level sponsorship of $ 200 , and he couldn ’ t have been more correct . The following year he had roughly 40 sponsors support the gathering at Farmington , not to mention lots more cars , but that was only the beginning , as year after year the event has enjoyed a perpetual state of growth , both in car count and sponsorship .
Incredibly , the 11th running of the Clemmons Concrete Stick Shift Nationals at Farmington in late June drew a record-breaking 176 cars ! “ That ’ s
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY TODD DZIADOSZ AND VAN ABERNETHY |