Nebraska Furniture Mart Friends and Family Car Show ambushed by nice weather

When I was heading out to the Nebraska Furniture Mart Friends and Family Car Show under cloudy, threatening skies, who'd a thunk that I'd be nursing my worst sunburn in years just a few hours later? But that's just what happened, as the bright summer sun snuck up behind everyone when they weren't looking.

This is usually a pretty nice show. My friend Doug Hayes, who is responsible for a big chunk of this event, has spent a lot of time around the local stock car tracks, and you can see some of that influence in the way this show is presented. The participant sign-in sheet is exactly like one a driver would use to gain access to the pits, concessions are decidedly speedway-like, and a large portion of the show is dedicated to race cars.

Many of those cars belonged to participants at Lakeside Speedway. And as sort of a mixed blessing, all the rain Friday cancelled the races that night, but they didn't have to clean their cars up to be in the show. The Modifieds and Street Stocks were popular with the kids in the crowd. Plus, C.A.R.B. was selling raffle tickets to win a Street Stock, and the Kansas Speedway had their show car and a car from the Richard Petty Driving Experience on display.

There were a few things for the kids to do too. They had face painters, mascots from the T-Rex Cafe and Culver's, and several kid-friendly vendors on-hand to make things a little more interesting.

Trophies and awards for this show are based on how much in donations each car gets in their little cup. That means something really awful could potentially win first place if they throw enough into their kitty. That's OK, though, because the proceeds all go to the Dream Factory. Organizers say they raised $1,500 this year, so I'd say that's a pretty good day.

There were some nice cars there, too. We were parked next to a '56 Ford that was made up like an early '60s Gasser, and that thing generated a lot of attention. The best of show went to a cool blue '66 Dodge Charger. Those cars really had neat interiors in them. And one of my favorites was a super slick '70 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this show was that I met several people who check out this blog. I know people are coming here, because I can see the numbers, but having several people come up and tell me that they enjoy it is pretty cool. It's nice to see real people behind all those numbers.

I am including a pretty large slideshow of all the cars and trucks at the Nebraska Furniture Mart Friends and Family Car Show below, and as you can see, it was a great event. But if I go to this thing next year, I don't care if it's snowing when I leave the house ... I'm wearing sunscreen!