Quite the variety at the Sam's Club Car Show in KCK

Last weekend while I was taking pictures at the Tonganoxie Days Car Show, someone handed me a flyer for the “first annual” Sam’s Club Car Show, which took place at the Sam’s Club in Kansas City, Kan.  I thought that sounded interesting, so this weekend I grabbed the camera and headed out to The Legends.  It was a pretty hot and muggy day, but they still got a nice turnout for their first-ever event.

Nebraska Furniture Mart Friends and Family Car Show has grown from humble beginnings

Six years ago, the Nebraska Furniture Mart in Kansas City, Kan., had a small car show, mostly for employees, out behind the loading dock.  Today, the car show is much bigger.  It isn’t just for employees anymore, and a nice variety of cars and trucks makes it out to this charity event for Camp Quality.  This was a great weekend for it, because comfortable temperatures (along with 427-mph winds) made this a nice place to spend an afternoon.

2012 Goodguys Mid-Western Nationals Sunday: Here comes the sun

The Goodguys Mid-Western Nationals is typically the biggest car show in Kansas City, and Saturday is usually the biggest day.  In 2012, this was still the biggest show in town, but rains on Saturday kept most of the cars away until Sunday.  Bright sunshine ensured that the car count was more like what people have come to expect on the final day of the show.  They also open up this day to allow later-model vehicles, which obviously adds to the festivities.

2012 Goodguys Mid-Western Nationals Saturday: Here comes the rain again

Every year about this time, the car show world descends on the infield of Kansas Speedway for the Saturday installment of the Goodguys Mid-Western Nationals.  This is the biggest car show of the year in this area, and Saturday is the biggest day.

But not this year.

Nebraska Furniture Mart Friends and Family Car Show raises money for the Dream Factory

I lived in Omaha as a kid, and Nebraska Furniture Mart was the place in town to buy furniture.  I remember my parents dragging me through there on occasion to look at couches or whatever.  The diminutive Mrs. B would be scooting through making sure everything was in order.

So big was the Nebraska Furniture Mart that even when my family moved to Kansas City, they still bought new furniture from the Omaha retailer.  And it wasn't just them, either.  Turns out that lots of Kansas Citians took advantage of the deals from the giant store.

Hamlin wins the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway

The NASCAR weekends at Kansas Speedway are among, if not the biggest events in the area.  I'm not just talking about car-related.  I mean biggest period.  The sheer number of people in attendance is staggering, and the number of people who are watching it via TV or Internet, or listening to it on the radio, is several times bigger than that yet.

Since the focus here is Kansas City car events, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about this weekend's STP 400 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and of course the SPF 250 for the NASCAR Camping World Trucks.

The Lorax hates Vipers

Something interesting caught my eye on the way to see The Lorax at the Legends Theatre. More on that in a minute.

The Lorax is an animated movie that tries to deliver the message that it is bad to cut down trees for short-term personal gain, which is a nice message, I suppose. But then it turns its attention to the evils of big business and successful entrepreneurs. People should leave the environment alone, renounce large corporations and money, and live in a perfect utopia of cottony trees and adorable forest creatures under sun-drenched skies. Danny DeVito voices the Lorax, protector of the forest.

Abandoned Corvettes at the annual Hooters Touch of Glass Corvette Show

1983 was the only year since 1953 that Chevrolet did not offer a production Corvette. 1983 was also the year Prince introduced the song Little Red Corvette, which was, in fact, not about Corvettes.

I bring this up because this weekend, the Touch of Glass Corvette Club hosted a Corvette show at the Hooters in the Legends. And instead of being strictly a show about Corvettes, this gathering may have been more about … hot wings.