At Union Dragway, South Carolina
By Mike Slade
The Steel In Motion car and truck show has grown in popularity over the last ten or twelve years and draws participants from all up and down the east coast and points west of the Mississippi River. I don’t believe the members of the Geargoyles car club had any idea that this event would be what it is today when it started out as a small gathering in the club home base in Inman, South Carolina. When it started to over flow the parking lot where it was held in Inman the club moved it to Shady Side dragway in, Boiling Springs, South Carolina and the word got out and the show began to grow. I think one of the events that help it grow at that time was the grudge drag racing and instead of using the lights to send the cars down the strip flag girls were use to send the car off and you could challenge your friends to a race. I am not sure what happened, but about ten years ago the club had to find a new place to have the show. So a deal was work out with Union County Drag Strip in Union, South Carolina. Union, South Carolina is about twenty-five miles southeast of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Actually, the drag strip is located about ten miles south of Union, out highway 215 in a little community call Santuc. Making this moved give the show plenty of room to grow and grow it did. This year’s show hosted about five hundred cars, lots of vendors and lots of spectators thru the gate. The first day of the show was Friday but many vendor and participants started showing up on Thursday afternoon to claim a spot and set up for the weekend.
There is a lot going on during this two day event. First, the show is open to all types of on-site camping. This included folks camping in tents to high buck campers. Next was the swap meet area which seems to grow bigger every year. There was a lot for sale to include, car parts, gas station signs, tires and wheels of all types, complete cars and trucks along with all types and bicycles and motor cycles and vintage clothing. There was a lot more that I am sure I missed. On the main road thru the show were pin strippers, folks selling all types of t-shirts, photo art and of course all types of food. Another area was set of for the vintage trailer village. The hobby of restoring vintage trailer seems to get more popular every year. Some of those trailers are fancy. There were several hundred cars and trucks of the pre-70’s hotrods and customs on hand in all types of badging covered a large area of the show field. There were Fords, Chevys, GMC, Studebakers, Jeeps, Dodges and Plymouths. I am sure there were some other brands that I missed.
There were lots of activities that took place during the two-day event. There was a band called River of Deceit that played on Friday and Jared Petty & the Headliners played on Saturday. Jared Petty & the Headliners were really good and put on a great show. Of course, the ever-popular grudge drag racing with the flag girls drew a crowd. The Geargoyles, brough in six alcohol Funny Cars that put on a great show. They were doing the quarter mile in the 150 mph range. They were a real crowd pleaser. The main activity that the show goers were looking forward to, was the Miss Steel In Motion pinup contest. This year, brough out twenty ladies, of all types to take part in the contest. After a couple of rounds three ladies were chosen as the finalist. They had one more round of questions for a winner to be picked. After the pinup contest it was time to hand out trophies. The trophies for the show were home made out of car parts and were really prized by the winners.
This show gets bigger and better ever year and participants come from all up and down the east coast and many points west of the Mississippi River. This one show you shouldn’t miss. I am sure by the time you read this that the Geargoyle club members are out lines plans for the 2024 edition of the show. I am pretty sure that the show will be held again the third weekend in May. Keep checking the Geargoyles website to get the dates and mark your calendar and make your plans to be at this great event.