(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – The 2016 Cynthiana Rod Run pretty much wrapped up with the burnout contest that partly took place during a light shower.  It had been a steamy, humid day with only a few clouds for intermittent shade right up to the burnout contest.  I think there were a couple handfuls of competitors with a definite leaning towards the Mustang crowd.  Concrete barricades and fencing were in place to keep onlookers safe and competitors ‘on track’.

Pretty much everyone got to tag the pavement twice and for some that helped their standing with the fans.  Since crowd applause/noise determines the winner rankings can be hard to discern.  When the smoke finally cleared though it was very clear who won.  The V6-powered square-body S10 in the lead photos took home the gold.  Pretty much the least-powerful machine there managed to create the largest plume of opaque tire mist.  We’d thought for sure one of the boosted Mustangs (which sounded quite nice), the V8-swapped S10, or the big-block Chevy-powered Regal were the odds-on favorites.

It seems what it took was the absolute reckless abandon exhibited by the little truck that could to solidly trounce all comers.  After awards were passed out and the gathered dispersed an older fellow in a Buick Roadmaster made his way in to the box.  One of the volunteers was hosing the big chunks of rubber off the roadway and decided to help this gentleman out with his ‘burnout dreams’.  As the wheezing Buick was trying to get things going a steady stream of water aided the progress and after a bit there was a hefty cloud engulfing the car.  Mission accomplished and smiles all around.

Enjoy.