LINCOLN -- The 11th annual Chicken Rod Nationals featured 85 classic, antique and sports cars, trucks and motorcycles displayed around the Lincoln Square Saturday.
The car show generated excitement for all ages as youngsters did their best to look over the assortment of vehicles. Among them, Lacie Bell, 3, of Greenland, needed a lift from her mother, Abbie Bell, to peek inside a 1948 Dodge pickup owned by W. Soucie. A minute later Lacie sat in the cab of the pickup pretending she was big enough to drive.
She wasn't the only child eager to look a variety of vehicles on display.
Jay Doss, of Fayetteville, held up his 5-year-old granddaughter, Lexi Baker, of Prairie Grove, granting her a bird's eye view into the interior of a 1929 Ford Model A owned by Rusty Bryan. Bryan's car has a 350 Chevy motor and he rolls down the road in style.
"It's just a driver, not a true show car. You can just take it down the road. It's great nostalgia like back in the old days. You hear the V-8 engine purring down the road and everybody's waving at you as you go by," Bryan said.
Bryan entertained the crowd, cracking a joke over the PA system during a 50/50 raffle, "You win a million dollars, you might be able to fill up your gas tank with it."
Stacey Cawyer, of Farmington, zoomed in driving his 2020 Ford Mustang. He bought the car as a stock model last year because "It almost looked custom." The Mustang sports a factory stock color "Twister Orange" with a black roof that Cawyer said sets it apart. This was Cawyer's second car show. He competed in May at Rogers when the "Hot Wheels Legends" came through.
Cawyer admits he can't drive the car casually.
"It's a lot of fun for a 4-cylinder. It's a surprising little beast. It's fun to have something set you back in the seat. It's like a roller coaster you can control," Cawyer said.
Bill McClelland, of Springdale, brought his niece's 1960 Metropolitan, a car once owned by his late brother, David McClelland, who utilized the vehicle to conduct tours in Anchorage Alaska. Tina Little, of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., inherited the car, which is equipped with a siren for leading parades.
Mike Hutchens showed off his 1975 Ford F-350, one of 13 vehicles displayed by the Hutchens family Saturday. Hutchens uses the pickup as his primary pulling and camping rig and achieves better gas mileage driving it with a Ford 390 engine than with more modern trucks.
Antonio Jordan, Jorge Jordan, and Sandro Jordan, 10, were fascinated looking over a 1951 Ford Truck Dually owned by Jonathan Odom. It was the first vehicle they viewed. The Summers' trio marveled at the diesel motor installed in the truck.
"You don't usually see a diesel engine in an older vehicle," Jorge Jordan said.
They were impressed with investments put into vehicles by their owners.
"They work hard on putting them together, the paint, the style," Jorge Jordan said.
The truck won an award for "Least Original" at the show.
Joe and Dorinda Stewart drove up from Van Buren to take in the show.
"There's a lot of variety, they've got bikes, trucks and cars. It's a good community thing," Dorinda Stewart said while examining Clark Reed's 1965 Chevrolet Impala.
Toward the end of the show bystanders got to view the vehicles on the move as Larry Stevens, of Farmington, showed off a little horsepower after displaying his 1956 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. Stevens' car was voted among the "Top 3 Show Cars."
Lyndel Johnson, of Lincoln, was all smiles as he climbed into his 1942 Chevy cab, which he fondly refers to as a "Rat Rod," and scooted down the street.
Winners for the 2022 Chicken Rod Nationals include Best in Show: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS owned by Doug Dye; Top Motorcycle: Flat track cycle with sidecar owned by Craig McClelland; Top VW: 1973 Volkswagen Thing owned by Matt Grissom; Oldest: 1924 Ford Model T owned by Tony Hager.
Other trophies were given to Robert Walden for Best Chopped, 1935 Ford; Aaron Edwards for Best Engine, 1964 Chevrolet C-10; Doug Nye for Best Paint, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS; Jerry Reed for Coolest 4x4 truck, 1979 Chevrolet Silverado.
Gary Reno won Top Show Car 2000 and Newer for his 2008 Dodge Daytona Charger.
Awards for the Top 3 Show Cars went to William Runyan, 1964 Chevrolet G10 Van; Larry Stevens, 1956 Chevrolet Corvette; and Charley Davis, 1934 Ford Model 40 Vicl.
Jay Norton won Top Show Truck for his 1974 Chevrolet C-10, while Paul Sullins claimed Top Rat Rod for his 1949 Chevrolet Plv.
Other Awards featured these categories, Most Rust, Robert Wintercorn, 1976 VW Rabbit; Longest Distance, Oscar Orona, 2016 Dodge Challenger Skatpack; Least Original, Jonathan Odom, 1951 Ford Truck Dually; Best Use of Wood, Charles Baldwin, 1951 Chevrolet Plv; and Best Unrestored, Jay Norton, 1968 Chevrolet Camaro.