MotorSports 2008 Heats Up the Tacoma Dome
By Bob Roseberry

New Show! In the Tacoma Dome! In the late Fall! Right when the season is winding down, and all the gearheads are beginning to dread the long, dark winter with (almost) no car stuff, except what’s self generated. But wait — second guessing‚ does the Northwest need a second Tacoma Dome show? After all, there’s already one in the Spring. There’s only one way to find out — have the show and see what happens!



So, the show has happened. What’s the answer? Do we or don’t we? Of Course We Do!! We knew it all along didn’t we? MotorSports 2008 bookends the western Washington event season perfectly, providing a natural wind down to get us through the year end holidays leaving a glimmering anticipation for the next year.

MotorSports 2008 proved to be an inspired assembly of vehicles of many types: legendary Northwest fuel dragsters (“AA Fuel” was the designation at the time), customs, muscle cars, stock restorations, true Classics, gassers and altereds, an assortment of street rods, hot rods, a virtual sea of vintage motorcycles, some Hawaiian-Style rodded VW’s, and that’s only a rough picture. And, to put an exclamation point on each day, at about 8 P.M., the old top fuelers were rolled outside for a first-ever Tacoma Dome cacklefest. Ear shattering, great-big-grin inducing!

One of the most common questions at the show, however, had to be “Hey, man, have you seen the boats?” Probably, the most inspired component of the show had to be the boats! Not just any boats, mind you, but the finest, hardcore, water racing hardware in the northwest — hydroplanes! As most Northwesterners know, the region has a rich tradition of boat racing, from the Seafair races of the present, back through the Gold Cup era, to the dawn of the 20th century. Unlimiteds. Limiteds, crackerboxes — there was, and is, racing at all levels, region wide. The boats were in the North Gallery, and included such historical luminaries as Slo-Mo-Shun V, Miss Bardahl, and the former Miss Thriftway, renamed Miss Century 21, in honor of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Fantastic Display, hands down.

We’d say the show was a success, and since it has now been established it is with considerable disappointment that we pass along the word that there won’t be a 2009 Motorsports and the future of the event is uncertain.