This post falls under the category, “The best things in life are free.”  Over the past twenty plus years, Roy Ackland and I have been to quite a few cruise-ins and car shows.  Some of these events charge admission for either the spectators or those showing off their cars. It’s been our experience that the best ones are always the free ones. This is certainly true for a gathering of car lovers that happens every fourth Friday in the Stanly County town of Oakboro.

Oakboro is not on the way to anywhere. It's the sort of place you don't happen to drive through. But over the past few years it has become quite a destination for automobile enthusiasts.  During the evening of the "Oakboro Cruise-in and Burnout,"   Main Street and all the side streets will be lined with hundreds of classic cars, custom cars, lawn chairs and thousands of wondering gawkers. You’ll also find music and food in a festival like atmosphere.  You can park and watch or cruise and gaze and a variety of rides from model “T’s” to modern exotics.

At 9:00PM everyone gathers on a side street, where the town has poured a concrete pad specifically for those who want to blow a few bucks on a new set of tires. Engines rev, tires squeal and think plums of gray smoke engulf the crowd.  I’m not sure why burnouts are cool to watch, but they are. Maybe it’s like a train wreck you can’t help yourself.

Oakboro is a town that long ago saw its fortunes fade. Agriculture, Textile and railroads were once it’s claim to fame. It’s a bit ironic that in a time when Detroit is on the skids, Oakboro has found a way to use the car to put itself back on the map. Come to think of it, I wonder if skid marks show up on “Google Earth?”