The first ever Horsepower Pow Wow Car Show, sponsored by Ute Mountain Casino and High Altitude Steel Car Club of Cortez, was a definite success. The event was held Friday and Saturday, May 26-27, at the casino parking lot.

A member of the local club, who happens to work at the casino, helped put the event together. The Fun Run Show, usually set the first or second weekend of June at City Park, has been postponed until Sept. 8-9.

There were 103 cars entered in the open show and a couple of cars which showed up late that were on displayed but not officially entered, according to club spokesman Frosty Martin.

"That is not bad for the first year," Martin commented. "We had a some show up late. We tried to cut off entries at noon, but some showed up from Arizona. But it great that we got that many entered considering Durango and Farmington also held small specialized car shows this weekend.

"Since this was an open show, anyone could enter any model, year, and make of car or truck. We’ve got old cars and new ones as recent as 1998 but no 2000 models. We have had great turnout for those just coming to see the cars. We are happy the way this show has come off. We already are planning to do it again next year."

There was not a Best of Show presented but a top 10 list by those who judged (everyone who entered the show received a ballot). The winners were: 1962 Ford Galaxy 500 convertible owned by Bernie and Carol Mendenhall of Olathe; ‘70 1/2 Chevy Camero RSS 396 owned by Clarence Bugg of Cortez; ‘65 Pontiac Bonneville owned by John and Heather Kennedy of Farmington, N.M.; ‘31 Ford Victoria owned by Paul Pearson of Cortez; ‘33 Ford 3-Window Coupe owned by Paul and Marlene Harrison of Tucson, Ariz.; ‘68 Chevy Camero owned by Doug and Susan Parsons of Sunnyside, Utah; ‘33 Ford Coupe owned by Mike Costley of Gallup, N.M.; ‘74 Plymouth 2-Door Sedan owned by Don and Leslie Whitehead of Cortez; ‘38 Ford Cabriolet owned by Paul Balfour of Canon City; and ‘48 Ford Pickup owned by Jay Tipton of Dolores.

All kinds of cars were entered in the show. Some of the other interesting ones included a 1988 Toyota MR-2, ‘66 Pontiac GTO, ‘55 Chevy Belair, 1923 T-Bucket, ‘61 Chevy Impala, and 1939 Chevy Sedan.

Several speciality awards were presented. The ‘38 Ford Cabriolet owned by Balfour won Best Paint; a ‘41 Ford Delux Coupe owned by Val Robichaux of Cortez took Best Interior; a ‘62 Chevy Impala owned by Larry Shultz of Dove Creek won Best Engine; Club Pick honors went to ‘33 3-Window Couple owned by Harrison; People’s Choice award went to Rear Engine Dragster owned by Randy and Cynthia Sweetland of Farmington; and Long Distance award went to Dean and Toni Jones of Broomfield.

A drawing was held for a 350 Chevy motor which was won by S.K. Coates of Farmington. Several other door prizes were drawn throughout the day.

There were 105 entries (two more than the show) for the $500 Poker Run. Spencer and Bev Wolf of Page, Ariz., won in their ‘32 Ford Coupe.