You’ll find Curt Blanton of Jocur Grafix (pronounced “Joker”) in a place called Middletown, Ohio or (affectionately referred to by locals as “Middletucky”). Check out his work…

If you have a truck that is worthy of a sweet treatment and you are in the Cincinnati area give Curtis Blanton at Jocur Grafix a call - 513-422-4400. And learn more about Curt on his MySpace page.

All images in this post were provided by Curtis Blanton at Jocur Grafix and are © copyright Curtis Blanton. Used by permission.

May 3rd, 2008 — Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV, was the place to be if you’re a fan of hots rods, drag races, sports cars and pretty ladies… and who’s not? After all, you’re here, so we know what you like. We like it too. So, having said that, we were there and took tons of pics - great shots of all the above - and we’re sharing with you. This weekend’s Las Vegas Speed Spectacular at The Strip featured nostalgia drag racing, car show, bands, DJ, and a pin-up girl contest

The Inaugural Las Vegas Speed Spectacular included nostalgia drag racing featuring the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series. The traveling NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series was created to preserve the rich history and tradition of drag racing and will contest nostalgia drag racing classes, including: nostalgia nitro-burning Funny Cars, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, Hot Rod and three Nostalgia Eliminator classes. A pair of Fuel Altereds also battled in heads-up, first-man-to-the-finish-line-wins match racing.

Need to get someplace fast. Nurse Ratchet will get you there in a hurry.

Many cars came ready to run.

A car show, hosted by the Las Vegas Cruisin’ Association, exhibited nostalgia machines: hot rods, street rods, custom cars, competition cars and classics.

Above: weighin’ in small but playing big, Duke from Mad Max & The Wild Ones, hammerin’ it out.

Live music included Danny Dean & The Homewreckers and Mad Max & The Wild Ones (billed as “Greatest Band in the World! (under 400lbs). DJ “Flattop Tom” Jacob (of Rockabilly Rod Reunion fame) spun classic rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly tunes while Master of Ceremonies Nathan Hirschi handled the announcing chores on the main stage.

More than 200 Quarter Midgets were in competition as the Las Vegas Quarter Midget Association presented races on the midway.

Like a blast from the past… a bevy of beauties were there for the pin-up contest…

…including this beautiful Las Vegas model Amanda K. Brennan posing for pix and on-hand for the annual $500-to-win pin-up girl contest. Needless to say, these ladies turned more than a few heads.

Zorak the pinstriper was keeping busy adding some lines to a couple rods - all old flavor with a new touch - including a few lines under the hood.

Check out this radical bike Zorak painted.

Zorak and A.D. take pause for a quick pic.

Stay tuned to AirbrushTour.com - We took tons of great shots and will be bringing you more great posts from this event soon.

The 5th annual Ink-N-Iron Festival takes place June 6-8 at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.

Something for everybody - 30 bands, art show, car show, cirque acts, carnival rides, burlesque show, tattoo contests and tattoo and kulture vendors.

Check out their website… http://www.Ink-N-Iron.com or their MySpace page for more information.

This week’s Pic of the Week was sent to us by Charlie Brechtel of Biker’s Inner Circle. You can see more by visiting Sturgis Rider Live.

Photo Credit: Jerry Southworth. Used by permission.

The 2008 Cavalcade of Customs Autorama made its annual stop in Cincinnati with KOI Autoparts as its host and major sponsor. Anest Iwata spray guns, Iwata-Medea airbrushes and Artool stencils were on display for the public to see.

A cool thing that KOI does every year is an artist demonstration area were some of the best local artists paint and create items to be auctioned for charity. This year’s charity was the Kidney Foundation of greater Cincinnati.

Jim “Dauber” Farr

Don Boeke

Chad Bowling

Peter Gunn

Mark Harmon

Rick Kubicki

Ray Jayrrell

Shane Syx

Anest Iwata also got involved this year with a very special guest. A young very talented artist Carly Zeis doing temporary tattoos at our booth. There were little boys wanting tribal bands on their arms when the stencil could fit around their waist! Carly raised $275.00 for the Kidney Foundation.

Carly Zeis

Also on display was one of the Wood Brothers JTG Racing Team - NASCAR cars that Anest Iwata is a sponsor of.

JTG Wood Bros

Check out some of the other HOT cars and bikes on display …

Alien Kustoms

Josh Shaw at the PPG booth

Hog Shop Cycles

Wilder Creations

Marshall McVey

All images and text in this post were provided by Mark Hebbeler at Anest Iwata and are © copyright 2008 Mark Hebbeler. Used by permission.

Our current MySpace Featured Artist is Fred Sicol of Killer Kreations. Fred does his magic in Philadelphia, PA. He started out as a T-shirt artist twelve years ago and now has matured into a very accomplished painter of rides. Check it out…

“Bad Boy” icons - nice.

Nice use of color on this cobra.

Fred’s MySpace page is: http://www.myspace.com/killerkreationsinc. Make yourself friendly.

Fred Sicoli
Killer Kreations
1929 So Chadwick St
Philadelphia, Pa 19145
phone 215-468-5837
toll free 877-266-6673

All images in this post were provided by Fred Sicoli at Killer Kreations and are © copyright Fred Sicoli. Used by permission.

Mike O’Brien - (MOB - nice acronym!) btw. Happy St. Patty’s day Mike…

Born in 1973, raised in small town Alberta, Canada (but not by wolves or Eskimos as some may think…), Mike has been airbrushing for the past 15 years and working in the Automotive graphics industry since 1991. Mike has been learning the tricks of the trade from guys like Mike Lavallee, Dennis Mathewson, Craig Fraser, Mike Learn, Patrick Guyton, Vince Goodeve, Blake McCully, Ron Gibbs. Mike has painted projects for every kind of client from former NHL hockey players to Monster Jam monster truck drivers and just about every type of character in between. Check it out.

Visit Mike’s MySpace Page and make yourself friendly.

All images in this post were provided by Mike O’Brien of MOB Design mobdesign33@hotmail.com (403) 255-5988 and are © copyright Mike O’Brien. Used by permission.

We saw these cool wheels airbrushed to look like 1985 Liberty Quarters at SEMA 2007, and thought it was cool. On the ground… spinners that go with he wheels when she’s not on display - cooler yet. Check it out…

Hmmm, that’s a new one.

We are all saddened by the passing today of legendary hot rod builder, Boyd Coddington, 63.

He was the star of Discover Channel’s American Hot Rod and was a large influence in the hot rod industry and community. He will be greatly missed.

You can read more about Boyd at: The New York Times article.

Photo courtesy of the Discovery Channel.

One of the great pleasures of attending a show like SEMA is that you can get up close and personal with not only people of renown, but also famous Hot Rods. This is the unparalleled ’36 Ford Roadster which won the 2005 Ridler award at Detroit’s Autorama.

Check out those Foose signature custom wheels…

A cockpit you can love.

Read about this amazing hot rod on Chip Foose’ website.

Temecula, California is the place for car enthusiasts, where twice a year they gather to shine and show their cars and chew the fat about everything kustom and kewl.

This year’s event will take place March 6th through 8th. Tommy Tutone will perform at the Stampede on the 6th and the car show takes place on the 8th. If you’ve never been to Temecula for this show, do yourself this memorable delight.

Check out a previous post we did on the Temecula Fall Car Show.

Get the details on this year’s Temecula Rod Run on their website.

SEMA 2007 took place three months ago, but we’re still finding cool imagery to bring you from the event. Check out this cool hot rod.

Monster engine and screamin’ flames.

These posts always give us a good reason to share other forms of beauty too.

Find the Photographer. Cheers until next time.