We started attending the Sturgis Mustang Rally in 2007 and haven’t missed a year since. As some rallies go, this isn’t the oldest, but certainly one of the best, if not the best, in the country. This year the rally starts on September 1st and will run until September 5th.
I’m just guessing in round numbers but I think in 2007 there were about 500-600 cars last year (2010) I think it was more like 1,000 cars. I have been to many car shows and rallies in my time and I have to say this is one of the best organized events I have ever been to. From check-in to the final dinner, it’s well-staffed and well-organized. Most people have heard of Sturgis because of bike week, which is only two weeks before, by the way. A lot of people have asked me how it compares to bike week and I tell them it’s just like bike week except there are no fights, no gangs, not as many drunks and topless girls. So for the most part it’s very familiar. We’ve been to the bar crawl for the last two years and they have a lot of drinking games but for the most part everyone is very well behaved.
I noticed that registration this year is at the Thunderdome, in previous years it was held downtown. Also, I noticed that they added a burnout competition that is in the Thunderdome from 6-9 on Friday. Guess I’ll throw some old tires on my trailer before I leave this year.
For me, the highlight of the rally is the poker run tour. They take us through some of the most beautiful areas of the country. I’ll warn you it’s pretty long, I don’t remember how long it was last year but I want to say it was over 100 miles. But they had some great stops, I wish I could remember the name of the little gas station gift shop. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but it’s a lot of fun.
I’m not much of a gambler, but it’s a lot of fun to go to Deadwood in the evenings and put a few pennies in the slots (I did win $250.00 last year though). The casinos are clean and nice and the city is fun just to walk around.
They have an autocross that runs a few times over the weekend, looks like a lot of fun but frankly I’m too anal to work my car that hard. On Saturday night they open up the 1/8 mile race track and let you race down it. We haven’t done it in the past, but if all goes well, we’ll try it this year.
The rally is becoming more and more popular, so it is very important that you get hotel reservations in advance. We did ours almost a year earlier this time. If you try and wait until the last second, you will be camping.
In short, as a Mustang fan, I highly recommend going to Sturgis! Make your reservations early, go to the poker run, take the kids, grab 50 bucks to spend on the slots, and do the pub crawl (but don’t plan on beating me at beer ping).
Oh, and shake hands and say thank you to one of the volunteers who puts this up every year!