The roar of engines and the cheers of encouragement from others sound out through the parking lot.
Once a month in the Karl Brooks Field parking lot at Utah Tech University, the Car Cub meets up to show off cars worth millions of dollars. Southern Utah has a reputation for having a car culture.
Meg Dalley, a sophomore digital design major from St. George and president of the Car Club, said she wanted to bring that culture right to Utah Tech in the hopes of broadening those involved.
Dalley said the inspiration came from her boyfriend’s family and their shop called German Auto & Exotics. Dalley also gets support from Rips Rallies who helps the community grow by showing up to the car shows.
Karson Ray, a senior healthcare administration major from St. George and vice president of the club, said: “We have all kinds of cars, trucks and motorcycles. They range from affordable to exotic. Our first meet had about $1.7 million worth of cars and our second meet had about $2.3 million with several more high-end exotics.”
The shows are not limited to just students. Community members are invited to show up as well. The first show on Feb. 3 had around 60 cars and 120 people. The second show increased to about 80 cars and 150 people. It is not a requirement to bring a car in order to enjoy the show.
Nicholas Fajardo, a senior history education major from St. George, said from the two meets he has been to, there has been a lot of community and alumni that participate, not just students.
Anyone can show up with any car or vehicle they want to show off. There is a large variety of cars that have been featured, such as:
Ray said: “We have a lot of members that are really, really into tuning and customization, and some that are purists and love the car the way it was engineered. We have a wide variety of cars from American muscle to imports.”
The Car Club hopes to expand things to a larger level in order to do a more formal car show. They have collaborated with Birds Aren’t Real to bring more togetherness and school spirit. So, the hope is to collaborate with the events and promotions office at University Marketing and Communications and to do a car show for the community.
Dalley said: “I’m so happy that people are loving this. It makes me want to take the club to the next level. I would love to have merch and more sophisticated meets or car shows on campus.”
