Annual car event takes place Aug. 13, 14, 15

The Ignite the Nites car show is like Christmas in August for car lovers. Car enthusiasts from all over converge on Libby for an event that’s put on by the Igniters Car Club.

“We typically have 400 cars register,” Gary Rantala, the Igniters Car Club Council President, said. “We have people that come from all over. Last year we had five guys come from Tennessee. We have people come from the west coast. We have people come from Oregon and Idaho. There are quite a few that come from Canada. I’m willing to bet that it’s fifty-fifty mix of Canadian and American participants.”

Rantala said it’s such a popular event because it allows people to take a trip down memory lane.

“We let people do what they did back in the sixties,” he said. “What we do on Mineral Avenue with the burnouts, that’s what a lot of the people did back in the day. It lets some guy that’s 60 years old feel like he’s 18 again. He can chirp a tire and not get arrested. They enjoy it because they can get away with that kind of stuff. That’s what we hear from a lot of people. My wife calls it controlled chaos.”

Ivan Troyer, one of the first members of the Igniters Car Club, said it’s a time for car lovers to have fun together.

“It’s a chance for them to spin their tires a little bit,” he said. “They can make some noise. It gets smoky and it gets loud. People that have never been to the event before wonder how can they get away with the stuff we do. The club is in charge of policing the event. If we see somebody taking it too far we put a stop to it.”

Troyer hasn’t missed an event due to his passion for cars.

I’ve never missed an event,” he said.  “I just enjoy cars. I enjoy talking to people about cars and I enjoy working on them.”

It’s an event that gets a lot of support from local businesses.

“We have just about 250 sponsors,” Troyer said. “There are a lot of people in the community that support this event.”

Troyer said he’s thankful for all the support that the event receives from the community.

“People really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s open car show, we don’t charge spectators to come watch. It’s for all the people and businesses in the community that support us.”

The event kicks off Thursday, August 13, with the high stakes poker run. Registration is at 3 p.m. at Torgy’s Casino and Grill.

“The high stakes poker run is free to anybody with a show car,” Rantala said. “We start the cars at the Mint Bar and they finish up at Treasure Mountain Casino. Afterwards there will be a barbecue and live music provided.”

Car show registration starts at noon on Friday, August 14, on Mineral Avenue.

“When they register they can also register for the Igniters Car Club Poker Run,” Rantala said. “It’s a fifty, fifty pay out. It cost them ten dollars to enter. Five dollars goes back to the winner and five dollars goes to the club. With the money the club gets from the show we do three or four things for needy families in Libby or Troy. We pay for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.”

The poker run starts at 3 p.m. and goes until 7:30 p.m.

“The poker run takes them to Troy and the Libby Dam,” Rantala said. “We give them a map with seven different locations. They drive to each location and draw a card at each stop. We put the card they draw on their form. When they finish up we tally up their five best cards. It’s poker and the best hand wins.”

After the poker run there will be the popular car cruise.

“The Friday night cruise is real popular,” Troyer said. “It’s bumper to bumper traffic in Libby. It’s absolutely crazy how many cars there are.”

Rantala said that the Friday night cruise route will have a different look this year.

“Last year we had 320 cars registered,” Rantala said. “Trying to get that many cars on Mineral Avenue can cause a headache. Now we are going down Lincoln Boulevard all the way to the Catholic Church and back. There will be no burning out on that section. We are renaming the cruise the Mild and Wild cruise. It’s just an ordinary car cruise.”

Following the Mild and Wild cruise the Neon Lights and Flame Throwers will take place.

“Back in the fifties and sixties people would put a coil in the back of their car and a spark plug in their tailpipe,” Rantala said. “They found out if they revved the engine and hit that spark plug it would start that excess exhaust on fire.”

The final day of the event will start with car show registration from 8 a.m. until noon, Saturday, August 15.

For the car show there will be 11 categories for the truck classes and 13 categories for the car classes. The awards ceremony will start at 3 p.m.

Following the awards ceremony there will be the burnout contest at Millpond Motocross Park. After the burnout contest the event will come to an end with musical entertainment by Men in the Making.