Ozark Euro Rally 2022 Recap

Ahhh...there's nothing like a road trip to a good car show. You spend months prepping your car, then you hit the road with a bunch of your friends and hope like hell that you get there without any major issues. Of course, it wouldn't be a car show road trip without a few hiccups.

Our crew worked on the MK8 for what felt like almost until the very last second before loading it on the trailer. We were dealing with getting a new Golf R rear bumper painted and installed, installing the new Aerofabb Competition Diffuser, getting our Milltek exhaust installed and getting the quad tips added, and working on fitting a prototype Seibon carbon fiber hood. All in all, everything came together well.

On Friday morning we loaded up the MK8 on the trailer and we all hit the road. We had a very mixed convoy on the road. Autrey was towing the MK8 with his Touareg, Rohan and his girlfriend in his bagged Alltrack, Coleman and I were in my MK7.5, Anthony and Robie were in Anthony's MK3, and we also had Juan and his girlfriend in his new Tundra since he sold his Beetle recently.

Being the Texans we are, we stopped at Buc-ee's on our way out of Dallas to grab fuel and snacks. With our tanks topped off and bellies full of burritos, we hit the road. We were making fantastic time until we noticed Rohan's bumper was being pulled down off his car due to the front splitter. We stopped somewhere in Oklahoma to fix the bumper. The MK3 doesn't have A/C, so Robie and Anthony enjoyed some time in the beer cooler at the gas station to cool off.

With the bumper back on the car, we were back on the road. For anyone that hasn't traveled through Oklahoma and Arkansas, it is slightly difficult to find 93 octane. With the help of find93.com we planned our next stop in Van Buren, AR to top our tanks before we headed into the Ozarks. During our stop, we adjusted Rohan's bumper again and got back on the road.

It wasn't too long before we hit a problem. Rohan's Maxton Design splitter had shattered. We exited the interstate and we were able to remove the splitter and fix the bumper in about 20 minutes. We were back on the road at full speed, but managed to get separated. As we turned off the main road, we stopped at a gas station to regroup with everyone. When we pulled in there were 3 other VWs that pulled into the same gas station. This was our first sighting of others headed to the same show.

If you've never been on this trip, the drive is absolutely beautiful. If scenery isn't your thing, the last 25 miles before Eureka Springs is very twisty and insanely fun. Without the bumper issues, Rohan, Anthony, and I ripped through the twisties (disclaimer: at totally legal speeds) with ear-to-ear smiles on our faces. 

Once we arrived, we met up with some friends and hit the car washes to get the trip filth off our rides. After a long day of driving, nothing hits better than cold drinks and Mexican food. I think we had a table of 30+ people with us and the staff took excellent care of us before we departed to the hotel for some parking lot partying.

The morning of the show came super early so we could be setup by 8:00AM. Our crew got setup with our tent and wiped down the cars. Then we got to sit back and watch all of the dope cars come rolling into the show.

We got to meet and interact with so many cool people at the show. Shoutout to the guy who hooked me up with a 3D printed "GTI" keychain! We had plenty of Ozark Euro Rally shirts to sell and Integrated Engineering printed up 200 individually numbered posters for the event that we handed out for free.

Even though it was fairly warm out, the rolling cloud cover and breezes made for a pleasant afternoon. There were so many great cars at this show. Everything from aircooled to just off the showroom floor, there was something for everyone. The Ozark Euro Rally team really knows how to put on a good show. This is was the seventh year for the show and has grown every year since the beginning. At the end of the day we won an award for "Sponsor of the Year" which is awesome because it's a show we are very proud to sponsor. 

The location for this event can't be beat. Eureka Springs is a cool little town with good restaurants, shops, and architecture. There are tons of awesome locations for photo ops and video shoots. Driving around Eureka Springs during this weekend was so much fun seeing all types of Volkswagens and Euro cars packing the streets and parking lots. Coleman was able to shoot a lot of great footage of the show and our cars around Eureka Springs. He put together a great video available on our YouTube Channel and embedded below.

Sadly all things must come to an end and Sunday we had to make the drive back to Texas. It was okay though, because we got to rip the twisties again, and we have the memories and new friendships we made thanks to a shared passion for Euro cars. Thanks again to the Ozark Euro Rally Team for a great show and we will definitely be back next year!

-Zeb