Two weeks ago, Lincoln, NE, played host to over 40 cars at the first annual Dub Center car show. VWs, Audis and BMWs cruised in from around the midwest (plus Georgia!) to converge on Pioneers Park, about an hour outside of Omaha.

Since Mk3Love was sponsoring both Mk3 classes at the show, I drove out to attend along with vdubstyle (Mk3 GTI VR6) and chunknorris (Mk4 GTI 1.8T). The drive through Iowa was sunny and smooth. Our convey cruised over 150 miles on Interstate 80 while the Mk4’s passenger snapped shots of the Mk3s in action.

We arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon on Saturday and spent the rest of the day gearing up for the show and enjoying the local accommodations. Our group had a bad experience at the local King Kong restaurant, but we all made it back to the hotel with our stomach’s intact.

As the evening drew in and the sun began to fade, our small group made the trek out to Pioneers Park for an evening photo shoot and a chance to meet up with the event’s organizer, Mike Kraus. After doing the meet and greet with the few cars still left at the park, we flew back to the hotel with sunroofs and windows open, taking in the cool night air on the open highway.

Sunday morning brought worries as a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area dropping golf ball sized hail in some areas. Luckily none of the cars were damaged and everything dried up quickly, giving us enough time to wipe down the cars and get out to the park.

As we pulled in to our parking spaces in the event area, we knew we were in for a good show. There was a table full of trophies glistening in the sun from the morning rain and Dubs and enthusiasts aloof everywhere, snapping photos and talking cars.

For the two categories Mk3Love sponsored, Golf/GTI and Jetta, there were five entries total. A clean, white VR6 GTI took top honors in the Golf/GTI class and vdubstyle and his black VR6 GTI grabbed second place. My car, DerSubtileVento, was the only Mk3 Jetta that entered the show (with a stock, green VR6 Jetta parked as a spectator), so I ended up winning the Mk3 Jetta class. I felt bad for winning by default, but several of the other guys kept me excited by confirming the hard work I’ve put into the car.

The show ended around 3pm that afternoon and our convoy headed for home with our spirits freshly renewed, each Mk3 winning its own trophy at our debut event.

I’ll be sure to go back again next year and hopefully the Mk3 showing will be even stronger. Thanks go out to the show organizers and all the cars that participated in the show.

If you got one of the Mk3Love.com stickers I handed out, feel free to say hi.