Der to the railroad station

CLOVIS — Saturday's Draggin' Main attracted old-car fans and young-at-heart seniors who reminisced about the days when social media meant friends chatting loud enough to be heard above the car stereos on the main drag.

Some came to watch, some came to be watched.

They all have a story.

Here are a few:

Charles Wade would've loved Draggin' Main

Clovis' Debbie Bracken, 55, is a believer in tradition — and not just her own.

Bracken participated in Draggin' Main on Saturday morning, bringing her 1938 LaSalle and 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air to the Gearhead Gathering.

The cars belonged to her late father, Charles Wade, and she wanted to commemorate his love for the vehicles.

"I laugh, because I think he's up above, smiling and glad that we're doing something to carry on," she said.

Her father's memory wasn't the only reason Bracken said she came for the festivities.

She was a teenage Main dragger herself, driving with friends from Der Wienerschnitzel — they called it "Der" — to the Santa Fe Railroad station and back.

"You saw all your friends, you threw water balloons, you mooned each other, you held up signs. It was just our life. We loved it," she said.

"Our parents loved it, because they knew where we were, they knew we were safe. We were on Main Street. It's just a great memory for all of us 50- and 60-year-old people."

It's about the cars; and the music, too

Farwell's Santos Cuevas was at Saturday's Draggin' Main for two things: music and cars.

Sporting a T-shirt of the heavy metal band Stryper, his favorite band, Cuevas described with gusto the dual role rock 'n' roll and automobiles have played in his life.

"Music and cars run together for me. You go cruising, and you'll get in your car and you'll hear a song or whatever, and that takes you back to a certain time and place. You can't have one without the other," he said.

At 49, Cuevas has worked in the automotive industry for much of his adulthood. Since he began, he has made his greatest friends through buying and selling car parts, he said.

"Pretty much all the guys I know, it's because of cars. For the longest time, I worked at a parts store. A lot of the guys that have these cars, I met them through there. They're looking for a part for this car, that car, or something hard to find. It's a common thing," he said.

Cuevas also values the opportunity working on cars gives him to help others.

"To me, it's relaxing. It's just something I like to do. I can take a car that's somebody's junk, doesn't run anymore or whatever, and bring it back to life," he said.

He calls it a rat rod... it's one of a kind

Robert Harris drags Main in a truly one-of-a-kind rig.

"I call it a 1929 rat rod pickup," he said. "I built it in my garage."

Harris' custom automobile was assembled in the space of nine months and completed around 2012. He already had the S10 frame, and the cab and box came from a farmer's field. The remaining pieces were repurposed from a recycling center in Clovis.

The cab is a hybrid assembly of Chevrolet parts from 1926 through 1929, and the bed is a 1930 Dodge. The rear end and front end are from a Mitsubishi, said Harris, and the motor is a 383 stroker.

Inside, the floor and doors are lined with license plates and Route 66 signs. If the contraption weren't custom enough, Harris glued red dice to various switches on the interior panel and uses an old tequila bottle to hold the radiator fluid. A metal eagle mounted on the engine came off a flagpole from Harris' home state of Colorado.

"They call it a poor man's hot rod," said his wife, Eddie Harris.

"The kids love it and I love it," Robert Harris said.

At 6 miles to the gallon, the medley motor vehicle was towed in from the Harris home in Melrose, where the couple has lived since 1995.

The Harris' have participated in all four of Clovis' Draggin' Main events.

Before that, they participated in Denver's version of the car cavalcade for years.

They said they were excited to take the car down Main Street on Saturday night and show off the unique creation, which Robert Harris said is a recurring crowd-pleaser.

What inspired Harris to make his custom cruiser?

"I got bored and I love cars," he said.

How to cope with life: Moody Blues, cruisin'

Some people take vehicles for granted — just a way to get around.

Clarence Smith, 59, of Portales, said cars, for him, have always been an outlet for his emotions and an opportunity for escape.

"Just to get away and not worry about anything; no cares. You just don't think about mundane life at all. It's an escape. It truly is," he said about his car hobby.

Smith was at Saturday morning's Gearhead Gathering as a spectator, but he has two Volkswagens at home - a bus and a bug - in addition to several motorcycles.

He traced his love of vehicles to his misadventures growing up.

"When the folks went out of town, I hot-wired my dad's '64 Chevy pickup, and we'd go for rides on it. We got caught eventually," he said.

Music, too, is a passion Smith found at an early age, but he was sure to clarify that he only enjoys "good rock 'n' roll. Blue Oyster Cult, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull."

Rock music, Smith said, gives him the same opportunity for escape he finds when he is racing down the highway on one of his motorcycles.

"It helps me cope with life. Put some Moody Blues on, it makes me feel like life is worth living," he said.