All the hot cars will be headed north this week to Durant, Oklahoma where a rally will take place at Choctaw Casino & Resort, in the unlikeliest of places: on a rooftop.

Choctaw Casino & Resort –Durant's Rooftop Rally After Dark will pull up on August 29, drawing car enthusiasts to display classic (and new) cars and compete for prizes.

This is the pinnacle of a summer-long series and will feature celebrity judge Richard Rawlings, owner of Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, alumnus of Discovery reality show Fast N’ Loud, and owner of recently opened Gas Monkey Sturgis Bar & Grill, in Sturgis, South Dakota. If anyone knows cars, it's Richard Rawlings.

The resort first debuted the rally-on-a-rooftop concept in 2023, welcoming car connoisseurs to the then-new 6th-floor rooftop of the South Parking Garage — making savvy use of a rooftop space to spotlight cars under the night sky. (They also host daytime events on Saturdays.)

The purpose, obviously, is to draw customers to the resort and casino, but it also gives gearheads another place to strut their stuff.

"We created Rooftop Rally to offer an opportunity for car enthusiasts in the area to have a place to showcase their cars several times throughout the summer," says Choctaw marketing director Thomas O'Sullivan. "The rooftop makes a wonderful outdoor venue and we love seeing visitors from all over Dallas-Fort Worth bring their vehicles up."

Rawlings, who is working with the Choctaw organization on a number of projects, says he began to hear word circulating about the rooftop rallies in car circles.

"Even before the folks from Choctaw reached out, it had always been in the back of my head, 'Why don't we do a car show,' but we never did do it," Rawlings says. "It's only an hour from Dallas, it's a nice excursion."

"These evening rallies, you get a nice breeze coming across, and it's beautiful under the stars," he says. "They've already drawn up to a couple hundred cars, and I feel like, with the capabilities of the hotel and casino, it could grow into a large event very quickly. It's something I look forward to doing for many years."

Four winners receive prize money ranging from $250 to $500, although the money is "free play" — to be used at the casino — and participants must be a Choctaw Rewards Club member (also free). Guests register in person and get $25 in free play, plus a voucher for Slush’d, the resort's in-house frozen daiquiri stand.

"We are always looking for the opportunity to host events at the property, and it's our goal to make sure we offer diverse activities to keep folks busy," O'Sullivan says.

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Rooftop Rally After Dark is at the Choctaw Casino & Resort, 4216 S. Hwy 69/75, Durant, Oklahoma, August 29, from 7-10 pm.