Hazzard Run 2026 and the 5th Annual Halloween in Hazzard Costume Contest

Another Hazzard Run is in the books and it was so much fun! Another reason to dress up as a Dukes of Hazzard character. Can you believe this is the fifth time I've gotten to host the costume contest at Cooter's? I love this hobby! Let's take a look.

I didn't take any pictures on Friday. But friends did and they sent one to me! Like the Birthday Bash, I had a lot of pictures sent my way with permission to post them. This is Silly Billy Lambing, Tom Felice, owner of the Jersey General Lee, myself and Autumn Carter, who sent me a few other great pics that we'll look at later in the post. 

It's the Luke to my Bo, Richie! We make some pretty good Good Ol' Boys. We never mean no harm. 

Ok, first off, I'm not dressed like Rocky. NO I'M NOT! The fourth episode of the third season is titled "And In This Corner, Luke Duke." The episode revisits Luke's past as a boxer in the Navy when a ne'eer-do-well professional boxer and his scheming manager manipulate Boss into convincing Luke to come out of retirement and strap on the gloves once again. It's a very memorable episode and I wanted to dress up like Luke for once. I like to go for unique but recognizable Dukes costumes. I did two different versions of Bo, Carnival of Thrills and Undercover Dukes, Coltrano the Great, and probably my best was last year's Waylon Jennings. I think Boxer Luke is a great addition to the costume collection.  

Going in to this costume, I had it in my head that I would never top my Waylon, but some people said I did with boxer Luke. You be the judge. It is now become a tradition that I take an early morning costume picture in front of Jim Cunningham's General Lee at the Ranger's Retreat. I like this tradition. 

Dukes of Hazzard Jeopardy runner-up and all around awesome guy Alex Page once again entered the contest as Elwood Blue. He has the advantage of matching one of his many star cars which is a great advantage to have. Here's his amazing Bluesmobile in the background. 

The weather wasn't the best for this year's run. We have been blessed with great weather for most of the Runs in Luray and we had to strike out sometime. It wasn't a complete washout by any means, but the day started out ugly and rainy. 

Richie didn't bring his General Lee up this year because of the weather. Here, he and Russ are positioning his old General for the shots with Catherine. 

 

We started the Run in the parking lot this year instead of in the field. It was raining in the beginning. There was a pretty big crowd to watch us leave even though they had to stand under the porch. 

Just two good ol' boys! 

It threatened to be pretty tough before we got going. But the weather started to corporate. 

KARR showed up! More on KITT's nefarious brother later in the post. 

I really hammed it up for pictures. I gotta show off those abs, you can't just buy them on Amazon. 

I just love being surrounding by my favorite car in the world! This particular favorite car is none other than Jim Dahlman's General Lee. We all love Jim's General. You know he let it be a part of my wedding and it's become the General Lee I've spent the most time in. I love that car!

The rain doesn't stop Hazzard Nation!

Look at all these beauties!

And General Lee tribute cars! 

Here another shot of Jim's General. I don't think I've ever seen it with the windows up. 

Our friends behind us in the awesome Dixie Jeep let me secure the GoPro to their window. 

It made for an interesting and different angle for the YouTube video. 

The battery died before we got back but it captured a good bit of the Run. 

Before we took off a buddy took this picture of me. It might be my favorite picture of the weekend. Maybe 

And we're off! 

I love how many people watch the parade off and then watch us come back in. 

Cheese!

I take these same pictures every year but never get tired of them. 

It was great being chased by Daisy Duke! 

So much orange!

I really can't get enough of these pictures! 

There wasn't as many people out in the streets this year because of the weather. But it did stop raining enough that we were able to make the run with our windows down. 

Get me to Hazzard Square so I can fight Catfish Lee, Bo! I gotta save the farm!

By the time we came back to Cooter's, the rain was gone and it warned up. 

I love that trailer! 

Autumn also took these shots and sent them to me. This second one night be my favorite picture of the weekend. 

There was quite a big line for Catherine waiting for her after the Run. 

I spent some time talking Dukes with my fellow fans who were at the front of the line. 

Ok, costume contest time! In the episode, Bo and Daisy were in their standard outfits, so this is a perfect recreation of "And In This Corner, Luke Duke."

It's so perfect because these costumes are perfect. This is Nicholas Turck and Tiffany Kohn. I mean they nailed it! Tiffany and Nicholas really captured Daisy and Bo. Great job guys. Tiffany's dad is our buddy Ray Kohn, who we all know from Northeast Ohio Dukes. Tiffany and Nicholas perform in the NEOD stunt shows. 

The next contestant is Justin Fowler. Justin is dressed as Enos. He entered last year as Cletus, but didn't win a prize. Let's see how he does this year. 

The Blues Brothers entered the Most Unique category.

Alex Page is the owner of the Bluesmobile. Alex entered the contest the first year as the Bandit when he brought his Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am to the Run. He also nearly won Dukes Jeopardy, as mentioned earlier. Alex dressed as Elwood Blue, complete with handcuffed briefcase. Love the little details. 

Your pal and mine, Tommy Heyer, dressed as "Joiet" Jake Blue. Great job guys! A few people asked why the Blues Brothers were able to enter the Dukes contest. The answer is multifaceted. Would we stop a Michael Knight costume from entering? No way. Alex legally entered in 2022 as the Bandit. Any Dukes adjacent car themed property is allowed to enter. And basically, I make the rules. Ha. 

Look at all these great cars. And the weather really got nice as the day went on. 

Here are some new friends we all met over the weekend. They are AJ and Kaitlyn Reiss all the way from Vibank, Saskatchewan, Canada. They travelled nearly two thousand miles in their General Lee to attend the event. They had a blast all weekend. 

They sported these hand-made General Lee sweaters as well as AJ's once Dukes bedsheets now custom shirt. Great job guys!

When Catherine came to the signing, she absolutely loved my costume. She was laughing at it all day. 

She took this selfie and sent it to Tom and her daughters. Glad she sent it to me too. I really like this costume. 

In some classic NES Punch Out fun, Billy is taking some licks.

Even Richie got in on the fun. Imagine that. 

Catherine also loved AJ and Kaitlyn's sweaters.

The participant list was a little shorter this year. The weather and the fact that we had a big event less than six weeks before meant the Run didn't have as big a showing as years past. But if just one person besides me shows up in costume, in my eyes the costume contest is a success. And we had more than one, that's for sure.

The final entrant into the contest was good ol' Jason Moody who brought his Lulu back for more. Let's get technical with the rules (that I make up on the fly). Last time Jason entered, he was a part of a pair with Jett being Boss Hogg for the Best Duo category. This year Jason entered himself into Best Individual. So he's allowed to be in the contest again. Maybe if he wants to enter the same costume again, he can say he is Boss dressed as Lulu in the episode "Targets: Daisy and Lulu." It's all about how you word it. And that I make the rules. 

Tom Felice is dressed as a really cool General Lee owner. I made the decision not to let him enter. 

Mr. Tom Sarmento, lead mechanic on the show and all around great guy, really liked my costume and called me "Wopat" all day. Normally I'm a Bo, but on this day, I was a Luke. 

Cooter's Garage Band performed and Catherine helped close the performance. She sang Lobamba, Good Ol' Boys and a few other songs. Since Ben is no longer with us, it's great when Catherine performs with the band. 

Dorothy Best was also at the event and I'll talk about her more further down in the post. She joined Catherine on stage and really entertained the crowd. Wait, who's that on the TV screen in the background? Why that's me in the Hazzard Nation movie that Ben and Alma produced. It's when I hosted the 40th anniversary in Nashville. What a total coincidence and not at all why I snapped that picture at that exact moment. 

The plan was to give the band a little time to clear the stage before I brought the participants up for the contest. Catherine decided she wanted to be a part of the contest on the fly and she made it so much more fun!

Before I breakdown the contest and reveal the winners, you can watch the whole thing on our pal Jennifer's Singing Patriot youtube page. I've embedded it above. Jennifer and her camera are staples at Cooter's events and she does a great job capturing the fun. 

The entrants once again are Alex and Tommy as the Blues Brothers. 

Tiffany and Nicholas as Daisy and Bo, and Jason as Lulu 

And Justin as Enos.

I had to to take another picture with Bo and Daisy to complete the cousins trio from the episode. We make the perfect Luke, Daisy and Bo. It's weird typing in that order.

Who do you think the winners are going to be? Lulu?

Daisy and Bo?

Remember, in the rules I wrote, I am not eligible to win. I am this excited just because I've gotten to host this contest five times and each time people have entered and it's so much fun. 

I advertised five winners, one in each category. I had six entrants and four of them were in duos. I made the decision on the fly that each entrants was a winner! I couldn't turn away any of these great costumes. The winners of the 2026 Halloween in Hazzard Costume contest are Tommy Heyer and Alex Page as the Blues Brothers in the Unique Category. Justin Fowler as Enos in the Best Individual, Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke in the She's Actually Daisy Duke category, Larry Franks as boxer Luke Duke in the I'm Not Eligible Category, Tiffany Kohn and Nicholas Turck as Daisy and Bo in the Best Duo Category and Jason Moody as Lulu in the Best Individual (also) Category. Thank you so much to everyone who entered and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next year!

Dressing up like Luke was a lot of fun and something different. I kept saying I couldn't top my Waylon costume, but more than a few people at the event said I did just that. What do you think?

After the Saturday festivities wrapped up at Cooter's we headed back to the Ranger's Retreat where a party was planned. 

Not just any party, a pizza party!!! And the pizza was good!

Jim Cunningham organized our stay at the Ranger's Retreat and organized the party. We had all these great star vehicles, including my Acura with the Bo Duke license plate.

We can't leave out Billy's patrol car and AJ's General tribute. 

There were Generals everywhere. 

Our buddy Mike Phinney, from Canada, who entered the costume contest in the past as Enos and Cooter, brought his patrol car and trailered his CHiPs motorcycle. How cool is that?!

Our little party, it actually wasn't little at all, was graced by none other than Dorothy Best!

Jim has been trying to get Dorothy to sign his General Lee under James' signature for years. I'm glad I could help Jim get Sherry Tolliver's signature on his Gen'ral.

Mark Belch from Belleville, Ontario, Canada stayed with us and he brought his super cool KARR replica. You remember that KARR is KITT's evil twin on Knight Rider. It was great meeting Mark. 

More and more Generals showed up. 

The weather was great in the early evening and the party turned into a Hazzard Hoedown!

Silly Billy travels with a Mike Myers life size replica. Who doesn't? Mike was the center of some hijinks and ended up being strapped to Phinney's cycle. He was a hit during the camp parade. More on that soon.

It's everyone's favorite daredevil stuntman Ray Kohn!

I really loved meeting Dorothy's family. 

I couldn't fly the drone for the actual Hazzard Run because of the rain, but I was able to get it in the air at the party.

That's a lot of star cars!

The Ranger's Retreat is a part of the Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Luray. It's the only house available to rent and the park mostly consists of campgrounds and cabins. The Retreat is perfect for us Dukes fanatics and the park itself is huge!

We took a group picture before we departed for the parade. Dorothy is front and center. That's a lot of people for a word of mouth party! I see Jim and Laura Cunningham, Alex Page, Silly Billy Lambing, Jett, new friends AJ and Kaitlyn, AJ Stevens, Mike Phinney, Tommy Heyer, Tom Felice, Mark Belch, Dave Ashbridge, Bobby and Jeri Scott, Autumn Carter, and a bunch of other people who's names have slipped my mind. 

Last year we did a little parade through the Yogi Bear campground. The staff at the campground loved it so much that asked us to do it again this year and bring some friends! That's exactly what we did. 

It was another Hazzard Run and the Dukes of Hazzard stormed the Jellystone!

I didn't get the best pictures. I was hanging through the moonroof of AJ Stevens' General Lee Challenger and it was dark.  

But you get the idea. Every weekend in October, the campground hosts Halloween parties with decoration contests, trick or treating and spooky fun. 

Part of the fun has become our now annual parade.

One of the campers had a really cool led board that had instant images and they put a Dukes sign up for us. I got to look into one of those. 

The parade was a lot of fun and I think I had the the best seat for it hanging out of the top of AJ's Challenger. The campers sure seem to enjoy it. It was a blast.  

Before the party wrapped up I caught a shot of Dave "Cooter" Ashbridge and his beautiful Cooter tow truck. Dave is also from Canada. 

Mike Spent the rest of the party menacing guests and looking for Laurie Strode. It was a wonderful party where actual members of the Dukes cast attended and included a parade. How awesome is that? 

Sunday morning I was given permission by Alma to announce the changes coming to Cooter's on Luray. 

It's going to be awesome to have a Boars Nest replica at Cooter's and I can't wait to see it. Read all about it on my previous post. 

I got to be a fly on the wall listening to Tom and Catherine reminisce about the filming Dukes. 

I think Tom might call me Wopat from here on out. I'm ok with it. 

Me and Catherine took selfies together from both my phone and her phone. Mine in top, her's on the bottom. This might be my favorite picture of the weekend. 

These are all awesome pictures. Which one is your favorite? 

The 2026 Hazzard Run and Halloween in Hazzard Costume Contest was such a great event. I think we need to add another name to the event. Second Annual Hazzard Invades Jellystone Park! This is so much fun!