|
One of hardest things to do as a show promoter is to choose a weekend to have your show that doesn't fall on the same date as another show. When Rich and the crew from Priority One in Paducah, Kentucky chose the weekend to host their own show, Slam Session, they went in knowing it fell on the same weekend as Texas Heat Wave. Not too many people would even consider doing this, as most would think it would take away from the amount of show participants and spectators attending the show. Rich and his crew paid this no mind and went straight to work to make this years show bigger and better than the previous two. Success is a wonderful feeling. Starting things off for me, I wanted to get to Paducah Friday evening, so I could attempt to sleep in Saturday morning before hitting the show. After arriving in Paducah late Friday evening, I caught up with the Priority One crew and got settled into my hotel room. I was hungry, so Papa Johns was called in to the rescue and a good night sleep followed. Saturday morning was brought to life by my pager beeping madly telling me it was time to rise and shine (aka get my ass to work) After getting pimped out in true SSM fashion (ok, so all I did was throw on a SSM shirt and khaki shorts) I headed out to the parking lot of the hotel and started walking around to see what this years show had to offer. The heat was almost unbearable. It was already very hot outside, but the worst thing had to be the humidity. It made it feel like an oven outside. And with little breeze to cool things off, sweat seemed to be pouring off of everyone from head to toe. For those who have never been to this show, it's held at the Executive Inn hotel right on the river. If you've never been to one of these massive hotels, then you probably can't imagine the size of this place. It's huge. Period. The best thing about this show is that the actual show is held in the hotel parking lot, which makes going back and forth to the room very quick and painless. It also means when the heat index is 105 (as it was this year) there is plenty of room to go inside and get under the cool air conditioning or jump in the swimming pool. On a side note, for those of you who were jumping from the forth floor into the hotel swimming pool, your Xtreme Games antics were enjoyed by all !!! (ok, except maybe the people running the hotel)
|
The rides this year were comparable to last year, with every kind of vehicle, new or old, shined up and polished out in true show fashion. Anything you could want to see was in attendance including minis, fullsizes, compact cars, 4x4's and muscle cars. Matt Long from Union City, Tennessee blew the show up with his Maxwell Designs freshly painted four door Jimmy. Pat Maxwell did an amazing job with the graphics on this vehicle and the crowds gawked at this beauty all day long. Chris Smith from Smitty's Autobody in Ohio brought out his early-model fullsize Chevy, complete with step-side bed. This thing was off the hook! I was even more impressed when he cranked it and I thought that I was at the drag races. Look for this beast later this year in SSM. Rich and his crew do a great job drawing in the top clubs as well. This year was no exception with representatives from Severed Ties, Relaxed Atmosphere and Negative Camber on hand to let people know what their clubs are up to these days. Of course, the lesser-known clubs are always there, displaying their best, as Visions brought out many of their own to take the Club Participation award this year. As the day wore on and the heat seemed to finally take its toll on everyone, the show ground seemed to clear as everyone went back to their rooms to relax and get refreshed for the night's events. Rich and the crew had a after party planned, complete with bikini contest so everyone wanted to make sure they were ready to go. Around 8, I hooked up with my boy LA Wayne from Ohio to catch the fine ladies in the bikini contest. After waiting around for what seemed like an eternity, things finally were underway and the ladies were brought out one by one to strut their stuff. In the end, Elizabeth, of Ohio, took home the cash and was crowned Miss Slam Session 2001. (Note - Thanks to LA Wayne for providing photos from the bikini contest and check his own site for more at http://www.HydroGuru.com) Continue......
|
