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July means it's once again time for the Mini Truckin' Nationals in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Anyone who has been in the scene for a long time or a short period of time knows that this show has always been one of the largest shows on the East Coast. Charlie Cobble, the President of the show, teamed up with NOPI last year in order to make the show bigger and better than ever. The planned worked flawlessly as over 1,400 rides attended this year's show. Too everyone's surprise, even the city of Pigeon Forge could not hold back the massive amount of people ready to have a good time. It started for me Friday morning. I packed up my truck and got on the road anticipating a fun-filled weekend. Shortly after arriving in Pigeon Forge, I noticed the cops were doing everything they could in an attempt to ruin the weekend, as blue lights were plainly visible as soon as I rolled into the small, Tennessee town. As I rolled down the strip, I noticed all the hotels were packed with rides. I quickly spotted the crew from Lower Level of Oklahoma hanging out at their hotel. Further up the strip, I ran into my buddy Donny D and his boys from Subculture and Acrophobia. I pulled in to say what's up. While hanging out there, my buddies Chris Hanson and Eli and Justin Griffin from Relaxed Atmosphere walked up and said hello. Next, my buddies from Negative Camber - Florida walked up and we hung out for a bit before I jumped back in my truck and went to my hotel. I pulled into the hotel parking lot and found my boys Brandon Burrell from Relaxed Atmosphere - North Carolina and my boys from West Palm Beach, Florida (Eddy, Cory, Jason and Craig). Everyone hung out and bitched about cops and "wingas" and proceeded to go get our grub on. After dinner, we pulled over at the Howard Johnson and took a walk on the strip. We meet up with all our friends from out of state that made the journey including Low Rollers, Negative Camber chapters from North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, Relaxed Atmosphere members from Tennessee, Mississippi and North Carolina as well as a grip of other clubs and individuals. The weekend was a blast already, no matter how many tickets the cops tried to write. After a long night of walking and talking, we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night. Bright and early Saturday morning, we all piled into our vehicles and headed to the show. As usual, the strip was packed and it took nearly an hour to get to the show. Upon arriving at the show, the registration line was all the way out to the main road, with another line trying to enter from the back entrance. Yeah, the show was huge. With NOPI being a major sponsor and making it one of their semi-final stops for their NOPI Nationals show in Atlanta,
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the amount of imports was bigger than ever. The show even featured three actual rides used in the filming of The Fast And The Furious. Massive amounts of people gawked at the import rockets all weekend. Minitrucks and fullsize trucks were also on hand to give the old-school minitrucker crowd plenty to look at as well. Some of the finest rides from Relaxed, Severed Ties, Negative Camber, Acrophobia and Pebble Pushers were on hand showing the best they had to offer, as well as hundreds of other clubs and individuals. Vendors were also displaying their latest product for the massive crowd of over 25,000 people attending the event. Everyone from manufacturers like Falken and Low Glow Neon to shops like Wicked Kustoms were in attendance selling product and showing the large crowd what they had to offer. After snapping photos all day, Brandon and myself went over to hang out with some buddies and shoot a few features before heading back to shower and grab a bite to eat. After a relaxing dinner, Brandon and his wife Christine, Terence and myself all took a walk down the strip until we met up with Pebble Pushers from North Carolina. After chillin' with the group for a little while, Craig from AON Customs in West Palm pulled up and saved us from making the long walk back to our hotel (thanks guys!). We went back to the hotel, chilled and called it a night. Sunday morning meant time to work some more. So we loaded back up and went back to the show again. The heat was horrible, so we quickly threw up the tents and tried to stay cool. I finally got the nerve to step out in the heat and try to snap some last minute photos. After walking around, I said my goodbyes to friends and headed back to my truck bound for home. No matter what tactics the Pigeon Forge Police used to deter the show and everyone involved from having fun this year, the plan didn't work. Massive amounts of people came and brought some of the nicest vehicles from any PF show in the past. While I understand that in every crowd there are ones who cause problems, the majority of the crowd that attends PF each and every year are simply doing nothing more than having a good time. The city of Pigeon Forge, as well as the police department, needs to recognize this and relax a little bit. Keep your eyes and ears open for information on the 2003 NOPI Southeast Mini Truckin' & Compact Nationals as there is rumor that the show may possibly be relocating. Make plans to attend, StreetSourceMag will be there.By Bobby Stewart and Brandon Burrell
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