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Earlier in the show season, I spoke to Ashton Harwood about possibly coming out and covering his show, East Coast Nationals, for StreetSourceMag with hopes of finally getting to attend one of the best shows on the east coast. After some planning, we finally nailed down a plan for SSM to be there. Boy was I excited! After seeing show coverage from this event for the past several years, I eagerly anticipated finally getting to attend. The wait was well worth it. Things started out when I caught my plane to Richmond early Friday morning. After a short layover in Charlotte, I arrived to a gloomy, wet Richmond, Virginia. At the airport, I met up with Ashton's fiance and then over to the hotel where we were meeting my buddy Lance Martz from Minitruckin'. After getting settled into the hotel and picking up Lance, we went to the Richmond International Raceway where the show is held and met up with Ashton and his Subculture crew, who were already in the process of getting things situated for the weekend. Several vendors and show vehicles were already in the park getting set up and drizzle aside, the weekend looked great. After hanging out for a few hours at the Raceway park, Brandon Burrell and his wife rolled in and we left to go get them settled in and something to eat. We headed back over to the hotel later and found the parking lots already started to fill with tons of custom vehicles. At our hotel, we hooked up with friends from all over the east coast including Robbie and the Pebble Pushers crew, Brian Beatty and the Negative Camber crew, Lee, Elena and Lance, Danny Rowe and his girlfriend Cindy and friends Russell and Brandi Gulow. Everyone was having a good time drinking, partying and catching up with each other since the last show. The arrival of Low Rollers pushed the party level a notch higher and it was easy to tell that this was going to be a great weekend. After a late night (ok, 3am) visit to Waffle House with Russell, Brandi and Lance, everyone turned in and attempted to get some sleep for Saturday. Saturday morning meant rise and shine and back over to the track. We arrived and found the grounds were already completely packed and the roll in line was still out to the main road. Thinking back, for most of Saturday, that line was backed up to the main road for most of the day. I pulled out my camera and went to work.
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The first thing that I noticed about this show that was different than the rest was how Ashton and his crew decided to seperate the truck and cars by a few rows. To broaden things even further, vehicles were parked according to class, which made things a lot easier for the judges who had the task of judging a ton of nice rides. No one wants to spend their day trying to track down a judge because they were accidently overlooked do they? I think not! The plan worked very well. I began my stroll through vendors alley where I caught up with John Bebee and his Drop'Em Wear crew. After saying hello I caught up with Josh Long and the Wicked Kustoms people and then went over to say hello to Godfathers Customs. There were many vendors selling anything a person could possibly be looking for, including beef jerky! I said hello to friends and business associates and then started my first walk through the beef of the event - the show vehicles. Many clubs were on hand displaying what they have to offer, and the offering was nothing less than spectacular. I ran into my old buddies from Exclusive Styles and had to say hello. Gump and his boys were representing their club very well. Rides from all the heavy hitters like Negative Camber, Acrophobia, Severed Ties and Relaxed Atmosphere were in full effect. Whatever one had hoped to find, whether it be a mini truck, 4x4 or compact car, it could be found in abundance. Another thing that could be in abundance were "june bugs." These little creatures had their own show going, except I believe their show was one of reproduction. These little greenish creatures were just as much part of the show as the vehicles. I think I even saw a few that were polishing their wings with Meguires wax! Late Saturday afternoon brought the unexpected rain, which pretty much ended the days activities. It didn't damper anyone's weekend, it just meant the night time party session would get started early. After showering and changing, Brandon, Christine and I met up with Pebble Pushers and went over to feed our growling stomachs. Let me just say one thing about dinner. Any girl that can order a shot called a "blowjob" and wrap her lips completely around the shot glass is okay in my book. I politely introduced myself to this female Pebble Pushers members and look forward to hanging out with her again in the near show future!
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