Greenville

Hey, it was great to be back in beautiful Greenville, North Carolina, for the annual Slam Session held at the Pitt County Fairgrounds just off of Highway 286. A slew of compact cars, mini-trucks and lowriders moseyed on into the grounds for a weekend of fun this past Spring. More than 800 entrants and several thousand spectators mingled for three days as the contestants shined and showed off their radical rides. The cars were lined up through the entrance and spilling out onto the highway, creeping their way to designated areas.

There were more than 30 classes to compete in, ranging from paint, interior and number of members in a club, to the usual stuff like best overall car in the respective categories. The show helped benefit The Miracle Foundation, which received a $1,500 donation from host club Animated Attractions. The previous year had a bit of rain and the ground was not exactly right for the show, which hampered attendance but not this time. Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 70s generated smiles from Animated Attractions, who were hoping for a better draw.

Vendors row, some 30 plus at last count, had plenty of foot traffic as they hocked stuff like wheels, interior accessories and food galore. There were dozens of car clubs with multi-hued vehicles vying for all sorts of prizes, but the one that stuck out the most was Lowered Atmosphere who dominated the others with more than 50 cars. These guys and gals went home with the Club Participation award as well as others. Not bad considering that there were entrants from as far away as Massachusetts and as far south as the Florida panhandle.

Evening activities included several contests, like the wet T-shirt contest, wet boxer contest and bikini bash. The festivities even had the ever-popular "stupid people" contest where humans got down to a level unheard to mankind. We will leave the contest outcome to your sick imaginations!

The Best Euro in the house that day was Richard Jones' '90 Honda Prelude that has had its top hacked off and has been painted a candy pink. The ride has got to be one of the tightest cars on the East Coast. Congratulations, Richie!

Although the majority of the rides weren't what we considered traditional Lowrider Magazine material, there was still firme cruisers at the show like Marco Mirabile's '87 Chevy Monte Carlo, which took Best Lowrider. Marco also received $500 for his efforts and a great-looking trophy to boot. Another clean ride belonged to Tomas Moralez, an '81 Buick Regal called "Late Night Creep" flying the Techniques C.C. plaque. Nearby, we also spotted the gente from Explicit C.C. and some of their lowriders as well.

We also made a couple of new friends. Corporal Moore and officer Rudy Maldonado of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department were on hand to share a positive relationship between today's youth and local law enforcement agencies. Their car, a Ford Taurus, is decked out lowrider style and includes custom paint and graphics, audio system, interior and a double-pump setup. The car is named "Meritorius," meaning deserving of honor, respect and admiration.

The hopping contest was a bag of mixed emotions because of the recent tragedy involving Wayne Costa and his girl who perished a week before the Greenville gig. Many of the guys knew Wayne, who was a crowd favorite and would have been there in the flesh. His presence was felt, though, as Young Hog MC'd the hopping and car dancers with his witty repartee. He even started to dance one on one with a car as it shimmied its way across the metal plate used for the hydro contests.

A grand time was had by all accounts and the people of Animated Attractions informed us that they'll be moving on to a bigger facility next year with more cash and prizes to be dished out as well. For more info on this show and others past, check out www.animatedattractions.com for the real deal.