2007 Havoc East - Show Observations

Saturday, August 11, 2007 marked the first day of the 2007 Havoc East Show. Arriving early in the morning at the scenic Beech Bend Park venue, it seemed like hours went by before the healthy stream of custom trucks began to roll in.

Where I figured roll-in would be finishing up by 9:30AM, it was actually just beginning. I was relieved that trucks were coming, nomatter what time!

Did you guys know that Beech Bend Park has been around 1898? The park's oval track, drapstrip, amusement park, and other attractions added a nice touch to the weekend, and I'm sure the Kentucky Rumbler roller coaster provided the perfect background for some awesome truck shots!  

It was a great day spent videoing, taking pictures, and observing how it's done Kentucky-style. By the middle of the day, the turnout was awesome! I was stoked to see so many clean, complete mini trucks! It seems that in Southern California, the true mini truck turnout has been a little disappointing at shows recently.

I was excited to see so many engine swaps (compared to California, where S-M-O-G is the worst four-letter word), engine driven compressors, complete interiors, and overall show-worthy rides. A few quick observations: tons of S-10s; a noteable amount of hydro'd vehicles; a decent Ranger showing; and not as many Toyota pickups as I was expecting. And may I add, the bathrooms were air conditioned and the hand dryer had so much air blowing horsepower behind it that I had to take a picture of what it did to the palm of my hand. 

The darkness of night begged for a good drag session, which got underway after Matt Petro took his Gauge Magazine Project S10 Air Dancer to the limits. I must say, from morning until night, the fun never stops down South! You guys just keep going and going! Dragging (railing, whatever you want to call it) is always an entertaining thing, and quite a treat; I have only been to one show in Southern California where dragging was a sanctioned part of the show's events. Dragging in the South, hopping out West. Agree? Disagree? Had it been allowed, I think the draggin' would have lasted all night long. However, all good things come to an end, and by 11PM the trucks that were leaving for the night filed out. I don't know about everyone else, but I slept good that night - so good that I forgot to recharge my video camera (haha).

Day 2, Sunday, August 12, was cut short by our flight home. I figured I would wake up feeling tired and burned out on this whole truck show thing, but actually, I couldn't wait to get back to the park for more action! We were able to finish taking some pictures and grab some video of the Sport Truck Challenge's bracket racing that was occurring on the drag strip before driving away in our not-so-pimp PT Cruiser.

A successful journey home concluded my Havoc adventure. Don't you hate it when post-show letdown kicks in? When you look around and see no trucks anywhere, after a weekend of seeing JUST trucks? Left with a full memory card of pictures and a mind full of memories, it's time to look forward to the next show.