Last summer, Sport Truck magazine worked closely with Mini Truckin' magazine to put together a truck show called Havoc. It was a partnership that formed naturally because the staffs of both magazines get along really well and share some of the same ideals about what makes a truly custom truck cool and how to have a good time at a show. Since it was our first joint venture together and time was short, we knew rounding up a ton of vendors and activities was going to be tough. With this in mind, we did the next best thing-we held the show in a spot that guaranteed a good time for all during the evening, even if the show itself turned into a bust. Thankfully, the show went off pretty well for having virtually no advertising or promotion beforehand. Many of you showed up and were ready to party. And we were right on the money about the nightlife afterwards, which turned out to be the real gem of Havoc.
We threw the show in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, which is paradise for anyone that has ever had to attend a convention. Coincidentally, our show was held in the convention center, and once you stepped outside the hall, the atmosphere was a bit like Mardi Gras but without the dirty streets and fear of bumping into a naked dude wearing a peacock mask. The convention center is surrounded by bars and clubs, and the entire area is cordoned off so you can stroll from hot spot to hot spot, drink in hand, and enjoy the nightlife with your friends and clubmates. Pool halls, bowling alleys, and dance clubs are everywhere-it's a tough place not to have a great time.
Last year, after the show wound down on Saturday, we sent everyone outside for our highlight event-the street-legal dragging competition. I'm not talking about drag racing, rather it was an exhibition for the lowest of low trucks (or at least those with titanium blocks under their framerails) to rail down the public streets and shower the asphalt in white-hot glory. The city gave us the green light and about two city blocks for anyone who signed up for the competition to drag to their heart's content without fear of any law enforcement interference or tickets. I heard it was damn cool. I missed the whole thing because I was photographing several of your trucks for features in the magazine during the competition, but the video I saw afterward looked killer.
Well, guess what? We're bringing back everything that made that show great and hooking up with the guys from Mini Truckin' again to ensure that this year's show is even better. The staples of great shows will of course be there, like the bikini contest, live DJs bumpin' tunes all day long, and of course, a vendor village so you can snap up all those parts and T-shirts you've been wanting at a discount. We are also bringing back the draggin' competition because we obviously didn't do enough damage to the 4th Street asphalt for the city to shut us down.
This year's show is going down the weekend of August 5 and 6, which, by the time you read this, won't be far away. The hotels will sell out quickly, so don't hesitate to grab a spot. Also, we expect the show to sell out as well, so get those preregistration forms filled out and mailed in too. Each of these hotels has blocks of rooms for you guys at discounted rates if you ask for the "Havoc Block":
Hyatt Regency Louisville Downtown (502) 581-1234
Marriott Louisville Downtown (502) 627-5045
The Holiday Inn Louisville Downtown (502) 582-2241
Ramada Riverfront, Jeffersonville, Indiana (812) 284-6711
Also, I mentioned last month that we had decided to cruise all the way from Cali' to the show and that is still going to happen. This will be a fairly low-buck, informal deal, with little corporate involvement to screw it up. It's just going to be a bunch of guys who aren't afraid to put in a ridiculous amount of miles behind the wheel of their sport trucks. We'll stop and visit some sights, and when we're done we'll have plenty of bench racing stories from the road. Check out www.sporttruck.com for all the information on the show and the cruise.
So, there you have it, the long-awaited information on our show. It's time to stock up on titanium, polish your rims, find a good-looking copilot for the road trip, and make sure your driver's license is valid, because it's a long way to Louisville. See you there!