The 2003 edition of the MiniNats in Tennessee had another change. Due to the change in ownership of the Governors Crossing Theater where the MiniNats has been held in the past, promoter Charlie Cobble had to start searching for another home for his show. It is a real shame that this great event had to move again. Last year, more than 1,400 vehicles were registered for the show, and it was going to be hard to top those numbers again with another move. After weeks of searching, Charlie struck a deal with his show sponsor, Mike Myers, of NOPI. Mike suggested the show be held as part of the Bristol, Tennessee, stop on the NOPI drag racing series.
The show was billed as a three-day event, with the gates opening at 10 a.m. on Friday and the judging lanes opening at noon. The turnout on the first day was sparse with only 40 or 50 vehicles showing up. The show was being held in one of the big parking lots between the round track and the dragstrip, so there was plenty of room for more cars and trucks. On Saturday, the gates opened again at 8 a.m. with a bigger crowd waiting to get in and start setting up, but it was still slower than last year. Finally, by late afternoon, the count hit the 900 mark. There were many great cars and trucks on hand, but many were still missing from last year.
However, there was a great turnout of vendors this year. Godfather Customs was on hand with its big rig, along with American Products with several cars and trucks decked out in the company's latest products. The big blowup TA Radial tire made it impossible to miss the BFGoodrich truck. StreetGlow kept a crowd around its booth all weekend due to the model it had manning its display and the Xbox the company had displayed, where onlookers could try out all the latest games.
Activities for the day started out on the main stage with the first of three rounds of the bikini contest. Next, the burnout competition took place on the starting line of the drag strip. All the cars and trucks which participated really put on a show and even burned a few tires all the way to the ground. In between all the activities, the early rounds of the NOPI drag racing series was taking place. The race was a jam-packed event all day - and it wasn't over yet. At about 6 p.m., a major rainstorm blew in and things came to a dead stop. By then, hunger was starting to set in, so everyone either took shelter or headed out to find their favorite food at the local eating establishments.
The second round of the bikini contest was slated to start about 7 p.m., but it was still raining. With a little coaxing, the girls decided that the show must go on, due to the large rain-soaked crowd of folks that totaled more than a thousand. So, rain and all, the girls headed down the runway to strut their stuff.
On Sunday, the gates opened again at 8 a.m., but things really didn't start rolling until noon. The drag racing finals were under way and took a break around 2:30 p.m. for the final rounds of the burnout competition, as well as the final round of the bikini contest.
After a long weekend of activities and car showing, things came to a close with the presentation of the trophies. Even though the turnout of cars and trucks were down from the year before, the event was a great success with more than 25,000 spectators. Everyone had a great time. Next year's show is in the planning stages, but we don't know when or where it is going to take place. If you would like to make plans for the 2004 Southeast Mini Truckin' and Compact Car Nationals, give Charlie Cobble a call at (423) 623-4644 or (423) 623-1871, or for those who surf the web, check out www.autoshows.com.