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I flew into Vegas early Thursday afternoon and was promptly greeted by Eddy Cebreco, Xtreme Lowz-Florida President and chairman of the Blood Drag show in West Palm Beach, Florida. We grabbed my luggage, then took off in the Vegas sunshine and went straight to the Las Vegas Convention Center. After getting my press credentials, I began my four day SEMA experience. Seeing how this was my first trip to Vegas for SEMA, I was taken by surprise by the massive amounts of vendors, show vehicles and spectators that were combing the grounds. It was sort of like being in a custom truck and car wonderland, with every vendor you could imagine on hand displaying their newest products as well as the vehicles that use their products. Eddy and I walked around checking out vendors like Tenzo, Hot Wheels, Toyo, Ford Motorsports and many others, while stopping what seemed like every ten feet to either catch up with friends that we happen to run into, or talking to people that we haven't met in the past. After a long, exhausting day of flying, SEMA coverage and meet and greets, we left the Convention Center and headed to the party-pad of Xtreme Lowz-Vegas. Adam from Xtreme Lowz-Vegas was sure to make my and Eddy's first visit to SEMA memorable when he called a friend of his that hooked us up with a three bedroom suite to stay I for the week, complete with jacuzzi, full kitchen and washer and drier. We asked Mike Self to stay with us and he gladly accepted. Our sleeping arrangements for the week were all set, so we were ready to have fun and party. Tuesday night, Eddy, Mike Self and I met up with the rest of his Xtreme Lowz crew from Vegas and California, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then headed over to the Aladdin for the KMC Wheels afterparty. Upon arriving, we promptly ran into many of our friends in the scene, including Big Carl from Explicit Concepts, Courtney and The Captain, Chris Schmidt, Pat Maxwell, Scott and Jeff from Relaxed Atmosphere-Texas and a host of gorgeous women, who were in fact, "working girls." After visiting the bar more times that should be legal, the early hours were setting in and we went back to our suite to catch some sleep, before starting first thing the next morning.
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Wednesday morning and the wake up call was early - 9 am to be exact. We grabbed a ride to the Convention Center, grabbed an expensive bite to eat ($10 for a sandwich and chips is a little much by anyone's standards) and started yet another day of pictures. The outside of the Convention Center was packed with the baddest rides to grace the planet, including Craig Elder's three monsterous trucks, Jay LaRossa's bad-ass S10, and Sequoia sporting larger-than-should-be-legal 26" wheels. This thing was turning heads all day to the many amazed people who happen to walk by. You could also find Mason's freshly finished body dropped Expedition, Fab-Tech's clean 4x4, as well as a huge assortment of trucks and cars, both raised and lowered. Ford Motorsports had their booth complete with a jet-powered Ford Focus showing the race world what true speed is all about. Besides the massive amounts of vendors found throughout the halls of the Conventon Center, many amazing rides were presented, showing what the true meaning of SEMA is about. Besides the 26" wheels being displayed, the guys from Totally Polished wowed the spectators with their Ford Excursion. The crew had taken a truly expensive vehicle, chopped it down to make it a two-door, switched it over to a two wheel drive suspension, body dropped it, completely shaved it out and then painted it, finally finishing it off with a set of one-off 22's. Before leaving for the day, I ran into some more of my buddies, including Brent and Kevin from Pleasures, and a host of Texas boys including Mark, Kevin and Josh, as well as my own crew from Tennessee, Jerry, Eric and Matt Long. Wednesday was Halloween, so we retreated over to the Xtreme Lowz party-pad and had our own personal party, while treating kids to candy. Just when we thought the kids were through knocking at the door, there was one last kid. John opened the door and much to our surprise, this teenager, dressed up completely like a bum, walks in holding a sign that read "I'm not going to lie, I just want a beer." After we all finished laughing, we treated him to some "candy" and sent him on his way. Ahhh… another long day over at last. Continued ------->
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