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February means only one thing to the people on the east coast - it's again time for Blood Drag, the first major show of the year. While most people are bundling up, still wearing sweaters and winter coats, Eddy Cebreco and his Xtreme Lowz-Florida crew are hard at work at the South Florida Fairgrounds, drawing in more than five hundred rides for a weekend of sunshine and fun. And oh, what fun it was… I decided that I would make a vacation out of the show again this year, so I flew in two days early to catch up with Eddy and his Xtreme Lowz crew and hang out in the warm Florida sunshine. As always, Eddy's sidekick Shaun Ross picked me up in true baller fashion, pimping the Ford Crew Cab dually. We set out into the Florida sunshine…Heaven On Earth. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we returned back to the airport and awaited the arrival of Mike Self, his girlfriend Marissa and Schlem, Vice-President of Xtreme Lowz-Los Angeles. After scooping the trio up, we all headed over to Art Of Noise Customs to meet Craig and his gang of workers. AON Customs was the main sponsor for the Blood Drag this year, and Craig and his crew really know their stuff. After checking out the lot full of rides they were in the process of building, we jetted to the hotel, checked in, and then Shaun and myself headed over to the Xtreme Lowz hang out spot, the home of Florida members Brad, Que and Chris Brady. Shaun and I kicked it until the late hours of the morning then went back to the hotel to catch some sleep. The whole gang chilled until Friday and then eagerly anticipated the arrival of all the clubs and rides for this year's event. By Friday evening, the hotels were packed with rides from every club including Negative Camber, Gulf Breeze Customs, Relaxed Atmosphere, Acrophobia, Mini Madness and Local Minis, just to name a few. Long before the show even began, people were already partying hard in the hotels and on the street, with burnouts and lots of dragging already commencing. The weekend was here at last. Saturday morning came way too quickly but a quick look outside revealed everyone was already at the show. Mike Self, Marissa, Schlem, Travis Noack and myself all showered and jumped in our rides to head to the show and get started. A quick stop to the store was the order of the day and I quickly grabbed two cold 32 OZ bottles of Old English 800 (8Ball) from the cooler - one for me and one for my man Travis Noack.
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After informing me of his dislike for 8Ball, I promptly returned the bottles to the cooler, grabbed a soda and we were out the door. Next stop: South Florida Fairgrounds. Once we arrived at the fairgrounds, it was evident the show was bigger and better than ever by the amount of rides and the quality of the rides that could be seen right away. Right away, Scott from Daytona Beach could be seen with a crowd around his body dropped Tundra, parked next to what had to be one of the tallest Tundra's in the state of Florida. I walked through, inspecting all the new rides and the new body mods and of course catching up with old friends as well as making new ones. But shortly thereafter, the winds kicked up and the skies darkened. Mother nature had other plans. The rain kicked in and seemed to put a damper on the show for the day. Eddy Cebreco and his crew quickly went into action and utilized a huge tent on the show grounds to perform drive-through judging and get the vehicles in and out of judging in a nice, orderly fashion. After getting rain drenched all day, we called it a day and went back to the hotel to prepare for the dinner and after party that Eddy and his crew had lined up. We met up with Eddy and his crew at Mikasa, a Japanese restaurant owned and operated by Xtreme Lowz member Que and his family. We watched the knife flipping show, ate a good meal, and then headed over to the after party spot, the Wild Side strip club. The party had already begun. We chilled out, watching some of South Florida's finest strut their stuff and tease for dollars. Christian made his way around the club, taking up donations to get Big Dave on stage with a couple of dancers, and what a site it was. After pretty much getting Big Dave naked, the girls treated him to some see-saw action and gave him the full Wild Side treatment before turning him loose. I snapped photos, socialized with everyone from Xtreme Lowz, Acrophobia, Low Rollers and Mini Madness before heading back to the hotel and seeing what was going on there. Not to my surprise, hella partying in both hotels was going on! I kicked it with all of my Florida friends until the early morning hours then headed back to my room for some shuteye. Sunday morning proved to be much better from a photographic standpoint with clear skies and the beautiful Florida sun. A quick shower and it was off to the show. Sunday was much nicer as I walked around snapping photos of the quality rides and talking to more people than I can even remember. It was a hot grueling day, since I had to basically get two days worth of work in a single day.
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