Slammedenuff Gatlinburg '22 - S3Magazine Coverage

Slammedenuff returns to the Smoky Mountains

One of the most anticipated events of the year makes its return to the greater Sevierville area. And with it comes thousands of cars and folks from around the country. Literally, trailer loads of cars being transported from the west coast – JUST for this show. If you remember last year’s show – it’s like that, but amplified 2x or more. Nothing but non-stop stance cars & friends. There’s so much to cover here, so let’s dive right in.

Friday – Vaded Mob Premeet

I got to the pre-meet super early on Friday for a few pre-booked photo sessions. There’s a gravel lot below the main lots that is absolutely perfect for a quick, simple & effective background. I’ll showcase all of the photoshoots at the end so be sure to read through!

People came from all over the US and the lot started to fill up quickly.

The level of quality quickly began to show…

It quickly became nothing but stance cars as far as the eye could see.

This guy brought chalk for everyone to write on his Miata. I was his first customer.

I should mention that all of the photos up to this point were taken before the official start time of the event. Going in chronological order here.

There were also quite a few standouts from the crowd.

As the sun started to set, the lot got PACKED.

And ‘golden hour’ photos became incredible.

Cool cars & good company. Everyone kept it chill (for the most part)

As the sun finally set, I headed off to the after-meet. Yes, there was an after meet to the pre meet.

What’s NOT pictured is the traffic. Stance cars surrounding you at every angle. All the time. When I finally got to the after party, it was well past dark. But everyone was having a great time & I decided to light paint a couple cars.

Saturday Showcase

Roll in on Saturday. The start of the event. I got to the venue super early to get my media credentials and started walking through the line.

Immediately, you could tell it was going to be a great show.

Once inside, you could see everyone prepping their cars with tire shine & quick detailer.

Vendor showcase was also very well represented. Lots of reputable names in the car industry, both in stance & track focus.

The quality of vehicles in showcase this year was definitely a step up from last year.

Speaking of quality – this G35 may be my personal favorite car of the show. The level of detail was insane. The owner had major lowrider scene influencing the build. Everything was polished and engraved.

Even the wheels were engraved on the lips.

Overall, kudos to the Slammedenuff team for stepping things up this year.

One thing to mention – so far, these photos have been taken BEFORE the doors open. Just thought I’d mention that.

Once the doors opened, it got crowded FAST. So, I migrated outside.

Outside

Lo and behold, on the back porch sat the worlds ‘most disliked’ stance car. This RX-8 was subject to a viral video over the weekend. It was being loaded onto a trailer – and nearly flew off! Crazy stuff.

Anyway, enjoy the sights from the spectator lots – plenty of good stuff:

More spectator lot photos to come if you keep scrolling, but I eventually headed back inside around 3pm or so… and look at this.

This is why I decided not to stay inside for photos for a good portion of the show. As a spectator, it’s definitely not a BAD thing – but as media, I couldn’t hardly get a clear photo of a full car!

Matter of fact, I’d say that the level of folks walking around while incredible, was also a good sign for the event. Attendance was up – way up.

Then again, it’s not hard to see why. This show really does bring out the best quality.

I ran into Marquay – we are now friends on TikTok – and he showed me the stock turbos from his car sitting in the front seats. Wild stuff.

After the show ended, I pretty much could have been this guy. Excellent representation. I was beat. But, I had a couple late night photo shoots – I’ll throw those in at the end as well. Again, what’s not pictured is the night life. Had I slept more the night before, I would have been cruising the strip late into the night. There were TONS of unofficial meet ups all weekend. Gas stations full of cars. Parking lots jammed up with stance cars. Pretty much non stop automotive action. But I needed sleep.

Sunday Showcase

8am never came faster than Sunday morning. I rolled out of bed, packed up my Orthia and left the cabin (shoutout to the folks I stayed with, thank you for the hospitality!). But wow, it was shaping up to be a good day quickly.

Cars were flying through the parking lot left and right to get in line. The staff were getting people in as fast as they could.

Folks were everywhere outside putting the final details on before they hopped in line.

Once inside, it was an unreal sight.

Nothing but quality, again. People were saying that ‘Sunday is the better day’ but you cannot go wrong either day. I honestly had just as much fun BOTH days, for the record.

Just look at the sheer amount of cars in this photo. Every one hand picked. Crazy. I spent more time inside before the show to get photos of some cars.

I even managed to get a couple product shots:

But once the doors opened, I went outside for a while.

It’s honestly like having both an indoor AND an outdoor show. Pretty cool stuff.

I’ll only speak on this for a moment –

Some cars got turned away. Slammedenuff enforced a ‘catfish’ policy at the door. This left several cars out of the show like the one shown above – and it got attention. But, Slammedenuff did state they would issue refunds to the cars turned around. Stand up move by them, they didn’t have to do it, but they did. A statement released after the fact also mentioned that their catfish policy would be ramped up at future Gatlinburg events.

I took this photo shortly before someone with no license or insurance rolled into this GT-R’s bumper.

Also, this was one of my favorite spectator parking cars. An absolute sleeper (of sorts). Looks like it hopped right out of an ad for NOPI circa 2004.

As Slammedenuff Gatlinburg came to a close, folks started to head out & trailers were being loaded.

This was the crowd of folks that stayed til the end for raffle ticket winnings & the awards ceremony. Crazy to see this many people – it goes up every year.

That about concludes my coverage from the event. Enjoy these last photos of all the photoshoots that booked with me over the weekend – including the one above, the xB limo. Thank you all for your support this year, it has meant a lot! Be sure to scroll down to watch our podcast where I talk about Slammedenuff culture and download our S3Mag app today!