Thousands Gather for the 30th Annual Mini Truck Nationals in Maggie Valley!!
/While I know that there are a lot of you that come by E3xtreme for your drag racing fix, if you have been around a while you’d know that we also cover car shows, car audio events, and other forms of motorsports and car culture. Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending my first ever Mini Truck Nats in Maggie Valley, and to say I was blown away would be an understatement.
Growing up a child of the 80’s and getting my license in the very early 90’s, I grew up in a time where cruising on the weekend was still a thing. Whether you had a lowrider, muscle car, jacked up truck, mini truck, or motorcycle, each and every Friday and Saturday night during the summer consisted of gatherings with your friends in a random parking lot and going cruising until the early morning hours.
Mini Truck Nats has been a staple in the car culture for 30 years now, and each year it seems to be growing from what I gathered over this last weekend. Maggie Valley is a small town settled in the mountains of North Carolina, an absolutely picturesque town with a fairgrounds area planted squarely in the middle of the town. To give you an idea of how small the town is, the total population measured in 2022 was a touch over 1700 residents. I can tell you this…over the weekend I am willing to bet that number at least quadrupled.
This event is always one that I wanted to attend, yet never got the chance due to other obligations, typically within the drag racing community. That all changed last week when I got the call that the MWDRS Pine Valley race had to be postponed due to weather. While I hated that, it opened up the opportunity for me to finally attend an event I wanted to cover and see for years.
As I rolled into town on Friday morning following a three hour drive from Chattanooga, I could already see this was going to be amazing. As I approached the fair grounds I was wondering if there was a “spectator” parking and then I remembered that this is a small town, so it will most likely be a park where you can find a spot deal. I managed to get lucky and find a spot right outside the fairground gates.
Being a journalist, I’m usually accustomed to having media credentials for events like this. Given the fact that this was a last minute thing though, I didn’t even reach out to the promoter regarding credentials. I grabbed my camera from the bag, snapped a few images and walked over to the spectator gate and gave them my $20 for the weekend. Might be the best $20 I’ve spent in many a years doing what I do.
To my shock, because I am so used to drag strips, this show was run like an assembly line of perfection! The spectator gate was separate from the competitors entrance, and the crew working the spectator gate were friendly, welcoming, and got the lines moving really well. Once you had your wristband, you could come and go from either gate, which worked well for me because I would hang out at the entrance gate just watching these rides pull in. At times I felt like a little kid again.
With years of experience comes organization and what can and can’t be done when it comes to these shows. When you walked through the spectator gate you were greeted by a big area of vendors. Product vendors, apparel vendors, etc. Everything laid out nicely and an aisle wide enough that I never once saw any congestion. After wrapping up my cruise through the vendor area, I made my way out to start looking at all the amazing cars and trucks that were already there. That’s always where I find an abundance of food vendors, so of course I had to eat while I could.
Typically at car shows and audio events, the vehicles are so damn close to each other that doing any photography is damn near impossible, especially once the crowds start rolling in. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, this was the best laid out show that I’ve ever attended, and the crowd was by far and away the most polite crowd when it came to giving me time to get my shots. I have never seen a more welcoming and polite crowd in any automotive arena!!
Speaking of welcoming…that seemed to be the theme of the entire weekend. Whether I was at the show, at the gas station, walking the strip, or watching the cruising, everyone was having a great time and super chill. Imagine being a police officer in a town of less than 2000 and then BAM a thousand plus mini trucks and thousands more spectators invade your community for the weekend.
We have all seen and heard of the horror stories regarding communities, car shows, and law enforcement, and what I can tell you is this…I didn’t see any of those issues in Maggie Valley. The signs on the businesses proudly welcomed the mini trucks. The police department was at the show and on the strip both Friday and Saturday night. The sidewalks lined with people for miles. Everyone respected everyone. I didn’t see stupidity rear its ugly head, and in turn law enforcement and the the mini truckers, along with the spectators all got along and were able to enjoy a peaceful and enjoyable weekend.
Something that I really loved though was the charity auction that was held at the show on Saturday. Items like skateboard decks, led signs, hand painted signs, entry into next years event, etc. were all up on the block with the funds raised being split between two charities. When all was said and done they had raised a total of $43,000.00 to split between the two charities. I don’t think people outside of the car community understand how many things the people within the car community try to do regarding charities and things for the community at large.
Weather…oh weather. You all know that rain at the drag strip is the worst possible thingto happen. Well over the weekend in Maggie Valley it decided that it was going to rain multiple times on both Friday and Saturday, yet to my amazement, no one seemed to care one bit. Yeah, it was annoying for brief periods, but once it stopped, the trucks got dried off and it was fun as usual.
To put a bow of this thing I will say this…never will I go to the drag strip on Mini Truck Nats weekend again. I had an amazing time and felt like a kid again. It reminded me of those days of endless cruising with my buddies. I can’t wait to go back in 2025!!