2006 Lay'd Out At The Park - Custom Truck Show

What do you do when you throw a show that runs out of room before lunch? You find a bigger location for next year's event so that it doesn't happen again. That's exactly what Jeffrey Dillard did with his eastern Tennessee show, Lay'd Out at the Park. This year was the second annual event, so he knew he had to step it up to keep it going strong. The show was moved to Cherokee Park in Morristown, Tennessee, which was just down the road from the first year's event. This new venue provided plenty of parking for not only competitors, but spectators as well. It was also conveniently close to the section of town that Jeff had blocked off for the nighttime events. Having such a good location is always a big part of any show and by moving the event, there's still plenty of room for growth so another move won't be necessary.

On our way into the hotel Friday night, we happened to drive through some strong thunderstorms that included their fair share of hail and an occasional mini-tornado that made the car in front of us disappear momentarily as it passed across the road. That's never a good sign for a car show, but by the time we got up Saturday, the skies were clear and the storms were long gone. This gave way to plenty of good weather for capturing plenty of images with some of the hottest mini-trucks in the scene.

Just when we thought the show had wound down for the day, we followed the crowd a few miles down the road to a secluded five-lane road. To our surprise, there were plenty of police officers on hand to keep the road empty of traffic and allow room for the planned nighttime events. Things got kicked off with a stunt show, along with plenty of smoke and fire from a local bike stunt team, Str8t Up Stunterz. As soon as they had popped a few tires and trashed a couple of motors, the crew from Gauge brought out their air-hopping S-10 to keep the crowd hyped. By the time they were finished, it was dark enough for the now legendary Lay'd Out at the Park drag session, where anyone who wants to shred some rockers and crossmembers can make several passes down the closed road. Despite the cold weather that evening, the crowd still stayed around until almost midnight watching the sparks show.

Sunday included a few more feature shoots, which had to be done before the bikini contest and awards ceremony that took place in the center of the park in a huge grass-lined amphitheater. As soon as all the awards were given out, we learned that the plans for next year's show will be finalized, to be held at the same location, with even more events scheduled to keep everyone entertained. For more information, check out www.laydoutatthepark.com.