The Car Hobby, Southern Style
With a little over half a million people in the Jackson, Mississippi, metro area, it isn’t necessarily a place you think of as a hotbed for collector cars. But you’d be surprised to know the capital city has a healthy and growing community of automotive enthusiasts. We had the opportunity to travel three hours down the road from the Edelbrock Group headquarters in northern Mississippi for the Southlife Car Show on July 14-16. Southlife is an open show hosted by our newly-appointed social media coordinator, Roddy Merritt, and his crew at Merritt Productions. It took place in the suburb of Pearl at Trustmark Park, the home of the Mississippi Braves Triple-A baseball team.
Though the dates moved from November to July for the 2023 season, the three-day show is now in its fifth year. Southlife is a celebration of all things automotive, with a wide variety of vehicles on display throughout the weekend. There is something for everyone, from classic cars and trucks to modern muscle cars and imports. Several food vendors sold ice cream, snow cones, kettle corn, and even bottomless glasses of iced tea and lemonade. This year, they also had the Farm Bureau Grill open in the outfield so showgoers could sit down for a meal and enjoy some air conditioning.
The air conditioning was much needed, with the hot southern humidity hitting triple digits throughout the weekend. However, it didn’t stop the people of central Mississippi from coming out to see the shiny chrome and gleaming paint jobs. Southlife is a family-friendly atmosphere, and plenty of families took in the sights and sounds. Speaking of sounds, DJ Maze was spinning a neverending mix of EDM, classic rock, and popular music to keep toes tapping all weekend.
CCAD At Southlife
Friday, July 14, was Collector Car Appreciation Day (CCAD), and Edelbrock partnered with Merritt Productions to host the welcome party that evening inside the Farm Bureau Grill. The SEMA Action Network (SAN) works with the U.S. Congress and the Canadian Parliament to introduce a yearly resolution recognizing the annual holiday to raise awareness of the vital role automotive restoration and collection plays in American and Canadian societies. Car enthusiasts are encouraged to drive their vehicles to highlight the importance of the automotive culture. 2023 was the 14th consecutive year that CCAD was celebrated, and Southlife was an official CCAD event.
The headliner of the pre-party was Nashville country music recording artist and motorcycle racing champion Beau Braswell. Not only did Braswell blow away the crowd in the Grill with his music set, he even displayed some of his motorcycles at Southlife. Braswell was impressed with his visit. “Man, Roddy and everyone at Southife is first class,” he said. “The city of Pearl and Trustmark Park were fantastic hosts. You never really know what’s going to happen, but Southlife brought it — they had so many great cars, trucks, and motorcycles. It was really awesome to be invited down from Nashville to be a part of this amazing event.”
Contests
There were plenty of games, contests, and activities for participants and spectators alike. One of the most gut-wrenching and entertaining contests was the hot-wing eating contest by Grills of Mississippi. Seven brave souls entered, sitting at a picnic table in the hot sun to down ten ghost-pepper-laced wings the fastest. The prize was worth it as the winner received a $100 gift card to Grills of Mississippi, a custom engraved “Hot Wing Eating Champion” cutting board, ten free passes to Jackson Motor Speedway, and a free event t-shirt. As the eye-watering appetizers hit the table, friends cheered on their buddies. With Roddy on the bullhorn barking instructions, the competition got underway. Noses began running immediately as the heat hit their taste buds while the chefs laughed at their creations and judged whether the bones were picked clean. In the end, Bob Dillard took home the big prize!
Two other more-car-related contests took place after the wing contest. In the exhaust competition, cars lined up and drove up to the crowd one by one, revving their engines to see who had the best-sounding exhaust. Tommy Mills, with sponsor Germantown Auto Club, won with his bright-yellow Camaro. The limbo contest proved highly entertaining as cars (and motorcycles) tried to creep under the bar. Vehicles were eliminated as the bar went lower and lower, resulting in the removal of parts and air from the tires until there was only one left standing! That person was Cameron Coleman on his 2023 Honda Grom motorcycle.
Southlife Awards
Once the competitions were over, it was time for the awards. White Rhino Fabrication provided the one-off, custom-built trophies for the show. There were awards for the Top 25 as well as another 20 or so specialty awards for the “Best of” in different categories. The three top awards were Best Car Overall, Best Truck Overall, and Best of Show Overall.
That’s A Wrap
Despite the heat and a quick storm overnight on Saturday, the show was a huge success. The Grill at the ballpark made more money on Friday night than they do during a baseball game, so they were delighted. Roddy and his crew had a few obstacles to overcome, one of the largest being another pop-up show in the same area on Saturday, but Roddy couldn’t have been happier with the crowd and how the weekend turned out.
“I started Southlife with a dream of having a terrific regional show that includes all genres of vehicles,” he said. “My goal has always been to have a laid-back-atmosphere show that showcases the best cars in the region to the people of central Mississippi at a unique venue that excites participants to be a part of it. I’m so appreciative of the folks who came to support our vision, whether they were a vendor, participant, or spectator. We’ll keep growing this thing until we outgrow the venue!”
Keep an eye out for Southlife 2024 as they finalize the dates. You can follow Southlife on Facebook and Instagram. We’ll see you there! Also, Roddy hosts another unique-style show on September 22-23 called Hangar Hangover. As you might have guessed, it takes place at an airplane hangar at the Mississippi Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in Madison, MS. Though it is smaller due to space on the tarmac, it is probably one of the only car shows in the country where you can reserve a space inside a hangar and take a ride in a vintage WWII airplane. The show helps benefit the MWCAF.
For other great show coverage, keep an eye on the EG Nation Lifestyle section for more great car show coverage!
