Part of the joy in any hobby is finding community, and that’s especially true when you’re into cars. Whether you’re into motorsports, muscle cars, trucks, European sports sedans, sports cars, restorations, or stance builds sitting low on fancy wheels, your people are out there, and sometimes it’s wonderful to meet them at car shows and other events. In that vein, Slammedenuff Sevierville—formerly known as Slammedenuff Gatlinburg and informally known as Gat—has long been the pilgrimage for stance culture on the East Coast, a gathering showing off neat builds in Sevierville, Tenn. that draws people from far and wide. Unfortunately, due to actions around this year’s event, it doesn’t look like it will be happening any longer.
This year, things were different. In hindsight, one could’ve predicted that this would be the biggest Slammedenuff Sevierville yet, but it was hard to predict just how far south things would go when the evening of Oct. 4 rolled around. After the sun went down, the powder keg seemed to ignite in the parking lot of Jimmy’s Market & Grill, a privately owned service station in Pigeon Forge that’s previously welcomed small, low-key gatherings. This year was anything but small and low-key. Videos circulating on social media show people overrunning the spot, with the sort of chaos erupting that understandably required a police response.
Fair warning, the Instagram reel below does show a fight that happened at Jimmy’s on Saturday night, along with language you probably shouldn’t play through a speaker in a public environment. There’s no excuse for this sort of behavior to happen around an automotive event; it makes the whole scene look bad.
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Mind you, the above scuffle seemed relatively quiet compared to some of the nuisance behavior on display. Burnouts, people climbing on buildings, drivers bouncing their cars off the rev limiters, the sort of stuff that’s likely to draw negative attention from both law enforcement and members of the public, even if they aren’t directly in the line of sight.
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But wait, there’s more. In other found footage, police appear to seize a weapon removed from a Nissan Skyline, and two Lamborghinis appear to have a street race up the strip. It costs zero dollars for people to just not do stuff like this, so there’s really no excuse for it.
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Unsurprisingly, this all resulted in quite a large police response. Squad cars, crowd control vehicles, even helicopters were called out to manage the crowds, displace them from places like Jimmy’s Market, and attempt to put a lid on the situation. As local news WBIR reports, displacing the crowds required multiple attempts.
Pigeon Forge Police Chief Richard Catlett said officers were called out several times to clear the parking lot. He said each time police asked the crowd to leave, they would come back even bigger.
Unsurprisingly, the efforts of law enforcement on Saturday night weren’t just focused on the crowd at Jimmy’s. As WBIR reported:
Police also said there were reports of a stabbing, but the injury sustained by a person did not occur at Jimmy’s Market. The person who said they were stabbed had a “minor” wound, and declined to be transported to a hospital by an ambulance.
Once a credible report of a stabbing surfaces, it’s probably a good time to make people leave. On Sunday morning, the Sevierville Police Department issued the following statement, which we also received after reaching out to the department for comment:
The City of Sevierville has made the decision to cancel the Sunday portion of the Slammedenuff car show scheduled at the Sevierville Convention Center. This decision follows numerous disturbances, safety concerns, and a significant strain on County-wide public resources directly related to activities surrounding this weekend’s event.
While the event itself is privately organized, the impacts on our community, ranging from traffic disruptions and reckless behavior to late-night noise and public safety challenges, have reached a level that is no longer acceptable or sustainable. The City has an obligation to protect the safety, peace, and welfare of our residents, visitors, and businesses.
Effective immediately, we are implementing a zero-tolerance policy for any nuisance activity, unsafe driving, or disorderly conduct associated with this event or similar gatherings. Violations will be met with full enforcement of all applicable laws and ordinances.
Individuals currently in Sevierville or the surrounding areas for the Slammedenuff event are strongly urged to vacate in an orderly and lawful manner.
The City will be conducting a comprehensive review of the event’s overall impact and will reevaluate its future viability at the Sevierville Convention Center. Any continuation of this event will depend entirely on significant and verifiable improvements in conduct and management.
We appreciate the understanding of our residents, guests, and business community as we act decisively to maintain safety, order, and the quality of life that Sevierville is known for.
Yep, day two of Slammenuff Sevierville was cancelled, understandably so. There was no room for this chaos to potentially go on for a second night, and even though it was unaffiliated with the formal show itself, it was inextricably linked to it, as the popularity of the formal show was part of the draw for these bad actors. Shortly after news of the cancellation broke, Slammedenuff issued a statement on Instagram:
The owners and staff of Slammedenuff do not in any way condone the actions that happened on the streets in the areas surrounding pigeon forge last night. We have always promoted a safe, fun, and friendly environment both in and outside of our shows. We urge the utmost respect to any city we host a show in, and hope our spectators and show participants will always do the same. There is no confirmation or evidence that the worst of the actions were perpetrated by individuals in town for our specific event or that they were even going to the show.
Last nights events are an embarrassment to the car community, and are the exact reason that events like ours are no longer welcome in a lot of areas.
The blatant lack of respect for law enforcement, private property and other people has taken away something we have worked to build and grow over the last 9 years.To our vendors, participants and spectators; we are sincerely sorry that the actions of others stopped us from being able to open the doors to the Sevierville convention center to you all today. We hope you all have a safe trip back to your homes.
We will be working diligently with the city of Sevierville to find a way around what has happened so that we can continue this long standing tradition.
If you were a part of last nights “festivities” you are not what the car community needs, and you are not a true enthusiast. You are a cancer to automotive enthusiasts everywhere. We do not need or want you at our events, and hope that you one day realize what you’re doing to the others who truly share this passion.
Harsh words, but fair, especially given what came shortly after. On Monday, City of Sevierville Alderman Joey Ohman announced on Facebook that “The Slammedenuff car show will NOT be coming back to Sevierville in the future.” Another long-running car show dead because people couldn’t behave.
While it’s easy to go online and see people pointing fingers at takeover kids, much of the bedlam seen online goes beyond that. From supercars filmed street racing to badly-behaved bikers to the aforementioned building-scalers, there isn’t one demographic to blame for this insanity, but rather, one group of behaviors. The same sort of acts that led to the cancellation of car shows like Southern Worthersee for 2016 and Ocean City-based H20i in 2019.
So what incentivizes people to act out like this? Attention might be a motivator. Videos capturing the mayhem on social media often have hundreds, if not thousands, of likes. If there’s a dopamine hit to be had from that, chances are some people will chase it. Granted, we can diagnose until the cows come home, but the real trick lies in prescribing so that this sort of thing doesn’t happen to your favorite local car event. Let’s use the example of owning a bar here: You’d love to let everyone in, but if you let in people who are only there to pick fights, pretty soon people won’t want to come to your bar and the place will attract some police attention.
As such, to ensure the bar continues to be a place nice people want to go, you’ll need to eject the punch-up types. Likewise, if the car community sees anyone bouncing their car off the rev limiter, ripping burnouts, or just generally acting a fool in a place where it’s not appreciated, it’s the community’s duty to kick the offending party out of not just formal car shows, but any gatherings.
If we don’t put a stop to reckless behavior in the community, we’ll likely end up with a significantly smaller number of events left to attend, which would make the hobby worse for everyone. The more actual illegal behavior is tolerated around car shows, the more likely people are to think of us as nuisances, or worse, criminals, even if we’re being respectful, minding our own business, and taking care to be great guests.
Top graphic screenshots: Instagram/Kruziuzi
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Looks like your orange man needs to divert federal troops to Pidgeon Forge.
That explains the caravan of “stanced” vehicles either driving of being towed on 81 North on Sunday. I was driving back from a wedding in the area and saw multiple cars going in that direction. I had to explain to my “not gearhead” wife what “stanced” culture was about. I’m old and admittedly do not understand it. But I can appreciate that there are adamant about this and their cars.
However, behavior like this will kill the car community in the eyes of local community. No one wants to have that liability if promoting an event. Venues do not want anything to attach their reputation to this.
Now excuse me, I have to yell at some kids on my lawn
Is it not predictable that people who would attend something called “slammedenuff” would act in this manner?
When my son and his friends were modifying their cars in our garage, I told them the golden rule of meeting up: Don’t blow up the spot. Ruin it once and it sticks and spreads.
Sound advice, I’ve seen it happen a few times.
Same shit as H20i, different name.
Ha! Yup. When I saw the headline I thought “That East Coast VW gathering is still a thing? I thought it got shut down hard. Maybe this is a retrospective.”
That whole area has changed so much in the last decade. As has middle Tennessee in general I guess. They really don’t seem to want the car events anymore no matter how long they have been there. The one in the spring I think has been there for 40 or 50 years maybe longer. They chased people out from there too. It’s now has this fake world vibe like a theme park and I think they want to lean further into that. For the one in the spring that’s mainly older cars and people I suspect someone will offer an area that will suit them. For this slammer thing that’s only been going on for a few years and seems to attract problems I doubt anyone will offer anything. Maybe they can rent bristol speedway or something.
I was there last spring visiting Dollywood. Don’t make fun, that place has some really good rides!
I had no idea the same weekend was a giant event. It was interesting seeing who and what showed up but it was a LOT.
Lots of things revving and speeding all over town. It didn’t matter where you were, we rented a cabin up in the hills, there were a bunch of ’em up there running the roads through the hills. Others were up taking pictures from roadside stops.
It didn’t bother me, but I can see how they would quickly wear out their welcome. Pigeon Forge is like a mini Kissimee Florida. Nothing wrong with wholesome fun for the family, but it seems like a poor match.
I can see the analogs to the Orlando area. I still think of Kissimee as the sticks but that whole area is also under major development.
It used to be more of smokey mountain resort area with a few attractions and events during dead times. But I think they have built it up so much and the population around Nashville is big enough and has enough money to service it as a weekend getaway year round now. Plus all the outlets and shops are a major draw. Dollywood / peigion forge, Gatlinburg and sevierville have really expanded and gone super corporate.
There is bound to be some area that has dead times that would welcome the older show. I think the problem normal is lodging otherwise there are tons of small towns in middle and east Tennessee that would have them.
“Ricer” culture has largely subsided, which on the surface is great, until you realize stance-bros took their place, and they are probably more annoying than the ricers ever were. At least many ricers tuned their cars or otherwise improved the performance. Stance-bros do nothing of value, and make their cars worse in every single way
Nothing funnier then when their static car is being towed by some abomination of a truck with way too wide low profile tires and a questionable suspension setup. You really have to ask yourself if it’s a mental or intelligence issue.
Both.
There is an amazing monthly show in the Sarasota/Bradenton area at UTC. Sometimes 900+ cars of all types show up. You may have a classic Bond-style Aston, next to a low-rider on bags next to a 911GTlimitedonlyoneof6in this color, next to the BTTF DeLorean, next to a chopped/channeled/and sectioned 50’s sled, next to exotics of all types/years, next to classic semi-trucks, next to Japanese imports (RHD), etc. All get along and socialize and marvel at the wide variety of unique and cool vehicles. We have an amazing time every month!
…
Then, the mustangs, challengers and Lambos (those are the usual suspects, with an occasional super-bike or stanced yabbo joining in) arrive bouncing off the limiters and trying to out-rev each other… sometimes right next to little kids and or leashed pets and their parents/owners walking around. Love that hearing damage to entertain those with SPS (small pene syndrome)…
This show built from a 30-40/mo gathering to nearly 1000, and the last show had the same suspects do the same stupid scheisse prompting the organizers to post, again, not to do this. (or risk getting it cancelled by the venue)
Grow up SPS folk – nobody cares you have a small tool. Don’t get this good show cancelled!
The Italian car show I went to at Lars Anderson this summer was like that—tons of entitled crypto douchebags revving the hell out of their boring new grandma-drivable Lamborghinis to clear people—including kids—out of their way as they left. It’s on the grounds of a beautiful old estate that was donated to the city, so unlike some strip mall parking lot, it’s not the kind of place you’d expect those kinds of creatures. They left accelerating through the narrow, well-biked and walked streets of Brookline, MA even though there were signs posted against that behavior (there shouldn’t need to be) and cops doing traffic duty. That’s how even classier events can get shut down and I imagine the museum would have a tough time surviving without the shows. Trash people.
Having a “slammed” car meet in one of the hilliest places in the country. Anyone else see the irony in that?
Christ, I swear, these new “car enthusiasts” are ruining anything and everything anymore.
Woodward nights have been permanently tainted by these children.
I feel like there has always been this type of “car enthusiasts” for each generation as personified by the following films for each time period.
American Graffiti (based in the 60’s), Two Lane Blacktop, Cannonball Run, Fast and the Furious, etc.
Different styles, similar characteristics.
Orders of magnitude worse now.