ROCKINGHAM — Despite the off-and-on rain Saturday, the inaugural Pabst Blue Ribbon Red, White and Fun Southern Festival went on as planned at Rockingham Dragway.
Scores of lifted trucks and SUVs — and one very low lowrider — were on display, most of them configured in the Carolina Squat style, where the front end is jacked up higher than the back.
The field behind the dragstrip featured several inflatable bounce houses and game stations. The games included a toilet seat toss and beer bottle ring toss.
There were also several competitions held throughout the day, including a Mountain Dew chugging contest and the Smoke at the Rock barbecue cook-off.
Brothers Harold and Blake Sessoms, of Hamlet, both entered the Moon Pie-eating contest. Although Blake Sessoms finished first, his brother was the first one to speak after stuffing down a half dozen of the chocolate and marshmallow cakes.
“We said it was either gonna be me or you,” Harold Sessoms said.
The Daisy Dukes contest was won by Harry DeBerry — dressed in trailer-park drag — who was the only entrant. Awards were also given for the best mullet and Southern couple.
The dragstrip was open for drivers to test the top speeds of their cars, trucks and motorcycles, either solo or against another vehicle.
Set a little further back from the rest of the action, several musical acts performed, with Richmond County’s the Ponder Project headlining in the rain. Earlier bands were Hardwired — featuring Richmond County natives Philip Neal and Bub Barrett — Lexington-based Bristolina and Moore County’s Nathan Dunn.
