Shakin' it up at the Cow Palace.
San Francisco, California's Cow Palace witnessed one of the year's best Tour Hops to date when the 2004 Lowrider Magazine Evolution Tour rolled into town. The indoor hop, sponsored by CCE Hydraulics, started off well as this year the facility allowed us to get more towards the center of the arena, allowing everybody to get a good look at the competition. The hydraulic pit had nothing but tension as some 20 competitors were trying to qualify for the Las Vegas, Nevada, Super Show. With several Northern California competitors on hand, the hydraulic competitors did not hesitate or hold anything back during the competition.
First up was the Single-Pump Hop, where John Gonzalez and his '90 Lincoln Town Car and Carlos Torres and his '80 Chevy Malibu wagon tied for First Place by each hopping to 18 inches. Third Place in this class was won by Stephanie Sevilla's '90 Cadillac. Winning the Double-Pump Hop was Dave Marquez with his '87 Olds Cutlass at 61 inches. Agustin Gomez placed Second with his '61 Chevy Impala at 59 inches and Aaron Rice came in Third with his Chevy Caprice at 49 inches.
The Truck Hop turned out to be a free payday for Thomas Partridge of Las Vegas as he was the lone competitor in the class. Thomas still gave his all, trying to beat the standing record. In the end, Thomas reached 68 inches with his '85 Ford Ranger. Paul Lepule dominated the Radical Hop when his '84 Olds Cutlass totaled 62 inches. Jesse Gonzalez finished Second with his '87 Chevy Monte Carlo and Jim Folan placed Third with his '64 Impala.
The Street Car Dance category featured a tight battle between two competitors separated by just a single point. Mike Kaufman scored 26 points with his '81 Monte Carlo securing First Place over Richard Moreno who tallied 25 points for the wild antics of his '82 Cutlass. Hector Gudino settled for Third Place with his '87 Buick Regal.
There were only two competitors in the Street Truck Dance, which turned into a free-for-all as both competitors tried their best to win. First up was Juan Chavoya of Fresno, California, on the switch of his '81 Chevy El Camino. Unfortunately, Juan could only get 12 points because of technical difficulties. That was almost enough, however, as Armando Vigil and his '88 Mazda won the Dance by a one-point margin by scoring 13 points.
The Radical Dance category fielded three competitors who came out to strut their stuff. First up was Oscar Arevalo and his '84 Cutlass, but technical difficulties dashed Oscar's hopes. The other two competitors both went home happy as Keith Allen and his Ranger and Jose Ramirez and his '83 Cutlass tied for First Place by scoring 12 points apiece.
The Cow Palace crowd was obviously pleased as there was much hydraulic mayhem going on. There was enough fires and parts breaking to satisfy the tough Frisco crowd. Also happy were the competitors who qualified for the upcoming Super Show hydraulics showdown. It sounds like just about everybody had a good time at LRM's fantastic Frisco festivities.