Cruise Central heats up in Gulfport

The sun came out just in time for the weekend as Gulfport’s Centennial Plaza saw an influx of spectators and Cruisers.

Some Cruisers are even renowned for their involvement in the classic car trade and beyond.

Just across from the beach in Gulfport, Cruisers from out of state and even Canada revved their engines and prepared for a busy weekend along Highway 90.

Cruise Central, one of the main events this week, drew personalities big and small — Herb McCandless from North Carolina, known for his skill on the drag strip, is one of them.  “I kind of made the purists mad because I put a new 5-7 Hemi in it. Because I wanted to drive it. And I’ve put 94,000 miles on the car since I finished it.”

Other cruisers like Justin Ealerman, who came to the Coast with his dad from Alabama, is here just to hang loose with their ’78 gold Trans Am. “It’ll do a burnout in a heartbeat, son. We done one earlier. We’ were way on down that way and came back here. It’s been a good day.”

Joe Cashio is from Louisiana and he knows the month of October means it’s time to make the trip for Cruisin’ the Coast. “I come out every year. This is a pleasure for me. I relax. My main vacation is — this is my vacation. Any other vacations we take, it’s wherever the wife wants to go.”

As one spectator puts it, about 8,000 cars are registered for this week, and another 8,000 are likely to show up unregistered. “We’re riding down the road this morning, we saw a Fiero. I thought all of them burned to the ground 20 years ago. We saw an Etzel station wagon. There can’t be a handful of those left.”

“(The Trans Am) has been doing good. I’ve just been kind of trying to take her out. Runs good. Ain’t hot.”

“I love looking at the cars, I love talking to people around. And like I said people just come around asking about the car all the time.”

You can check out the cars at Cruise Central at Centennial Plaza from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Sunday.