For 33 years now, the Truckin’ For Kids Show & Drags has been a party with a purpose. Over the years, this fun event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the various children’s charities it supports. And this year, with 10-4 celebrating not only “10-4 Day” but also our 20th anniversary, the “party” got kicked up a notch.
Held at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, CA on October 5-6, this event drew in over 250 of the finest rigs around. Besides a little wind on Saturday, which made set-up a bit more difficult, the weather was warm and sunny – some might even say it was hot! As the trucks rolled in on Saturday and got parked and the vendors set-up their displays, we at 10-4 got ready for our 10-4 Day/20th anniversary celebration.
Hitting a milestone like 20 years is a pretty big deal, especially for a small company like ours, so we decided to celebrate with our advertisers, friends, readers and distribution folks by having a big BBQ. With help from Vince Jenkins and Ron Kelsey, we smoked 15 slabs of spare ribs on-site and then brought in all of the sides for a fantastic meal that got rave reviews (we would like to send out a special “thank you” to Paul Pangburn for bringing out his 8-foot long smoker-trailer for us to use). And, on top of that, the Truckin’ For Kids crew presented us with a special anniversary cake, complete with our logo and a big rig on top, to commemorate the special occasion.
By 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, the parking lot was packed and the show was in full swing. As the attendees (and us) began walking around, talking and taking pictures, the judging began. Judging over 250 trucks is no easy task, so it took most of the day to get it done. While that was going on, the big rigs and diesel pickups began preparing for the drag races, which started at noon and then went on for most of the day. Like last year, Wayne Talkington’s Lucas Oil Kenworth dominated the “Super Drag Truck” class, although he did have some healthy competition this year.
During the entire show, something special and unique was happening in the Stay Loaded Apparel booth. Their talented in-house artist, Daniel Simeonov, was creating a giant painting right there in their booth. Starting the work on Friday at 4:00 p.m. with nothing more than a large blank canvas and some pencils and markers, Daniel completed the colorful painting, which featured a hitchhiking woman and a needle-nose Peterbilt, on Sunday at 3:00 p.m., and then they raffled it off. The lucky winner, Cory from Dynaflex Products, vowed to hang the trucking-inspired masterpiece somewhere in their office.
With hundreds of trucks spread out across the parking lot of the vast Irwindale facility, there was plenty of amazing iron to marvel at. We were happy to see several of our past cover trucks in attendance, including one that went back as far as June 1995 (Dale Callen’s Peterbilt RV), and another one, from July 1996, that we hadn’t seen for years – a giant six-wheel custom KW owned by American Heavy Moving & Rigging in Chino, CA. This red, white and blue behemoth, powered by a V-12 Cat engine and rolling on six-foot tall tires, was a real blast from our 10-4 past!
Some notable trucks at the show included James Davis’ newest build – a satin black Pete with orange stripes, as well as Cody Stevens’ white and teal cattle-hauling Peterbilt. Tony Mireles brought out his new black and blue custom Peterbilt 388 car hauler, and the boys from NAVA debuted their latest rig – an amazing tangerine-colored KW that we at 10-4 liked so much, we gave it our coveted “Sponsor’s Choice” award. Dunkel Bros. also wowed the crowd with their vintage brown and orange 1947 GMC car-hauling combo, that was even loaded with a bunch of classic old cars.
Another truck that got a lot of attention was J.J. Verweij’s two-tone blue Scania, winner of the “Longest Tow” trophy (the Bob Atkins Memorial Award). J.J. brought his unique truck all the way from Holland to take a cross-country tour of America with his family and go to some shows. Originally, J.J. was also awarded with the “Best of Show” trophy, but later, after the show ended, the TFK people found they had made a math error and that J.J. was not the actual winner. Moving fast to correct the mistake, they had another trophy made, shipped it to us at 10-4, and then we hand-delivered it to the actual winner – James Amell of Green Thumb Produce.
Every show has its problems, and this one was no different. But, overall, this was a fantastic event that once again raised a lot of money for several children’s charities. And, when it’s all said and done, that is what really matters most! And the winners were:
LIGHT THE LOT WINNERS
ANTIQUE: Juan Gonzalez, A & L Truck Supply.
BOBTAIL: Randy Reza, Golden State Foods.
COMBO: Clayton Scheiber, LBJ.
SHOW & SHINE WINNERS
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK: 1st Mike Maggini, Maggini Hay; 2nd Kelvin Monzon, Monzon & Son; 3rd Juan Gonzalez, A & L Truck Supply
3-AXLE CONV (2009-2013): 1st Tim Stephens, Drake Farms; 2nd Juan Gonzales, Yamko; 3rd Shannon Crenshaw, JS Specialized Transport.
3-AXLE CONV (2005-2008): 1st Luis Pinon, Arrowhead; 2nd Cody Stevens, Cody Stevens Inc; 3rd Steve Beatie, Godfrey Trucking.
3-AXLE CONV (1999-2004): 1st Jeremy Smith, Ram Trucking; 2nd Juan Gonzalez, Clave Privada Transportation; 3rd Colton Pounds, CVT.
3-AXLE CONV (1994-1998): 1st Chris Governo, Southside Tow; 2nd Jose Oliveras, H.C. Enterprises; 3rd Dylan Sylva, DeBoer & Sons.
3-AXLE CONV (1989-1993): 1st Kent Swapp, Swapp Trucking; 2nd Luis Marraguin, LBJ; 3rd James Davis, JDT.
2-AXLE CONV (2009-2013): 1st Victor Maestaz, Hettinga; 2nd David Hale, GTC Trucking; 3rd Scott Armas.
2-AXLE CONV (1999-2008): 1st Frank Fuentes, Fuentes Trucking; 2nd Mike Salinas, Salinas Trucking; 3rd Jesse Ortiz, Lagomarsino.
2-AXLE CONV (1989-1998): 1st Richard Hettinga, Rich’s Hay Connection; 2nd Jorge Fuentes, Fuentes Trucking; 3rd Danny Flenniken, MC Coating.
CABOVER: 1st JJ Verweij, JJ Verweij Transport; 2nd Hef Fagundes, Hettinga; 3rd Brad Myrik.
WORKING ANTIQUE (1967-1988): 1st Joe Arias, DJ Arias; 2nd Ray Rodriquez, Lil Ray’s Transport; 3rd Ron Kelsey, Kelsey’s Trucking.
WORKING ANTIQUE (1946-1966): 1st Oscar Velasquez, Jemsal; 2nd Henry Velasquez, Jemsal.
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE: 1st Ruben Cendejas, Arrowhead; 2nd Gary Berrington, Berrington Trucking; 3rd Roger Ghidelli, Maggini.
LOCAL DELIVERY: 1st Victor Maestaz, Hettinga; 2nd Colton Pounds, CVT; 3rd Jharod Vander Tuig, Vander Tuig Transport.
DUMP TRUCK: 1st Jake Marval, Marval Trucking; 2nd Johnny Ciauri, LAC; 3rd Ozzie, Ozzie’s Trucking.
WRECKER/ROLL-BACK: 1st Ruben Cendejas, Arrowhead; 2nd Mariano Flores, Lagomarsino; 3rd Frank, Hal Hays.
SERVICE TRUCK: 1st Jesse Ortiz, Lagomarsino; 2nd Mike Fletcher, Fletcher’s Diesel; 3rd Robert Bird, Granite Construction.
SPECIALTY TRUCK: 1st Steven Carbett, American Heavy Moving & Rigging; 2nd Jharod Vander Tuig, Vander Tuig Transport; 3rd Jace Weisenburger.
HOBBY TRUCK: 1st Bob Anderson; 2nd Tyler Swapp, Swapp Trucking.
BEST ROCKWOOD INTERIOR: 1st James Davis, JDT; 2nd John Gonzalez, Yamko; 3rd Jeremy Smith, Ram Trucking.
SMALL FLEET: 1st Hettinga; 2nd CVT; 3rd Arrowhead.
LARGE FLEET: 1st Road Transport; 2nd LBJ & Associates; 3rd Golden State Foods.
SPECIALTY TRAILER: 1st JJ Verweij, JJ Verweij Transport; 2nd Cody Stevens, Cody Stevens, Inc; 3rd Steve Oswalt, DeBoer & Sons.
FLATBED: 1st Dennis McClousky, Maggini; 2nd Victor Maestaz, Hettinga; 3rd Ray Rodriquez, Lil Ray’s Transport.
HEAVY HAULER: 1st Vincent Lantz, H.C. Enterprises; 2nd Jose Olivares, H.C. Enterprises; 3rd John Lagomarsino, Lagomarsino Trucking.
END DUMP: 1st Vance Bealer, DJ Arias; 2nd Edward Morales.
TRANSFER DUMP: 1st Bruce Campbell, Campbell Trucking; 2nd John Murray, M & J; 3rd Mathew Strattan.
TANKER (STAINLESS): 1st Luis Pinon, Arrowhead; 2nd Scott Mesias, Arrowhead.
TANKER (ALUMINUM): 1st Clayton Scheiber, LBJ; 2nd Corey Atkins, Dan Corville; 3rd Larry Bowman, LBJ.
OVER-THE-ROAD TRUCK: 1st Ray Rodriquez, Lil Ray’s Transport; 2nd Cody Stevens, Cody Stevens Inc; 3rd Armando Burguan, Yamko.
DRAG RACING WINNERS
JUNIOR DRAGSTER: 1st Kaitlyn Saralt; 2nd Haylee Ramos.
PICKUP & SUV (STREET TIRES): 1st Dan Marquez; 2nd Edgar Reyes.
PICKUP & SUV (WITH SLICKS): 1st John Sapone; 2nd Jay Huck.
DIESEL PICKUP: 1st Steve Price; 2nd Spencer Loudenback.
BIG RIG: 1st Keith Pounds; 2nd Armin McKee.
SUPER DRAG TRUCK: 1st Wayne Talkington; 2nd Keith Pounds.
SPECIALTY TROPHY WINNERS
LONGEST TOW: JJ Verweij (Lopik, Holland).
BEST REACTION TIME: John Sapone.
QUICKEST PICKUP: Edgar Reyes.
QUICKEST BIG RIG: Wayne Talkington.
UGLIEST TRUCK: Paulo Hernandez.
BEST ENGINE: Ray Rodriquez, Lil Ray’s Transport.
BEST INTERIOR: JJ Verweij, JJ Verweij Transport.
BEST SLEEPER: Ron Kelsey, Kelsey’s Trucking.
BEST PAINT: Ray Rodriquez, Lil Ray’s Transport.
BEST KENWORTH: Tyler Swapp, Swapp Trucking.
BEST INTERNATIONAL: Noe Garza, Dark Horse Express.
BEST FREIGHTLINER: Kelvin Monzon, Monzon & Son.
BEST PETERBILT: Roel Hofstee, Hofstee Farms.
KING OF THE HILL: American Heavy Moving & Rigging.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Wayne Talkington.
SPONSOR’S CHOICE (10-4 MAGAZINE): Fabian Ortiz, Nava.
BEST OF SHOW: James Amell, Green Thumb Produce.
