The date was June 12, 2020 and the stage was finally set for the first truck show of the year – the Amcan Truckfest – which was also the first stop of the 2020 ATSC circuit in Union Grove, WI. Due to the COVID-19 constraints across the nation, and with the big Louisville show being canceled earlier this year, lots of truckers that came to this show were looking to finally get the chance to show off their latest and greatest builds, so the turnout was awesome – and the level of equipment was fantastic.
To start, I’d like to mention the weather, because it couldn’t have been any better for the entire event, sitting comfortably in the mid-60s with sun in the day, with the nights becoming calm and a tad chilly. First things first, though. Living in the COVID-19 era, all attendees had to sign a waiver agreeing to comply with the rules of being at a public event during a pandemic. One of those rules was that you couldn’t sue if you got the virus at the event. So, after I signed my life away, I walked in and started checking everything out. It was 4:00 PM, so I got to see the trucks being parked and the event coming to life.
All the wash and show trucks were parked on the lush green grass, while the heavy hitters in the ATSC circuit series were all parked on the pavement. The three most anticipated trucks for me were all parked together, with the first being Brandon Lesage and his bad to the bone black and turquoise bull hauler he recently finished. The second rig I was excited to see was Danny Kimball’s big brown bunk Kenworth. This truck was built as a tribute to his father, who we all knew and loved. Lastly, the third rig I wanted see was the stunning “Last Hurrah” from Lanita Specialized, piloted by Barry Kuhn.
With double the trucks from last year, there were too many to mention them all, but some of the big contributors were Always Hauling, Riffey Transport, Jack C. Moss Trucking, DSD Transport, Storm Trucking, Tralo, Long Haul Trucking, Pagels Trucking, TTI and Ridge Crest Trucking. And what would Truckfest be without the Kimball family all coming together with their rides, too! As sunset approached on Friday night, everyone started turning on their lights for the light show, as judges walked around and made their decisions. Meanwhile, I snagged a couple of shots, chatted with old friends, and met a few new ones, too.
While walking around, everyone was telling stories about how glad they were to be there, and what a privilege it is to be part of it, with everything else being shut down all year. “I just wanted to be able to go to a truck show” is what most drivers were saying, and I didn’t disagree with that. As the night dwindled down, everyone wandered off to the 1175 bar to party down the road. Seemed to be a great time, from all the stories I heard the next day, but I stuck around and enjoyed the night with all the old souls that hangout between the trucks, just swapping trucker stories with one another.
Right out of the gate, on a beautiful Saturday morning, I stumbled upon Carl Carstens of Rockwood Products, who was giving out complementary root beer floats, along with some fine cheeses, sausages, and crackers at his booth. More importantly, he had what was the talk of the show – a birthday card for President Trump! With his picture printed on the front of a gorgeous piece of aluminum and bound together like a notebook, this “card” was available for everyone who wanted to write a note and send him well-wishes for his birthday, which was the next day. Carl’s plan was to get people to sign the card on Saturday and then deliver it to the White House on Sunday.
It seemed to be an impossible task, especially with the virus and an outbreak of riots and protests in Washington D.C., but Carl did manage to get the card in the hands of our great senator Ron Johnson to be passed on to the big man himself. The first thing I asked Carl when I saw him about D.C. was how many officers he saw. He said that he had never seen so many in one place in his life. When he approached them that day, they protected him, and special forces escorted him to safety and to meet with the senator. If you ever see Carl, ask him about it and he will tell you the whole story.
A couple more trucks rolled in during the night, bringing the grand total to about 120 trucks. Yes, the number of trucks was impressive, but the quality of the rides was the big story – it was all top-shelf stuff, and there was a lot of variety, as well. As the day went on, with rags down being at 9:00 AM, that gave plenty of downtime for drivers to rest and enjoy themselves before getting judged. As I was watching the judging of the Lanita truck, one of the things I remember is Barry showing how every fitting on the truck is polished to a shine – all of them! Those are the little things that can take you places in the truck show world, but the most striking part of this truck is the hand-painted mural inside the hood – you gotta see it to believe it!
Time flies when you’re having fun, and this weekend went by fast. During the day, whether I was hanging out by the trucks, riding around in a golf cart, or hanging with friends at their camper and grilling, there was not an ounce of thought or worry of what was going on in the rest of the world – it all just melted away for the weekend. Nighttime fell again and it was a repeat of the night before, except it went a little later into the night.
As Sunday morning came, I went around one last time to see all the trucks in silence before the awards were handed out, wondering when I might get to do this again. But I must send a huge thank you on behalf of all the drivers and myself to Nick Kimball, Cory from Dynaflex, Julia Mors and the rest of the gang for making this event a reality in such tough times. Being the first (and one of the only) big truck shows of the year, it was definitely a giant relief for all of us to get out and get together. It was an absolute blast, and I cannot wait to see what next year has in store!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks go out to our sales guy Eric Hill and friend Emily Pohl for contributing some of the pictures for this show report. Everybody was so excited to finally attend a show, they all took tons of pictures and offered to share them with us, in addition to all the great shots Jacob took!
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES LIMITED FOR SHOW BOBTAIL WINNERS
EXTERIOR:
1st Randy Menkel – 2019 Kenworth W900 (Devilish Ways);
2nd Jeremy Hassevoort – 2018 Peterbilt 389;
3rd Steven Sontag – 2007 Peterbilt 379 (Dreamsickle).
ENGINE:
1st Randy Menkel – 2019 Kenworth W900 (Devilish Ways);
2nd Jeremy Hassevoort – 2018 Peterbilt 389;
3rd Steven Sontag – 2007 Peterbilt 379 (Dreamsickle).
INTERIOR:
1st Jeremy Hassevoort – 2018 Peterbilt 389;
2nd Steven Sontag – 2007 Peterbilt 379 (Dreamsickle);
3rd Randy Menkel – 2019 Kenworth W900 (Devilish Ways).
DRIVER PRESENTATION:
1st (tie) Randy Menkel – 2019 Kenworth W900 (Devilish Ways);
1st (tie) Jeremy Hassevoort – 2018 Peterbilt 389;
2nd Alex Vazquez – 1990 Peterbilt 379 (Hell Bent);
3rd Steven Sontag – 2007 Peterbilt 379 (Dreamsickle).
BEST OF SHOW:
1st Randy Menkel – 2019 Kenworth W900 (Devilish Ways);
2nd Jeremy Hassevoort – 2018 Peterbilt 389;
3rd Steven Sontag – 2007 Peterbilt 379 (Dreamsickle).
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES LIMITED FOR SHOW COMBO WINNERS
EXTERIOR:
1st Barry Kuhn – 2019 Kenworth W900L & 2019 Mac Conestoga (Last Hurrah);
2nd Brandon Lesage – 2019 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Wilson Cattle Pot (Not Committed);
3rd Brian Mathison – 2021 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Cottrell Car Hauler (Purple Rain).
ENGINE:
1st Barry Kuhn – 2019 Kenworth W900L & 2019 Mac Conestoga (Last Hurrah);
2nd Brandon Lesage – 2019 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Wilson Cattle Pot (Not Committed);
3rd Brian Mathison – 2021 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Cottrell Car Hauler (Purple Rain).
INTERIOR:
1st Arlyn & Linda Workman – 2020 Peterbilt 389 & 2013 Mac Conestoga;
2nd Barry Kuhn – 2019 Kenworth W900L & 2019 Mac Conestoga (Last Hurrah);
3rd Brandon Lesage – 2019 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Wilson Cattle Pot (Not Committed).
DRIVER PRESENTATION:
1st Barry Kuhn – 2019 Kenworth W900L & 2019 Mac Conestoga (Last Hurrah);
2nd Devon Johnson – 2020 Kenworth W900B & 2010 Brenner Tanker (B-52);
3rd Brian Mathison – 2021 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Cottrell Car Hauler (Purple Rain).
BEST OF SHOW:
1st Barry Kuhn – 2019 Kenworth W900L & 2019 Mac Conestoga (Last Hurrah);
2nd Brandon Lesage – 2019 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Wilson Cattle Pot (Not Committed);
3rd Brian Mathison – 2021 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Cottrell Car Hauler (Purple Rain).
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ELITE WORKING BOBTAIL WINNERS
EXTERIOR:
1st Everett Ford – 2020 Kenworth W900L (Business Casual);
2nd Austin Gottman – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Family Tradition);
3rd Aaron Walters – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Blue Moon).
ENGINE:
1st Aaron Walters – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Blue Moon);
2nd (tie) Austin Gottman – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Family Tradition);
2nd (tie) Everett Ford – 2020 Kenworth W900L (Business Casual);
3rd Andrew Pagels – 2003 Peterbilt 379 (Sugar).
INTERIOR:
1st Everett Ford – 2020 Kenworth W900L (Business Casual);
2nd Aaron Walters – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Blue Moon);
3rd Buck Crombie – 1989 Peterbilt 379 (Ruby).
DRIVER PRESENTATION:
1st Austin Gottman – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Family Tradition);
2nd Buck Crombie – 1989 Peterbilt 379 (Ruby);
3rd Everett Ford – 2020 Kenworth W900L (Business Casual).
BEST OF SHOW:
1st Everett Ford – 2020 Kenworth W900L (Business Casual);
2nd Austin Gottman – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Family Tradition);
3rd Aaron Walters – 2019 Peterbilt 389 (Blue Moon).
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ELITE WORKING COMBO WINNERS
EXTERIOR:
1st Brian Dreher – 2016 Peterbilt 389 & 2017 Great Dane Reefer ($$$);
2nd Dan Kimball – 2007 Kenworth W900 & 2016 Utility Reefer (Big Ed).
ENGINE:
1st Brian Dreher – 2016 Peterbilt 389 & 2017 Great Dane Reefer ($$$);
2nd Dan Kimball – 2007 Kenworth W900 & 2016 Utility Reefer (Big Ed);
3rd Connor Kassik – 2021 Peterbilt 389 & 2020 Cottrell Car Hauler (Black Diamond).
INTERIOR:
1st Brian Dreher – 2016 Peterbilt 389 & 2017 Great Dane Reefer ($$$);
2nd Dan Kimball – 2007 Kenworth W900 & 2016 Utility Reefer (Big Ed);
3rd Scott Blume – 1986 Peterbilt 359 & 2020 Trailstar End Dump (Summertime Blues).
DRIVER PRESENTATION:
1st Brian Dreher – 2016 Peterbilt 389 & 2017 Great Dane Reefer ($$$);
2nd Dan Kimball – 2007 Kenworth W900 & 2016 Utility Reefer (Big Ed);
BEST OF SHOW:
1st Brian Dreher – 2016 Peterbilt 389 & 2017 Great Dane Reefer ($$$);
2nd Dan Kimball – 2007 Kenworth W900 & 2016 Utility Reefer (Big Ed);
WASH AND SHOW BOBTAIL WINNERS
LIGHT DISPLAY:
1st Emmanuel Valadez – 1999 Kenworth W900;
2nd Jesse Wilinski – 2019 Peterbilt 367;
3rd Jonathan Hensen – 2006 Peterbilt 379.
EXTERIOR STYLING:
1st Trevor Spoolstra – 2020 Kenworth W900;
2nd Cody Wiedmeyer – 1950 Kenworth 825;
3rd Tom Fedie – 2020 Kenworth T680.
PAINT / VINYL:
1st Ryan Krahn – 2017 Peterbilt 389;
2nd Richard Pagels – 1947 Sterling Dump Truck (Opa’s Ride);
3rd Cody Wiedmeyer – 1950 Kenworth 825.
BEST OF SHOW:
1st Cody Wiedmeyer – 1950 Kenworth 825;
2nd Trevor Spoolstra – 2020 Kenworth W900;
3rd Ryan Krahn – 2017 Peterbilt 389.
WASH AND SHOW COMBO WINNERS
LIGHT DISPLAY:
1st Josh Hammiller – 2006 Peterbilt 379 (Tuna);
2nd Wade Riffey – 2014 Peterbilt 386;
3rd Connor Kassik – 2021 Peterbilt 389 (Black Diamond).
EXTERIOR STYLING:
1st Wade Riffey – 2014 Peterbilt 386;
2nd Arlyn & Linda Workman – 2020 Peterbilt 389;
3rd Chris Dreyer – 2007 Peterbilt 379.
PAINT / VINYL:
1st Wade Riffey – 2014 Peterbilt 386;
2nd Jake Timblin – 2017 Peterbilt 389;
3rd Brent Derouin – 2005 Peterbilt 379 (Maroon Coon).
BEST OF SHOW:
1st Justin Querry – 2014 Kenworth W900;
2nd Chris Dreyer – 2007 Peterbilt 379;
3rd Wade Riffey – 2014 Peterbilt 386.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER
Andrew Pagels – 2003 Peterbilt 379 (Sugar).
