The 43rd annual Truckin’ For Kids (TFK) Show and Drags was again held at Irwindale Speedway in SoCal on April 27-28, 2024, and with yet another great turnout, we continue to build this event on the traditions of the past four decades. When we acquired this show three years ago, we had no intention of recreating the wheel. This event had a long history of success, fun, and raising money for various children’s charities, and our goal was just to build on that foundation. And I believe, with lots of help from great sponsors and volunteers, we have fulfilled that goal. But we aren’t done yet!
With almost 300 trucks in attendance, 32 vendors, and thousands of spectators, the 2024 TFK event was another “Good Time For a GREAT Cause!” Since moving the show to the spring, after it was a fall affair for 40 years, we have heard nothing but good things. And why wouldn’t we – the weather is better, there are less shows around it to compete with, and it kicks off the truck show season out west in a big way. And once again, the track and their crew did another stellar job of managing the gate, running the drag strip, and handling all the little things so we didn’t have to (like port-a-potties, trash cans, concessions, and security).
With perfect Southern California weather on tap all weekend (temps in the upper-70s, clear blue skies, and no humidity), trucks began lining up early on Saturday morning. With the gate officially set to open at 9:00 AM, by then they were already lined up down the street, and by 11:00 AM, we were told the lineup was over two miles long. Although some people thought that was a bad thing, we were ecstatic! With over 200 trucks pre-registered, we were not surprised, but it seemed everyone decided to show up all at once. By about 1:00 PM the lineup had been reduced significantly, and by 3:00 PM, when we closed the truck gate for the day, there was no line at all, and everyone was parked.
This year we debuted a new secondary gate just for vendors and volunteers to enter, and this proved to be a smart addition that greatly improved the experience for our vendors and volunteers (last year they had to enter through the main gate with all the trucks, and some of them had to wait a long time to get inside, which was not efficient or fun for them – and we heard about it). But we listened and, hopefully, have now addressed that issue this year and moving forward. And with 32 vendors this year and almost 50 volunteers throughout the entire weekend, that gate was plenty busy.
In addition to our large group of longtime volunteers like the Algorri family, the Avila family, the Malarkey family, Bob Watkins, and Leo Monteon, a ton of my family has jumped on board to help, as well, including my two sisters and their families, my mom, my three kids and their spouses and/or friends, and my awesome mother-in-law Polly, who ran the coloring contest in the Kid’s Zone. Many people came from out-of-state to help, including Jacob Gunderson and Stephanie Haas (who came from Wisconsin), our old friend Jed DeBardeleben and new friends JT and Trey (who came from Florida), and our longtime volunteer Pete Zamora, along with my father Clark (who both came from Arizona). We really can’t thank all these folks and so many others enough, because without them, we’d never be able to pull this event off!
Speaking of the Kid’s Zone, once again it was a huge hit – with both kids and adults alike. With games to play, face painters, and a talented caricature artist on Saturday (our longtime friend Greg Dohlen), there was plenty of entertainment for the little ones to enjoy. And, as mentioned previously, the coloring contest featured three age groups of boys and girls, and each day, six age-appropriate bikes were awarded to the winners in each age group (three boys and three girls). And let me tell you, these kids who took home a free bike were smiling from ear to ear. Big thanks to our friends at Premier Paving in Ontario, CA for providing all the bicycles.
Something else we have been doing since we took over this show is encouraging people to register in advance by offering the first 200 who do so a free “Bonus Bucket” filled with amazing items. These buckets have become highly prized and a big success thanks to the many sponsors who donate the products to put in them. In total, these buckets are filled with about $200 worth of mostly cleaning products, which makes sense, since they all want their truck to be shiny at the show. This year, big thanks to A & L Truck Supply, Time 2 Shine, Sic Rigz, Zephyr Polishes, Bull Snot, The Custom Rag, 4 State Trucks, Stay Loaded, Shriners, Truckin’ For Kids, Mobile Smoke Check, and 10-4 Magazine for “filling the buckets” with a bunch of really good stuff.
As the trucks rolled in and began to fill the lot, it was obvious this was going to be a special event. So many of the trucks in attendance were rigs we had never seen before, along with plenty of our old friends and their familiar trucks, which was cool. And for some reason, this event has become a gathering place for heavy haulers. We have always reserved a special section just for these enormous combinations, but this year the show had more than ever, and it was amazing to see them all lined up along that front fence. Thanks to outfits like Monzon & Son Enterprises, Marco Transport, Monarch, R.D. Reed Heavy Transport, Reeve Trucking, and Bragg Heavy Haul, our “heavy haulers” section was jammed with some amazing (and large) iron.
Along with all the heavy haulers, several companies brought out multiple units such as NRT (who won our largest fleet award with 13 trucks), DDT, Central Valley Transport, Maggini & Son, Guzman Express, DeVries Transport, Ten West Towing, and others. Transfers were popular, too, and many were brought out by friends and past cover truckers like Bruce Campbell, Ron Ver Steeg, John Murray (M & J Transportation Services), and Miro Dragich Jr. (Quality Material Transport), along with dirt haulers like Los Morales Trucking, G.O. Rodriguez Trucking, and so many more. There was even a nice lineup of slammed Peterbilt car carriers from California that were lookin’ top notch, as well.
Some of the individual standout rigs for me included J.M. Mascaro’s mint green Peterbilt hooked to a livestock trailer, a red Kenworth W990 hooked to a matching reefer owned by Rollin R Enterprises, Cortez & Son Trucking’s white and baby blue Peterbilt hooked to a clean and polished Extreme flatbed, and AMT Express and their maroon Kenworth T660 hooked to a stepdeck. Daniel Moya of YMD Material brought out his new 2024 Peterbilt 389 transfer, painted peach and gray, which really stood out, and our friend and past cover trucker James Gasper brought out his black 2022 Peterbilt 389 that not only looked good sitting still but ran down the track at a rather impressive pace, as well.
However, hands down, the truck that was turning the most heads and being talked about (and photographed) more than any other was the blacked-out Peterbilt 389 RV brought by Rod Pickett of Pickett Custom Trucks. Making its first public debut at Truckin’ For Kids, this baby was fresh out of the oven, and hot as the sidewalk on an August day in Phoenix! The black paint on this thing is so perfect, you can’t tell where the windows or slide-outs are, because everything is just so shiny and smooth. And the inside of this baby is like a mini rolling mansion – it is luxurious and gorgeous, inside and out. I’m sure you will be seeing more of this amazing ride in a future edition of 10-4 Magazine!!
As Saturday afternoon winded down and evening approached, it was time for the “Light The Lot” display of lights. The light show at TFK is one of the most unique light displays of all the shows, and we often joke about how it is the loudest light show, too! With radios, horns, jake brakes, revving engines, and live bands, there is no other light display like it at any other truck show. I don’t know how else to describe it except to say that it is loud and lively, and a lot of fun. Day 1 officially ended at 10:00 PM on Saturday night, but we are sure that many who stayed partied much later than that.
Sunday morning came early, as the truck gate was scheduled to open at 6:00 AM. By the end of the day Saturday, most of the lot was full, but since we still had some pre-registered trucks not there yet, we held our breath, hoping we could accommodate everyone who showed up. Thankfully, or not, most of the trucks came in on Saturday and very few rolled in on Sunday, so we did not run out of space. Next year, we plan to extend the gate hours on Saturday to try and get everyone in and set that day. In the end, we still had just shy of 300 trucks on the lot, which is more than last year, so that was awesome. But we did have room for a few more.
As the day got going, the vendors opened their booths, the Kid’s Zone reopened, a new coloring contest for the day began, the silent auction reopened, and our resident DJ Julian “Big Daddy” Perez got the tunes going. Over in the grandstands, our friends at Racers For Christ held a Sunday morning service for all those looking to start the day right. Over in the 10-4 booth, magazine racks were restocked, posters were rolled, and shirts were hung on display, in preparation for another busy day. Out in the “Welcome Tent” at the front gate where the spectators walk in, teams of volunteers took turns greeting people as they came in, handed out programs and People’s Choice ballots, and answered any questions.
At noon, the track got loud and busy, as the drag racing portion of the event got underway. Starting out with a tribute to Ray Valenzuela, a trucker and former TFK volunteer who recently passed away, his son and two grandkids did a “slow roll” down the drag strip in Ray’s gray and maroon Peterbilt 389. After that, one of the jet dragsters from Tony Franco of Muy Caliente Racing did a blistering run down the track to get things kicked off. With a few special cars making exhibition runs for the crowd, which practically filled the grandstands, we’d like to thank Kelly Anderson of Mavix Community Outreach for bringing out her orange Camaro, and John Minor of R.D. Reed Heavy Transport for bringing out their blue “Twisted One” hot rod coupe and making a few fast passes, as well.
For the next four hours, pickup trucks and semis, divided into five different classes, raced against each other and the clock. The classes included pickup trucks, diesel-powered pickup trucks, street legal (stock) big rigs, super street (modified) big rigs, and super drag trucks (which are full-on race rigs). There was also a burnout contest, judged by the crowd response, as each competitor performed their pre-race burnout. In the vendor area next to the track we had the Hot 4 Teacher nitro funny car team, with hopes that they would run the car down the track, but mechanical issues did not allow them to do it. They did, however, fire the car up a few times and “cackle” it a bit for the crowd. Thanks to our friend Ron Ver Steeg (who drives the hauler) for making that happen. Hopefully next year driver and owner Alex Miladinovich will be able to rocket that bad boy down the track!
The racing ended at 4:00 PM after local favorite Oscar Velasquez beat Mario Monette in an exciting final race. After that, everything began to wind down quickly. The winners for the coloring contest were announced, the silent auction ended, and the live auction began. This was the first time we ever did a live auction, and it was pretty exciting. Dan Dotson of American Auctioneers and “Storage Wars” fame was our celebrity auctioneer. After the auction ended, it was time to hand out awards. These awesome trophies were once again made by our friends at Dickerson Custom Trucks (DCT), with help from Rockwood Products, and delivered to the show by our past cover trucker and friend Ron Beer. Thanks to the many fine people and companies that sponsored each trophy, helping us to raise even more money for the cause.
And speaking of the cause, we are proud to be affiliated with Shriners Children’s, and to donate all the proceeds from our event to this amazing organization that provides specialty pediatric care to kids at absolutely no charge to the family. Shriners just celebrated their 100th anniversary, and they have several hospitals throughout the country, so they are not some small group – they are one of the biggest and best in the country! Thank you to Tommy Ray Smith and the entire team from Shriners for coming out to the show, along with the young patients that came out to help pick the Charity’s Choice winner. We are proud to announce that we will be donating $80,000 to the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Pasadena, CA this year!
After the awards were handed out, the show came to an end at 6:00 PM. We would like to thank each and every one of you that came out to the show, either as a participant, a vendor, a spectator and/or a sponsor, and helped make TFK 2024 another great success. We would also like to thank all our volunteers and helpers, all the companies that donated products to our auction, and our presenting sponsors, NTA and 10-4 Magazine. Lastly, we’d like to thank the Maggini family, especially Roger and Annette, for taking good care of our TFK trailer and getting it to all the shows safely (and looking good).
Building on tradition will ensure this event gets better each year. As we (Dan, Tim, Shannon, April, and Jean) learn from our own experiences, as well as the 40 years of past shows that were produced before us, we can only hope that our solid foundation will allow us to build and grow a stronger event for many years to come. I hope you stay with us on this journey, as we continue to give back to those in need. Because Truckin’ For Kids is, and always has been, “A Good Time For a GREAT Cause!” We will announce the dates for TFK 2025 once they are confirmed, so stay tuned to the magazine and our socials.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Jacob Gunderson, Tim Sieben, and Stephanie Haas for providing some of the photographs for this show report.
And the 2024 winners were:
CHARITY’S CHOICE (SHRINERS):
Mike Maggini – yellow and green 1998 Peterbilt 379.
LONGEST TOW:
Jeremiah Wenger – red and white 1992 Peterbilt 379 (traveled 2,650 miles from Manheim, PA).
LARGEST FLEET:
NRT / National Retail Transportation (13 trucks in attendance).
LIGHT THE LOT BOBTAIL:
Fernando Fernandez, Junior & Sons Trucking – sky blue 2016 Peterbilt 389.
LIGHT THE LOT COMBO:
George DeFrancesco, D.D.T. Inc. – green and black 2015 Peterbilt 389.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE BEST ANTIQUE:
Paco Guzman, Ten West Towing – orange 1968 Peterbilt 352.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE BEST BOBTAIL:
Dylan Mooney, Ten West Towing – orange 2021 Peterbilt 389.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE BEST COMBO:
Dylan Mooney, Ten West Towing – orange 2023 Peterbilt 389X.
COMPETITOR’S CHOICE BEST ANTIQUE:
Rick Jensen – white 1966 Peterbilt 351.
COMPETITOR’S CHOICE BEST BOBTAIL:
Rod Pickett, Pickett Custom Trucks – black 2024 Peterbilt 389 RV.
COMPETITOR’S CHOICE BEST COMBO:
Dylan Mooney, Ten West Towing – orange 2023 Peterbilt 389X.
BEST BURNOUT:
Mario Monette, MHPD – flat black “The Beast” Peterbilt.
DRAGS – PICKUP TRUCKS:
1st Daniel Rivas – white 2010 Ford Ranger;
2nd Rene Reyes – green 1973 Chevy Luv.
DRAGS – DIESEL PICKUP TRUCKS:
1st Ron Reiswig – 2006 Dodge 2500;
2nd Mark Partida – 2003 Chevy Silverado.
DRAGS – STREET LEGAL/STOCK RIGS:
1st Mark Pounds, Central Valley Transport;
2nd Alexis Solaris, ARS – yellow Peterbilt.
DRAGS – SUPER STREET/MODIFIED RIGS:
1st Abel “Chillidogg” Martinez – peach and turquoise Peterbilt 379;
2nd Mark Pounds – red 1976 Freightliner Powerliner cabover.
DRAGS – SUPER DRAG/RACING RIGS:
1st Oscar Velasquez, V-Bros. Racing – red “El Manzan” Kenworth;
2nd Mario Monette, MHPD – flat black “The Beast” Peterbilt.
