The 34th annual Truckin’ For Kids (TFK) charity show and drags was one hot event – and not just because it had almost 200 of the hottest rigs on the lot, but because it was literally one of the hottest weekends of the year in southern California! With temps around 105 degrees, the pavement at the Irwindale Event Center was hot enough to melt the soles of your shoes. Held on October 4-5 in Irwindale, CA in the parking lot of the speedway there, this show, which raises money for various children’s charities, featured a truck beauty contest, big rig and pickup truck drag racing, a “Junior Dragster” race with kids just getting started in the sport, vendors, food, and one of the best tailgate parties around.
The show got started on Saturday as the rigs began filling the lot and the vendors setup their displays. With the gates for the truck show closing at 1:00 p.m. that day to allow the track to accommodate a car race that night, Saturday was a little quieter than usual, but there was still plenty to do for those who had arrived early. Being that it was “10-4 Day (October 4th – our annual holiday here at 10-4 Magazine), we had a Mexican feast brought in late in the afternoon for anyone who was hungry and wanted to help us celebrate. As the sun set, the NASCAR race attracted many to cross the parking lot and join the excitement, while those who stayed at the truck show were treated to the “Light the Lot” light show display and competition.
By the time everything was set on Sunday, many more trucks had arrived throughout the night and early morning hours, bringing the total to about 180 trucks. Not the largest TFK show ever, but still a healthy crowd, nonetheless. In the 10-4 booth, we debuted our latest t-shirt, made by our new partners at Stay Loaded Apparel, that featured our most popular cover truck ever – the “Duel truck” from the memorable 1971 movie featuring a derelict truck chasing a frightened motorist (Dennis Weaver) across the desert. With a cool drawing of the dilapidated old Peterbilt and the slogan “Chasing the Best of the Best… Since 1993” underneath, the shirt was a hit (and an instant classic with our readers and fans).
Walking the lot, there was a lot to see and do. In addition to some of the finest rigs we had ever seen, there were vendors to visit, a face-painting booth, several “carnival-style” food offerings (we enjoyed some caramel-topped funnel cake), and many of the participants were cooking-up and sharing their own good grub near their trucks (thanks for the awesome ribs, Vince). Over in the Dynaflex booth, fresh tacos were served for free to hundreds of show-goers, Stay Loaded was selling their trucker t-shirts like crazy, and even a few past presidents were walking the lot (thanks to Bill Cunningham for inviting his “presidential” impersonator friends, Abe Lincoln and George Bush, to pose for some pictures and turn heads at the show).
Around noon the drag racing began. With diesel-powered pickup trucks, stock big rigs, kid-sized dragsters, and full-blown “Super Drag” trucks, the action was, in a word, hot! When the smoke cleared (literally), crowd favorite and always hard-to-beat Wayne Talkington and his newly-wrapped Lucas Oil Kenworth was the big winner in the Super Drag Truck class, beating out Frank Fierro in an exciting final race. After the racing ended, the awards were handed out.
This year’s big winners included Ray & Suzi Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport and their newly-built Peterbilt 389. Covered with murals, this exquisite rig, which was dialed-in from top to bottom, fetched several awards, including Best Engine, Best Paint, and Best of Show. Another big winner was our Sponsor’s Choice recipient from last year’s show and our March 2014 cover truck – Rolando Nava’s bright orange 2005 Kenworth W900L, which took home a 1st Place in its class, as well as Best Interior and Best Sleeper. Some other folks who did well at the show included Eric Neer, Cameron Quandt, Steven Hettinga and the boys from Martin Milk – all of the trucks these guys brought out did well.
Our Sponsor’s Choice award this year went to Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock. Phil’s slammed cream and brown Peterbilt 389 and polished cattle trailer from Nevada was looking spot-on, and caught our eyes (and cameras) as soon as we saw it. One of our other “finalists” was Dion Brown – his red and flat-black Pete dump truck was sweet – and our other favorite truck (which we almost chose as our Sponsor’s Choice) ended up winning the coveted People’s Choice trophy, so I guess we were on the right track. Kenny Allen of Fleet Car Carriers brought out what seemed to be an entire row of his clean car haulers, but the one that stood out was the one on the end – a blue and flat-gray 2-axle 2006 Pete that was done “just right” in not only our eyes, but apparently everyone else’s, too.
All-in-all, it was another great Truckin’ For Kids Show and Drags. Good friends, good trucks, good racing, good food, and, as always, a “Good Time for a Great Cause!” In the end, this show is about raising money for kids in need, and over the years this event has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to worthy causes. We are proud to be affiliated with this show as a sponsor for over 20 years, and always look forward to next year – we just hope it isn’t quite so hot. If you missed this year, we hope to see you in 2015! And the winners this year were:
LIGHT THE LOT WINNERS
ANTIQUE: Annette Maggini of Maggini & Son.
BOBTAIL: James Welburn of Cruzin Corp.
COMBO: Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock.
SHOW & SHINE WINNERS
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK: 1st Steven Hettinga of Hettinga Trans; 2nd Bobby Mathias of Butucos Trucking; 3rd Seth Martin of Martin Milk.
3-AXLE CONV. 2012-2014: 1st Hector Santana of Nestle; 2nd Darrol Proctor of Nestle; 3rd Sergio Acosta of Nestle.
3-AXLE CONV. 2009-2011: 1st Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock; 2nd Jerry Castro of Castro Trucking; 3rd Jharod Vandertuig.
3-AXLE CONV. 2005-2008: 1st Rolando Nava of Rollin R Enterprises; 2nd Scott Macias of Nestle; 3rd Luis Pinon of Nestle.
3-AXLE CONV. 2000-2004: 1st Cameron Quandt of Quandt Transportation; 2nd Curtis Christensen of Dedicated Ride; 3rd Ron Beer of Deluxe.
3-AXLE CONV. 1990-1999: 1st Craig Martin of Martin Milk; 2nd John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Transport; 3rd Bryan Brown of Underwood.
2-AXLE CONV. 2009-2014: 1st Tom Boeckeler of D & M Hay Sales; 2nd Ken Maino of R. Owens Transport; 3rd Sergio Olivera of J & L Olivera Hay.
2-AXLE CONV. 2000-2008: 1st Eric Neer of EAN Trucking; 2nd Scott Armas of Armas Hay Sales; 3rd Kenny Allen of Fleet Car Carriers.
2-AXLE CONV. 1990-1999: 1st Jorge Fuentes of Fuentes Trucking; 2nd John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Transport & Towing.
CABOVER: 1st Lazzaro Aguirre of Gardner Trucking; 2nd Marty Miles of H & M Express.
WORKING ANTIQUE 1968-1989: 1st Ray Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport; 2nd Grant Coffin of Firehouse Fabrication; 3rd Markie Pounds of Central Valley Transport.
WORKING ANTIQUE 1946-1967: 1st Brett Langrell; 2nd Tyler Swapp of Tyler Swapp Trucking; 3rd Steve Merritt.
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE: 1st Ruben Cendejas of Nestle; 2nd Annette Maggini of Maggini & Son; 3rd Trader Swapp of Kent’s Diesel.
LOCAL DELIVERY: 1st Markie Pounds of Central Valley Transport; 2nd Steven Hettinga of Hettinga Trans; 3rd Mark Pounds of Central Valley Transport.
DUMP TRUCK: 1st Jake Marval of Marval Trucking; 2nd Dion Brown of D.B. Trucking; 3rd Albert Pubalcava of Blue Diamond.
WRECKER: 1st John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Towing; 2nd Ruben Cendejas of Nestle.
SERVICE TRUCKS: 1st Mike Fletcher of Fletcher’s Diesel Service; 2nd John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Transport & Towing; 3rd David Castro of Richard’s Tire Service.
SPECIALTY: 1st Derek Severson of Underwood; 2nd John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Transport & Towing; 3rd Kenny Allen of Fleet Car Carriers.
HOBBY TRUCKS: 1st Ruben Ramirez; 2nd R.J. Ilten; 3rd Arlen Hettinga.
ROCKWOOD INTERIOR: 1st Cameron Quandt of Quandt Transportation; 2nd Travis Vermeer of S & C Services; 3rd Curtis Christensen of Dedicated Ride.
SMALL FLEET: 1st Central Valley Transport; 2nd Fleet Car; 3rd Lagomarsino Transport & Towing.
LARGE FLEET: 1st Nestle/Arrowhead.
SPECIALTY TRAILER: 1st Ron Beer of Deluxe; 2nd Darrol Proctor of Nestle; 3rd Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock.
FLATBED: 1st Ray Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport; 2nd Steven Hettinga of Hettinga Trans; 3rd Nick Martinez of Martinez & Son.
HEAVY HAUL: 1st Chris Governo of Southside; 2nd Dan Gilbert of Fran-Bar Heavy Haul; 3rd John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Transport.
END DUMP: 1st Eric Neer of EAN Trucking; 2nd Jimmy Deleon of American Wrecking.
TRANSFER DUMP: 1st Bruce Campbell of Bruce Campbell Trucking; 2nd John Murray of M & J; 3rd Chris Sotelo of West Coast Sand & Gravel.
TANKER (STAINLESS): 1st Scott Mesias of Nestle; 2nd Seth Martin of Martin Milk.
TANKER (ALUMINUM): 1st Craig Martin of Martin Milk; 2nd Paul Penas of Jack B. Kelly; 3rd Danny Goetz of Goetz Trucking.
OVER-THE-ROAD TRUCK: 1st Leo Puentes of Tradewinds; 2nd Curtis Christensen of Dedicated Ride; 3rd Steven Hettinga of Hettinga Trans.
DRAG RACING WINNERS
JUNIOR DRAGSTER: 1st Kaitlyn Saralt; 2nd Haylee Ramos.
PICKUP W/STREET TIRES: 1st Daniel Marquez; 2nd Jay Huck.
PICKUP W/SLICKS: 1st John Sapone; 2nd Edgar Reyes.
DIESEL PICKUP: 1st Ron Reisig; 2nd Jose Chavez.
BIG RIG: 1st Armin McKee; 2nd Amy McKee.
SUPER DRAG TRUCK: 1st Wayne Talkington; 2nd Frank Fierro.
SPECIALTY TROPHIES
LONGEST TOW: Jason Keeler (Pennsylvania)
QUICKEST PICKUP: Edgar Reyes.
QUICKEST BIG RIG: Wayne Talkington.
BEST REACTION TIME: John Sapone (.015)
UGLIEST TRUCK: Jeff Corona.
BEST ENGINE: Ray Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport.
BEST INTERIOR: Rolando Nava of Rollin R Enterprises.
BEST SLEEPER: Rolando Nava of Rollin R Enterprises.
BEST PAINT: Ray Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport.
BEST FREIGHTLINER: Mark Pounds of Central Valley Transport.
BEST KENWORTH: Kent Swapp of Kent’s Diesel.
BEST PETERBILT: Cameron Quandt of Quandt Transportation.
KING OF THE HILL: John Fellabaum.
BEST METAL SHINE: Seth Martin of Martin Milk.
SPONSOR’S CHOICE (10-4 MAGAZINE): Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Kenny Allen of Fleet Car Carriers.
BEST OF SHOW: Ray Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport.
