10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

CRUISIN’ DOWNTOWN RENO
HOT RODS & HOT RIGS HIT THE STREETS
(Click here to see the photos!)

Remember what it was like to go cruising on Saturday night when you were in high school? It was an event that many looked forward to all week. Every August, that old feeling gets rekindled as hot rods and hot rigs hit the streets of Reno to take the ultimate cruise down Virginia Avenue under the famed Reno Arch while thousands cheer them on. For the fourth year, the Truckerfest was held in conjunction with Hot August Nights, a celebration of the cars and music of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, on August 3-5. This year marked the 20th anniversary of Hot August Nights, but it seemed like the big rigs got a lot more attention when out on the street.

Held at the Petro Stopping Center in Sparks, NV just a couple miles east of downtown Reno, the Truckerfest event featured a Stars & Stripes Truck Beauty Competition with about 50 entrants, trucker games, some 25 vendor booths and free steak dinners to all CDL holders. But Reno is never about “the show” – it’s about the cruising. Being more of a truck driver appreciation event than a trucking convention (like most of the shows we go to), this is a light, fun, relaxing show. Instead of “working a booth” you “hang out and chat” with friends, business associates and truckers.

During the day, entertainer Joey Holiday and some of his friends sang trucker songs as well as country and rock tunes. Joey hosted the fun trucker games, which included a waterballoon toss, musical hay bales and, this year, a dance competition (well, sort of). Joey invited truckers to volunteer for the next game, not telling them that they would have to put on crazy costumes and strut their stuff for the crowd. In the end, the purple-clad “Pimp Daddy” impressed the crowd the most with his hip-thrusting moves (photo 1).

After the daytime festivities at the truckstop came to an end, it was time to go cruising. The hot rods started running down the road (which is closed all weekend for the event) late in the afternoon and continued until about 9:00 pm. With 5,000 registered hot rods at the show and another estimated 5,000 just in town to cruise, there were a lot of beautiful cars out there. After a short break, the trucks hit the streets at about 10:00 pm and ran until almost midnight. It is amazing how many people were lined up along the barricaded route, and even more amazing at how many of them were so excited to see “the big trucks” come by.

The trucks were judged on Thursday for all of the categories except lights – those classes were judged on Friday night as the trucks lined up and got staged for the cruise. Late Saturday afternoon, as the truck show came to a close, everyone headed over to the Silver Legacy Resort & Casino for the awards ceremony (the truckers were bussed over in luxury coaches). When it was all said and done, the big winners, for the most part, were not surprising. As usual, Bud Farquhar of Stars & Stripes emceed the ceremony. Bud called out names like Tom & Kim Turner, Clint Dicks and Randy & Jona Rebillard many, many times. The Turners, with their Brown and Tan “El Dorado” Pete (photo 6), were the biggest winners, taking home four 1st Place trophies including Best of Show Combo, Lights Combo and Most Head-Turning Use of Chrome and Stainless.

Sporting a new paint job, Clint Dicks did pretty well, too. The last time we saw his truck it was all white with orange fenders, but in Reno the plain white cab, hood and sleeper was now broken into two sections, with the bottom half remaining white and the top half being painted orange. This simple change really added a lot of pizzazz to his already cool rig (photo 5). Clint took home two 1st Place awards and one 2nd Place trophy. Other well-known competitors that had some success in Reno included Randy & Jona Rebillard and their “Tired Iron” Peterbilt, which has changed much over the last year or so (photo 3). The Rebillards earned two 1st Place trophies, including Best of Show Bobtail. Mark Pounds and his purple-flamed Freightliner took two 1st Place awards and one 2nd Place.

There were also a few not-as-well-known names that did good in Reno. Dale Johnson of DNR Transport brought out his clean 2006 Red Peterbilt and Fontaine flatbed and won a 1st Place and 3rd Place trophy. Cary Bess of West Jordan, Utah showed off his white and yellow Kenworth W900L and Utility reefer “Pure Punishment” and ended up with 1st and 2nd Place prizes. But the most surprised and excited competitor was James Kirkley of Arvin, CA. Jimmy goes to a lot of local shows, but he was really happy when they called his name as the Limited Mileage Bobtail Best of Show winner. Not only was his 2000 Viper Red KW “Big Red” (photo 2) looking better than ever, but he’s a nice guy as well, so we were pleased at the judge’s choice. Congratulations Jimmy!

Some trucks that didn’t do as well in regards to winning trophies but we thought deserved a mention included Jeremy Smith’s Lime Green Peterbilt (you can’t miss that one), a blacked-out Pete with a black curtainside trailer (owner unknown, truck #187) and our favorite, a 1936 Kenworth. Originally sold to Pacific Intermountain Express (PIE), this rig goes by the name “Red Baron” (photo 4) and is still used today on the Van Dyke Dairy in Fallon, NV.

We’d like to congratulate all of the winners and thank them for giving us all such a good show. Next year, it would be cool to see hundreds of trucks “take over” the cruise and just blow the minds of the spectators. Fifty is impressive, but wouldn’t 100 or 200 be so much better? Only you can make it happen – so don’t miss this show in 2007. We hope to see you there.

WORKING COMBO (1999 & NEWER): 1st Dale Johnson of DNR Transport, Hemingway, SC (Finger Lickin’ Good); 2nd Cary Bess, W. Jordan, UT (Pure Punishment); 3rd Shane Franklin of Newland & Family Trucking, Grayland, WA; 4th Rick Eggleston, Central Point, OR; 5th Rod & Kim Grimm, Vinton, IA (Illusion).

WORKING COMBO (1998 & OLDER): 1st Tom & Kim Turner, Cynthiana, KY (El Dorado); 2nd Keith Pounds of Central Valley Transport, Bakersfield, CA (Bootlegger); 3rd Ernie Newland of Newland & Family Trucking, Grayland, WA; 4th Gary Berrington, Wellington, NV (Leo’s ’82); 5th Bruce Gieg of T & D Trucking, Medford, OR.

WORKING COMBO (OVERALL): Tom & Kim Turner, Cynthiana, KY (El Dorado).

WORKING BOBTAIL: 1st Randy & Jona Rebillard, Gimli, Manitoba (Tired Iron); 2nd Jeremy Smith of Ed Davis Trucking, Canby, OR; 3rd Ray Elvis of DNR Transport, Hemingway, SC; 4th Alan Thran of Mauck Trucking, Ft. Bridger, WY; 5th Bill & Joyce Rucker of JE Williams Trucking, Billings, MT (Angels in the Air).

LIMITED MILEAGE COMBO: 1st Clint Dicks of TDT Trucking, Lake City, FL (Freshly Squeezed); 2nd George Van Dyke, Tangent, OR.

LIMITED MILEAGE BOBTAIL: 1st Jimmy Kirkley, Arvin, CA (Big Red); 2nd Mark Pounds of Central Valley Transport, Bakersfield, CA; 3rd Gary Berrington, Wellington, NV (Wine & Roses).

ANTIQUE COMBO: Frank Merrill of Pacific NW Truck Museum, Silverton, OR (Nifty Fifty).

ANTIQUE BOBTAIL: 1st Kathy Olsen of Dustbusters, Sparks, NV; 2nd Jason Williams of Latimer Trucking, Lebanon, OR; 3rd Brad Van Dyke, Tangent, OR.

LIGHTS COMBO: 1st Tom & Kim Turner, Cynthiana, KY (El Dorado); 2nd Clint Dicks of TDT Trucking, Lake City, FL (Freshly Squeezed); 3rd Dale Johnson of DNR Transport, Hemingway, SC (Finger Lickin’ Good).

LIGHTS BOBTAIL: 1st Mark Pounds of Central Valley Transport, Bakersfield, CA; 2nd Ray Elvis of DNR Transport, Hemingway, SC; 3rd Jimmy Kirkley, Arvin, CA (Big Red).

BEST OVERALL PAINT: Clint Dicks of TDT Trucking, Lake City, FL (Freshly Squeezed).

BEST GRAPHICS: Mark Pounds of Central Valley Transport, Bakersfield, CA.

BEST MURAL: Randy & Jona Rebillard, Gimli, Manitoba (Tired Iron).

LARGEST FLEET: Newland & Family Trucking – 4 Trucks.

BEST THEME: Cary Bess, W. Jordan, UT (Pure Punishment).

BEST USE OF CHROME: Tom & Kim Turner, Cynthiana, KY (El Dorado).