10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

BIG RIGS INVADE IRWINDALE
27th Annual Charity Fundraiser Finds Another New Home

The 27th Annual Truckin’ for Kids Truck Drags and Show & Shine was held in yet another new Southern California location – the third different one in the last three years. But the fact that this show keeps moving around, looking for a permanent home, doesn’t seem to affect the attendance or participation hardly at all. This year’s event was held at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, California on October 6-7, and, as always, was one of the best shows of the year. And even more importantly, it’s all for charity!

Last year’s show, held in one of the parking lots at California Speedway in Fontana, was all crammed into one day due to the high cost of the venue. And with over 300 trucks trying to register and get parked all at once, you can imagine the chaos. This year, Race Director Frank Pangburn booked the venue for two days (sort of) to help alleviate some of the Sunday morning craziness. Due to the fact that the speedway was hosting a NASCAR race on Saturday night and needed much of the parking lot for the spectators, only the first 100 pre-registered trucks were allowed to come in on Saturday. This helped in some ways, but did create some problems, as many of the unregistered participants showed up early only to find out that they couldn’t get in. Frank did his best to accommodate everyone that he could and, for the most part, everything seemed to work out alright.

Once the racing event was over on Saturday night (which many of us got to attend) and the parking lot cleared, more trucks were allowed to come in – and come in they did – all night long and well into the morning. When it was all said and done, there were about 250 trucks in the lot. Not a bad turnout, but there was plenty of room for at least 100 more!

The weather was perfect, the food was fantastic, the trucks were beautiful and the drag racing was exciting. What more could you ask for? Irwindale’s drag strip is a bit shorter than the average quarter-mile, which made for some fun drag racing. With only an eighth of a mile to get ‘er done, it was hammer down, hot and heavy, followed by some hard braking at the end (the right lane did not have a very long area for slowing down). And once again, for the fourth year in a row, Pat Kyle took top honors in the Super Drag Truck class with his heavily-modified orange Kenworth. “Hot Rod Harry” Cleeland did well, too, driving his orange and purple Pete 359 to victory in the 3-Axle Diesel Conventional class. There were also a few newcomers this year that brought out some pretty neat racing rigs which included a flamed 2-axle International and a chopped KW cabover with suicide doors.

As you can imagine, the parking lot was filled with awesome trucks from all over the country. We wish we could give recognition to all of them but there are just too many. A few that stood out for us included Cory Cloward’s new Viper Red KW and polished end dump; Kyle Van Hulzen’s newly restored wide hood Kenworth W900; Ryan Hooten’s maroon Peterbilt with a cool custom interior; Steve Armas’ pimped out transit mixer; Kris Gaare’s blue and black hot rod Pete and polished reefer; Melvin Maggini’s bright yellow 1962 Needlenose Pete; and, of course, Jeff Botelho’s unique convertible Peterbilt show truck. The long and low red Peterbilt 379 owned by California Hillbilly Trucking was pretty impressive, too.

The speedway’s large parking lot was filled not only with beautiful trucks but vendors, too. Companies like Rick Nay Insurance, NTA, Drake Supply, Cooper’s Polish, Enterprises of the Third Kind, Rush Truck Center, Caliva’s Wash & Polish, The Truck Gazette, United Auto & Truck, Big Truck Factors and more, set up display booths to promote and/or sell their products or services. We at 10-4 were there as well, handing out free magazines and posters and selling t-shirts and laminated placemats featuring our centerfold trucks. Carl Carstens of Rockwood Products came all the way out from Wisconsin to be a part of the fun. Over the past few years, Rockwood has become one of the show’s biggest supporters.

But the real highlight of the show for many was the all-day autograph session with three of the guys from the Chrome Shop Mafia. Fabricators and designers Rod and Kevin Pickett and painter Ryan “Ryno” Templeton spent most of the day signing free posters and posing for photographs with their fans. 10-4 was proud to be one of sponsors that helped make it happen (along with Rockwood and about six or seven others).

The primary beneficiary for the 2007 show will once again be the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Founded by parents of children with type 1 juvenile diabetes, JDRF has always focused on a single goal – accelerating research programs to cure diabetes and its complications. Truckin’ for Kids is proud to be a supporter of this very important and innovative international organization.

We hope that the show stays in Irwindale next year – and the years to come after that. It was a great venue with plenty of room to grow. Thanks to all who participated or attended the event. Next year should be even bigger and better, so don’t miss it. Our congratulations go out to all of the winners.

SATURDAY NIGHT “LITE THE LOT”
BOBTAIL LIGHTS: 1st Alex Fimbres III; 2nd Jim Huss; 3rd Paula Fimbres.
COMBINATION LIGHTS: 1st Mike Maggini; 2nd Cory Cloward; 3rd Granford Norton.
ANTIQUE LIGHTS: 1st Melvin Maggini; 2nd Juan Gonzalez; 3rd Jan Meiselman.

SHOW & SHINE WINNERS
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK: 1st Mike Maggini; 2nd David Cummins; 3rd Bill Ward.
3-AXLE CONV (2004-2007): 1st Chris Vermeer; 2nd Juan Perez; 3rd David Watts.
3-AXLE CONV (2001-2003): 1st Jose Avelar; 2nd Pat Johnson; 3rd Geoff Morris.
3-AXLE CONV (1996-2000): 1st Kris Gaare; 2nd George Trueba; 3rd Bill Ward.
3-AXLE CONV (1991-1995): 1st Hector Carrillo; 2nd Victor Maestaz; 3rd Fernando Perez.
3-AXLE CONV (1983-1990): 1st Marcel Pontbriand; 2nd David Cummins; 3rd Donald Arias.
2-AXLE CONV (2004-2007): 1st Octavio Sandoval; 2nd Ron Stanley; 3rd Alex Fimbres III.
2-AXLE CONV (2001-2003): 1st Justin Cole; 2nd David Rojas; 3rd Connie Cavers.
2-AXLE CONV (1996-2000): 1st Hector Santos; 2nd Rudy Tule; 3rd Vaughn Bladen.
2-AXLE CONV (1991-1995): 1st Ryan Hooten; 2nd Connie Cavers; 3rd Fernando Perez.
2-AXLE CONV (1983-1990): 1st Joe Arias; 2nd George Garcia; 3rd Gilbert Gonzales.
3-AXLE CABOVER (1996-2007): 1st Matt Smith; 2nd Johnny Fricioni.
3-AXLE CABOVER (1991-1995): 1st David Arias; 2nd Robert Keffer.
3-AXLE CABOVER (1983-1990): 1st Erik Carrillo; 2nd Billy Grace; 3rd Alfonso Hernandez.
2-AXLE CABOVER (1996-2007): 1st Carlos Galaviz; 2nd DeWayne Lynch.
2-AXLE CABOVER (1991-1995): 1st Mile Arrington.
2-AXLE CABOVER (1983-1990): 1st Markie Pounds; 2nd David Mendoca.
WORKING ANTIQUE (1946-1961): 1st Jose DeLaTorre.
WORKING ANTIQUE (1962-1982): 1st Melvin Maggini; 2nd Pat Ford; 3rd Johnny Wright.
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE: 1st Matthew Vince; 2nd Kyle Van Hulzen; 3rd Ruben Cendejas.
LOCAL DELIVERY: 1st David Cummins; 2nd Bill Ward; 3rd Juan Perez.
TRANSIT MIXER: 1st Steve Armas; 2nd Bob Miller.
DUMP TRUCK: 1st Eddie Hall; 2nd Chris Huffman; 3rd Dwight Smith.
DUMP TRUCK W/BOOSTER AXLE: 1st Manuel Mendoza; 2nd Rick Hall; 3rd Derrick Payton.
WRECKER: 1st Ruben Cendejas; 2nd Chris Kirk; 3rd Phillip Garcia.
SERVICE TRUCK: 1st Alan Alexander; 2nd James Lynch; 3rd Trey Cloward.
SPECIALTY TRUCK: 1st Joe Arias; 2nd Justin Cole; 3rd Max “Pops” Johnson.
HOBBY TRUCK: 1st Scott Bosch; 2nd John Sapone; 3rd Jeff Botelho.
SMALL FLEET: 1st Liberty Linehaul West; 2nd Arrowhead Water; 3rd L.A. County Sheriff.
LARGE FLEET: 1st Farino Construction Services
SPECIALTY TRAILER: 1st Erik Carillo; 2nd Justin Cole; 3rd Patrick Ford.
FLATBED: 1st Ryan Hooten; 2nd Hector Santos; 3rd David Arias.
HEAVY EQUIP. HAULER/LOW BED: 1st Donald Arias; 2nd Hector Carrillo; 3rd Bobby Ipsen.
BOTTOM DUMP: 1st Octavio Sandoval.
END DUMP: 1st David Watts; 2nd Cory Cloward; 3rd Rob Guadagnolo.
TRANSFER: 1st Tom Donaldson; 2nd Angel Lopez; 3rd Pat Bachelor.
TANKER: 1st Michael Salicio; 2nd Dean Mackey; 3rd Len Ragels.
OVER THE ROAD RIG: 1st Marcel Pontbriand; 2nd Kris Gaare; 3rd George Trueba.
DUMP TRUCK & PUP: 1st Thomas Smith; 2nd Mark Tarascou; 3rd Dean Berg.

WORKING CONTEST WINNERS
3-AXLE CLOSED BODY BACKING: Pat Beale
2-AXLE SEMI TRAILER BACKING: Ryan Pounds
DOUBLES BACKING: Mike Maggini
TRUCK & TRAILER BACKING: Mike Berryman
TRUCK & PUP BACKING: Mark Tarascou
TRANSFER DUMP CONTEST: Sean Westover

TRUCK DRAG WINNERS
2-AXLE DIESEL CABOVER: Jimmy Disher
2-AXLE DIESEL CONV: Mark Pounds
3-AXLE DIESEL CABOVER: Alfonso Hernandez
3-AXLE DIESL CONV: Harry Cleeland
ALL OTHER 3-AXLES: Mark Tarascou
LADIES ELIMINATOR: Connie Cavers
SUPER DRAG TRUCKS: Pat Kyle
PU/SUV/VAN (SLICKS): John Sapone
PU/SUV/VAN (STREET TIRES): Michael Hernandez
PICKUP (DIESEL ENGINE): Shane Swindle

SPECIALTY TROPHIES
LONGEST TOW: Marcel Pontbriand
BEST ENGINE: Jim Huss
BEST DRESSED CREW: Central Valley Trans.
BEST BRIBE: Liberty Linehaul West
SPONSOR’S CHOICE: Cory Cloward
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Pat Johnson
UGLIEST TRUCK: Pat Kyle’s Hauler
BEST REACTION TIME: John Sapone
QUICKEST PICKUP: Vic Caliva
QUICKEST BIG RIG: Pat Kyle
KING OF THE HILL AWARD: Pat Kyle
MOST CONES KNOCKED OVER: Stephen Hettinga
BEST ROCKWOOD INTERIOR: Mike Fitch
BEST INTERIOR (CAB ONLY): Ryan Hooten
BEST SLEEPER: Gary Berrrington
BEST PETERBILT: Juan Gonzales
BEST FREIGHTLINER: Markie Pounds
BEST KENWORTH: Kyle Van Hulzen
BEST METAL SHINE: Steve Armas
BEST ART & GRAPHICS: Marcel Pontbriand
BEST OF SHOW: Bob Doyle, Golden Bear