30 YEARS OF FAST FUN
ANNUAL CHARITY SHOW CELEBRATES ITS 30TH ANNIVERSARY
The 30th annual Truckin’ for Kids Truck Drags & Show and Shine was again, for the fourth year in a row, held at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California on October 23-24, 2010. And, like many of the shows this year, attendance, participation, and (in this case) donations were still down, but better than last year. But, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great show. With about 225 trucks on the lot, several vendors and plenty of food to choose from, there was still a lot to see and do all weekend long.
The festivities began on Saturday as vendors set up their booths, racers fine-tuned their engines, and truckers polished their rides, preparing to be judged the next day. As the day came to an end, we at 10-4 invited some of our friends and advertisers to join us for a Mexican feast in our booth area. As the sun set on the speedway’s large parking lot, many of the truckers who had arrived early turned on their lights to be judged for the “Light the Lot” contest. After a few days of rain, we were all glad to have clear skies that day, but rain was still in the forecast, so everyone was holding their breath and hoping for the best.
Sunday morning started out with fun working contests (backing and transfer dump), as well as the judging for the Show & Shine. By noon, the grandstands were packed and the drags were in full swing, beginning first with the pickup trucks, then on to the big rigs. This year, Pat Kyle and his highly-customized orange Kenworth earned 1st place in the Super Drag class, while Alfonso Hernandez took top honors in the Outlaw class. The winner of the Ladies Eliminator class went to Connie Cavers Brodek. It was great to see several new entrants in the drag racing classes this year.
Last year, Eddie Hall organized a Top Alcohol Jr. Dragster competition which turned out to be a big hit with the crowd, so he did it again. This year, twenty-two kids, ranging in age from 8-18, piloted their mini dragsters down the eighth-of-a-mile long track at speeds of 70 to 80 mph. Powered by small, single-cylinder, alcohol-burning billet aluminum engines with 32-42 horsepower, these kids, many of which were not even old enough to drive, flew down the track with amazing precision. This year’s winners were Brenda Serephine and Kendall Townsend.
Over in the 10-4 Magazine booth, we debuted a new t-shirt that turned out to be very popular. Our friends from Oregon, Chet & Trista Jobe, came down with not only their kids but Bryan Welsh and his daughter Taylor, to help out in the booth. Along with help from 10-4’s editor Dan, his wife Shannon and their three kids, we had plenty of workers in the booth. The kids really love to help, and we are glad to let them (it makes it easier for us to go play with our trucker friends). Another “helper” that came all the way from Washington was our resident poet Trevor Hardwick. He and his wife Alicia brought Trevor’s new (old) Freightliner cabover down to the show, and even ran it down the track a few times. It was the first time we had ever met Trevor face-to-face, so it was nice to finally get to meet him (and Alicia).
Driving around the show (we had a golf cart), we saw many of our friends and plenty of cool trucks, including a few we had never seen before. Albert Guzman just finished building a sharp Peterbilt 389, painted yellow and grey, hooked to a polished spread-axle flatbed, and Chris Hasty, who was featured on our April 2008 cover, now has two more Peterbilts and tanker trailers that look very similar to his first one. Another standout to us was the truck we chose as our “Sponsor’s Choice” winner - Jerry Salinas’ 1963 Narrow-Nose Peterbilt 281, which he just finished restoring. After retiring about three years ago from his brake business, Jerry spent over two years rebuilding this beautiful truck by himself.
Another welcome edition to this year’s show was Bob Wilson’s old “Ironsides” Kenworth. Bob died earlier this year, so his grandson Scott spent a little time cleaning up the truck and brought it out to do some of its signature burnouts on the race track. Bob was a fixture at the truck drags since the beginning, and he was deeply missed. Our thanks to Scott for bringing “Ironsides” out this year - we hope he brings it again next year.
Some other rigs that stood out included Green Thumb Produces’ duo of Peterbilts hooked to matching reefers (one red and one black), Sal Alonzo’s green Peterbilt and matching polished reefer from Colorado (we almost selected this truck for our “Sponsor’s Choice” award), Craig Martin’s eye-catching hay-hauling Freightliner cabover, the Yamko trucks, several of the Hettinga Transport trucks, and, of course, Trevor’s sweet cabover.
As the cloudy but dry day came to a close, it was hard to believe that another year was done. This was the last stop on our 2010 show tour, which took us all over the country. So, after the longest award ceremony ever (about four hours), the show was over and it was time to pack up and head home. And just as soon as we were finished loading, it started to sprinkle. Great timing! We’d like to congratulate Truckin’ for Kids for raising over $500,000 for various children’s charities over the last 30 years. We hope it goes another 30, and raises even more! See you next year!!
SATURDAY NIGHT “LIGHT THE LOT” WINNERS
COMBINATION: Stephen Ashburn of Ashburn Auto Transport.
BOBTAIL: John Gonzales of Yamko Truck Lines.
ANTIQUE: Juan Gonzales of A & L Truck Supply.
WORKING CONTEST WINNERS
3-AXLE CLOSED BODY BACKING: 1st Jim Anderson; 2nd Donald Arias.
3-AXLE FLATBED BACKING: 1st Gary Stuivenga; 2nd Steve Hettinga.
TRUCK & TRAILER BACKING: 1st John Murray; 2nd Danny Flenniken.
TRUCK & PUP BACKING: 1st Mark Tarascou; 2nd Danny Flenniken.
TRANSFER DUMP CONTEST: 1st Chris Yates; 2nd Bruce Yates.
DRAG RACING WINNERS
JR. DRAGSTERS: Brenda Seraphine & Kendall Townsend.
PU/VAN/SUV (SLICKS): 1st Rob Smith; 2nd Larry Sayeg.
PU/VAN/SUV (STREET TIRES): 1st Michael Gudde; 2nd Danny Marquez.
DIESEL-POWERED PICKUP: 1st Steve Price; 2nd Russ Kennell.
2-AXLE CABOVER: 1st Jimmie Disher; 2nd Connie Cavers Brodek.
2-AXLE CONV: 1st Fred Butler; 2nd Mark McLeroy.
3-AXLE CONV: 1st Harry Cleeland; 2nd Big Sal.
ALL OTHER 3-AXLES: 1st Tray Atkins; 2nd Mark Tarascou.
LADIES ELIMINATOR: Connie Cavers Brodek.
SUPER DRAG TRUCK: Pat Kyle.
OUTLAW CLASS: Alfonso Hernandez.
SHOW & SHINE WINNERS
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK: Juan Gonzales of A & L Truck Supply.
3-AXLE CONV (2007-2010): (Class 1) Chris Hasty of Jetspeed, Inc.
3-AXLE CONV (2007-2010): (Class 2) Mike Salcedo of Arrowhead.
3-AXLE CONV (2001-2006): (Class 1) Bobby Guerrero of Jetspeed.
3-AXLE CONV (2001-2006): (Class 2) Jorge Trueba of Liberty West.
3-AXLE CONV (1996-2000): Jim Huss of Jim Huss Trucking.
3-AXLE CONV (1991-1995): Ernie Rubio of Jessica Martinez Trucking.
2-AXLE CONV (2007-2010): Bob Ellis of CSM Transportation.
2-AXLE CONV (2001-2006): Saul Salas of Triple E Machinery Moving.
2-AXLE CONV (1996-2000): Gilbert Gonzales of Gonzales G & R, Inc.
2-AXLE CONV (1991-1995): Terry Brodek Sr. of C Crest Ranch.
2-AXLE CONV (1986-1990): David Bryson of Perris Valley Transport.
3-AXLE CABOVER: Craig Martin of Martin Milk Transport.
WORKING ANTIQUE: (tie) Wild Bill Hernandez AND Steve Vermeer.
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE: Roel Hofstee of Hofstee Farms.
LOCAL DELIVERY: Bob Doyle of Golden Bear.
DUMP TRUCK: Steve Hettinga of Hettinga Transport.
END DUMP: Steve Hettinga of Hettinga Transport.
TRANSFER DUMP: John Murray of M & J Transportation Services.
DUMP TRUCK & PUP: Mark Tarascou of Tarascou Trucking.
WRECKER: John Lagomarsino of Lagomarsino Towing.
SERVICE TRUCK: Rudy Rodriguez of Rodriguez Trucking.
SPECIALTY RIG: Peter Parker of Parker Trucking.
HOBBY TRUCK: Jake Blackwell of Young Transport Repair.
SMALL FLEET: Jetspeed, Inc.
LARGE FLEET: Hettinga Transport.
BEST ROCKWOOD INTERIOR: Jim Huss of Jim Huss Trucking.
SPECIALTY TRAILER: Stephen Ashburn of Ashburn Auto Transport.
FLATBED: John T. Silva of Silva Hay.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT HAULER: Bryan Baichtal of B & I Equipment.
CAR CARRIER: Stephen Ashburn of Ashburn Auto Transport.
TANKER (STAINLESS STEEL): Mike Salcedo of Arrowhead Water.
TANKER (ALUMINUM): Chris Hasty of Jetspeed, Inc.
OVER-THE-ROAD TRUCK: Arlyn Workman of Workman Trucking.
SPECIALTY TROPHIES
LONGEST TOW: Carl Gillam (from Ontario, Canada).
BEST ENGINE: Isaac Aguilar of Sandvik Trucking.
BEST DRESSED CREW: Hettinga Transport.
SPONSOR’S CHOICE (10-4 MAGAZINE): Jerry Salinas’ 1963 Peterbilt.
KING OF THE HILL: Brad Goodfellow.
QUICKEST PICKUP TRUCK: Larry Sayeg.
BEST REACTION TIME: Michael Gudde.
MOST CONES KNOCKED DOWN: (tie) Joseph Chavez AND Jim Anderson.
UGLIEST TRUCK: Pat Kyle (for that ugly hauler - not his drag truck).
BEST INTERIOR: Stephen Ashburn of Ashburn Auto Transport.
BEST SLEEPER: Arlyn Workman of Workman Trucking.
BEST PETERBILT: James Amell of Green Thumb Produce.
BEST FREIGHTLINER: Mike Salcedo of Arrowhead Water.
BEST KENWORTH: Bruce Campbell of Bruce Campbell Sand & Gravel.
BEST INTERNATIONAL: Tony Lewis.
BEST METAL SHINE: Bob Doyle of Golden Bear.
BEST ART DETAIL: Maxwell “Pops” Johnson of Jetta Studio Rentals.
BEST OF SHOW: John T. Silva of Silva Hay.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Bob Doyle of Golden Bear.