For the third year in a row, our friends at Pickett Custom Trucks (PCT) were the proud sponsors and host of the truck Show-N-Shine competition at the National Hot Rod Diesel Association (NHRDA) “Diesels in the Desert” event. Held again at Firebird Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, this year’s event was moved forward a month to March 7-8, 2025 (the previous year it was held in the middle of April) in hopes of better – or at least cooler – weather. Regarding the weather, the date change was a true success, as it was a lot cooler, but cooler in this case did not mean better.
Arriving in Phoenix early on Wednesday, a few days before the show was scheduled to begin on Friday, we spent that first day visiting some family in nearby Wickenburg, AZ. On Thursday, the weather was perfect except for some wind, and we were able to do a great photo shoot for a cool upcoming cover feature (stay tuned for that one). On Friday, as we headed toward the show in Chandler, it was raining pretty hard for almost all of the 1.5-hour drive, and things were not looking good for the show, which was scheduled to officially begin at 3:00 PM on Friday.
Arriving at the hotel around 2:00 that afternoon and getting early check in, we could see the show from our room, and what we saw did not make us want to head over too quickly. Enjoying some time with visitors and cocktails in our room, we sat and watched the waves of rain come and go, across the desert, over and over again, for the next few hours. It was really coming down! Every time we thought the storm had passed, more clouds would roll in, and then another wave of sometimes torrential rain would come. So, we just sat and waited it out.
The rain finally subsided at around 6:30 PM, so we headed over to the track at about 7:00 for the light show. The preliminary qualifying for the drag racing was supposed to happen that afternoon, but because of the wet weather it was postponed, and everything was pushed to Saturday. However, with all that water on the ground, the wet pavement made the pictures from the light show even better. And the weather did not seem to “dampen” anyone’s spirit, as tons of people were walking around and enjoying the trucks all lit up, even though it was really cold out there (low 40s).
Come the next morning, wow, what a difference a day makes! On Saturday, the sun was shining, the temperature was very comfortable, most of the water was dry and gone, and the lot was filled with trucks and vendors. With 30+ sponsors, two rows of vendors, over 100 racing competitors (mostly diesel pickups), an estimated 300 big rigs (we did not count), and thousands of cheering fans, it was a great way to start off both the 2025 truck show season and the NHRDA diesel drags racing series for 2025.
The NHRDA portion of the event featured diesel drag racing and a mobile dyno all day, and then after the racing was completed, they moved over to the burnout box where there was a lively “Australian style” burnout competition. With this style of burnout, the vehicle cannot sit stationary – it must keep moving. As you can imagine, it was pretty wild, as these (mostly) modified pickups spun circles until you couldn’t see them through the tire smoke and then, in some cases, they caught fire.
For the Big Rig Show-N-Shine part of the event, things were a little tamer, as drivers spent much of the morning wiping down their trucks after all the rain on Friday, and then many settled in a comfortable folding chair and relaxed for the rest of the day or walked around and checked out everyone’s stuff and talked. Some, including me, did all that and took a bunch of pictures, too. Being the first truck show of the season, except for the Florida Trucking Show held in February, it was great to see friends we hadn’t seen all winter and finally get outside. Touted as “The Biggest Truck Show in Arizona” (which is not a hard thing to accomplish since there aren’t many truck shows in the state), it truly was a fantastic event. As always, the Pickett Custom Trucks crew pulled off a first class show that attracted tons of amazing iron.
Walking the long row of trucks, a few standouts included DanDee Dairy, that had 11 trucks at the show, including our cover truck this month, our friends from JDT had a couple, including James’ personal orange and black 379, which hasn’t been out of the barn in a while, Big Ed’s amazing turquoise and white A-model, several of Diamond Trucking’s cool fuel tankers, and a big group of classic rigs that are operated by Old Iron Truckin. David Waller also brought his highly customized yellow 359 “Sweet Lorraine” all the way from Washington, “Truck Show Joe” of Southern Transport was looking good with his black 389X with the blue and silver “Ivy’s Poison” show truck in tow, and there was a large contingency of car haulers, all lined up together, and turning heads.
After a long day of judging, it was time to announce the winners in front of the infamous black Peterbilt 389 Pickett RV (our July 2024 cover feature), which made a stunning backdrop (it would make a stunning backdrop to anything). By now it was dark outside, which tells you how long the day went (Friday’s rain made Saturday a jam-packed day). The biggest winners were “Big Ed” Davis, who bagged the Best Antique Bobtail, Best Engine, and Best of Show awards, and DanDee Dairy, who took home the Best Combo, Best Lights, Best Stereo, and Best Fleet trophies. Crews Hay was the winner of the coveted “PCT Pick” (Pickett’s Choice) award, and California local Cole Barbieri did pretty well, too, earning three nice trophies.
By the time it was all said and done it was 7:00 PM. But hey, we didn’t care, we had no place we needed to be besides dinner, which we enjoyed back at the hotel, with eight of our friends. Hanging out with friends and making memories is what truck shows are all about, at least for us, so it was a great way to end a good day. Thanks to Ron Kelsey, Kris and Angelina Gaare, Pierson Gravance, John Testa (who was at the show doing live remotes for us and NHRDA), and “Truck Show Joe” Eldridge. The food may have been mediocre that night, but the company certainly was not! Thanks to Rod Pickett of PCT and Randy Cole of NHRDA for treating us well and hosting another terrific event featuring diesels in the desert. We will be there next year, and hope you will be, too!!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Scott Spinning of Spinning Wheels Photography for providing some of the awesome pictures for this report.
SHOW-N-SHINE RESULTS
BOBTAIL: 1st Action Materials; 2nd Crane Harvesting; 3rd Daniel Maev.
COMBO: 1st DanDee Dairy; 2nd Cole Barbieri; 3rd Joe Eldridge.
ANTIQUE BOBTAIL: 1st Ed Davis; 2nd Ron Kelsey; 3rd David Waller.
ANTIQUE COMBO: 1st David Viss; 2nd Randy Brown; 3rd DanDee Dairy.
SPECIALTY: 1st Scott Rogers; 2nd Ryan Mockridge.
CONSTRUCTION: 1st Stearns; 2nd David Lenzmeir; 3rd Kody Brenner.
LIGHTS: 1st DanDee Dairy; 2nd Cole Barbieri; 3rd Ryan Maddox.
BEST INTERIOR: Cole Barbieri.
BEST ENGINE: Ed Davis.
BEST STEREO: Dandee Dairy.
BEST FLEET: DanDee Dairy.
P.C.T. PICK: Crews Hay.
BEST OF SHOW: Ed Davis.
DRAG RACING RESULTS
SPORTSMAN CHAMPION: Chase Nelson.
BIG RIG BRACKET CHAMPION: Jeff Mittleider.
SUPER DIESEL CHAMPION: Jeff Avery.
6.70 INDEX CHAMPION: Afsheen Hashemy.
SUPER STREET CHAMPION: Will Terry.
PRO STREET CHAMPION: Phillip Franklin.
HOT ROD SEMI CHAMPION: Oscar Velasquez.
PRO MOD CHAMPION: Wade Minter.
TOP DIESEL CHAMPION: Dawna Kraus.