With a little help from Mother Nature and the supernatural powers of “Crazy
Bob” Hitchcock, the first annual Cherokee Truck Parts Open House and “Coolest
Truck” show was a huge success! Held April 20th and 21st at Bob’s store
in Stockton, California, the event began with a light show on Friday and
finished off with a terrific truck show on Saturday, featuring almost 100
of the finest trucks from California (and beyond). Although threatened by
a nasty storm, something, someone, somehow, allowed this show to go off
without a hitch.
Our weather concerns were confirmed as we drove north toward Stockton. The forecasters had been predicting that a bad storm would come through the area during the weekend. Sure enough, after a beautiful ride up Highway 99, the sky began to turn dark and heavy rain started pounding our windshield. To be honest, Friday afternoon we (along with the first few show entrants pulling into Crazy Bob’s parking lot) were not sure that there would be a show at all. Accompanied by heavy hail, lightening and thunder, the storm that had been predicted hit with full force.
Along with all the activity of setting everything up and parking the trucks, we saw that the anxiety about the weather was not only in our thoughts, but other would-be participants as well. We even overheard a few phone calls from truckers asking about the status of the weather and the show, and we heard Bob saying, “Rain or shine this show is on – besides, it’s gonna be a nice day tomorrow.” It was as if he knew something that neither the weather people nor we knew - and he loved it! He had a big grin on his face every time that lightning zig-zagged across the black sky, followed by the roaring thunder, indicating to any school kid that the thunderstorm was right above “Where the cool truckers shop” (Cherokee Truck Parts – the site of the show).
Looking back and knowing now what was to come, we must say the concert in the sky was a worthy ceremony – a loud and wet unscheduled introduction to a great truck show and a fantastic weekend. Were still not 100% convinced that Bob doesn’t have the power of black magic, because just an hour after the spectacular light and sound show in the sky had begun, the clouds quickly drifted away, making room for clear skies and a beautiful Friday sunset. We couldn’t help but think how fitting this downpour was. Since the show was dubbed as a “Wash your truck and have fun” kind of truck show (no politics, no judges crawling under your truck, no midnight polishing, etc.), the rain provided a natural truck and parking lot wash. All the entrants had to do was wipe their trucks down and then go have fun with their trucking friends. What a concept – a fun and easy truck show!
The night continued with a steady stream of trucks arriving and their drivers rushing to dry and clean their polished rigs. It was amazing to see a place that was so drenched just a few hours before was now setting the stage for a beautiful truck light show, accompanied by a train horn symphony and Crazy Bob firing up the starter jet for the incredible “Spirit of America” world speed record machine (the jet engine aboard the vehicle uses this smaller jet engine to start it and boy is it loud). On top of all that, we saw the long awaited and much rumored about inaugural appearance of “The Millennium Mack” with James Cotta parading onto the scene in his UNBELIEVABLE 1956 B-73 Mack. WOW! If you thought you’d seen it all, think again. This custom, beautifully handcrafted classic immediately drew a huge crowd, which continued constantly until its departure some 24 hours later.
Against all odds and as only Crazy Bob had predicted, Saturday arrived with perfect spring weather - sunny, dry, not too hot and not too cold. When a guy like Bob Hitchcock puts the word out, it’s a sure thing that the truckers will come. But that they would come in such great numbers probably even surprised old Crazy Bob. With 90 show truck entries and over 2500 spectators, this was one of the best “first time” truck shows we’ve ever attended! By early afternoon, all of the available parking within a one-mile radius was completely exhausted.
Everything went smoothly and was very well-organized. Not only were there tons of beautiful trucks but also vendor booths and exhibits featuring old Indian motorcycles, Lodi Auto Stereo’s hot rod, excellent food from Mydingr’s BBQ from Lockeford, California, James Cotta’s Mack and street rod, a NASCAR race car and many new products for the trucking industry. It was a fun-filled atmosphere where thousands of people, of all ages, met old friends or made new ones. Two-month-old Kiele Pozas from San Jose, California was the youngest truck fan. There was a lot to see - Mike Dunkle was in the APP booth explaining the astonishing process of making their super-strong, lightweight, forged one-piece aluminum truck rims. We were also very glad to see how much you guys liked our new 10-4 Magazine poster which features twelve of our former cover trucks. Thanks to all of you who stopped by our booth to say “Hi” and gave us a pat on the back.
Besides all the food and fun, there was an impressive list of truck accessories, awarded to several lucky raffle prize winners, by Crazy Bob himself in his own distinct style. The judging of the show truck winners was much harder because of the sheer number of beautiful trucks. Fleets were well-represented by Paul E. Vaz from Lodi, Western States Wholesale from Ontario, Gigli’s from Lathrop and Rivera Trucking, just to mention a few. Brian Bambarger’s “Double JJ” rig looked great, as did the Baer family’s 1962 Pete 355, which won the Baywood Award, courtesy of Baywood Wineries and James Cotta. Stan Alles’ famous old Pete and polished doubles was also there and, as usual, drew a large crowd.
We wish that we could mention all of the participants and winners but there was just too many. But here are a few of them. The trophy for Best of Show went to Ricky Torres of Sandvik Trucking out of Escondido, California. Their dark maroon Pete called “Delirious Dezire” was lookin’ fabulous – especially its chromed-out motor and custom sleeper! First place in the cabover class went to Bob Rocha from Escalon, California. The 2-axle class winner was Louie Elder out of Campo, California. Top honors in the 3-axle category went to Fred Rivera from Stockton, California. Our congratulations go out to all the winners!
The American flag that was hung up on a crane 90 feet in the air above the show gave us all a warm feeling – proud to be an American in the greatest country in the world. And what’s more “American” than big rigs, BBQ and friendly folks! We’d like to say thank you to everyone who attended and made this show a memorable event. A special “Congratulations” goes out to Crazy Bob and his team for doing such a great job. The huge round of applause that the crowd gave at the end of the show was well-deserved. We’d like to know, Bob, if we could use your magical powers with the weather every once in a while (especially at photo shoots in the winter)?
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2002 10-4 Magazine and Tenfourmagazine.com
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