10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

RIDING HIGH IN RENO
THE BEST OF THE WEST DOMINATE AT THE ‘FEST
(Click here to see the photos!)

West coast trucks have always set the standard for “cool” in regards to show trucks, and at the TruckerFest in Reno, it was even more evident as they cleaned house in most of the classes. West Coasters like Maggini, Sandvik, Central Valley, Van Dyke and others won virtually every class except for two (which were won by a sharp truck from Tennessee). And competing against a very impressive line-up of entrants, winning in Reno was no easy feat - not even for the famous west coast favorites.

Held on August 4-6, 2005 at the Petro in Reno/Sparks, Nevada, in conjunction with Hot August Nights, a celebration of the music and cars of the 50s and 60s, Reno was one rockin’ town for an entire week. Besides the 100 or so working trucks, show trucks and antiques, the city was bustin’ at the seams with thousands of hot rods, classics, cruisers and muscle cars. If you’ve never been to Reno during Hot August Nights, you are missing out. And now that the truck show is held during the event, you should have even more incentive to get there next year if you missed it this time.

It always seems like half the fun of going to Reno is getting there. Last year, we drove up Hwy. 395 and marveled at the mountains, lakes and trees. This year, we decided to take an even more scenic route, opting for a two-lane adventure through the foothills of Central California and then crossing over the Sierras on a tiny patch of pavement known as Hwy. 4 on the map (but we think the term “highway” was way overused). After ten hours of driving on what should have been a six or seven-hour trip, we made it into town. But for anyone who has never taken that route, if you are not in a hurry and looking for some beautiful country, it’s an awesome drive. Just be sure to stop and fill up your tank and your stomach before venturing out on Hwy. 4 because there aint nothin’ out there!

The event kicked off on Thursday, as competitors were judged and vendors set up their booths. With about 35-40 vendors in the parking lot, this year’s show saw a sharp increase in corporate participation and sponsorships. In addition to the trucks on display and the vendor booths, a lot of other stuff was going on as well. Six companies (Interstate Dist, Gordon Trucking, ITS Logistics, Transport Design, Landstar & Prime) sponsored free steak dinners for all CDL holders and vendors on both Friday and Saturday. Joey Holiday was also in attendance, as he is every year, providing music and entertainment throughout the event. Of course, it wouldn’t be TruckerFest without those fun trucker games either. Hosted by the always-funny Ken Cummings, truckers, show attendees and vendors alike competed in games like musical hay bales and a balloon toss for prizes and bragging rights.

After the day’s activities wound down on Friday, it was off to the arch in downtown to watch the cars and the trucks cruise. With an estimated crowd of 40,000 spectators lined up behind metal barricades along Virginia Avenue, it was quite a sight. Many people along the route had never seen “hot rod” big rigs, and they were amazed at the detail and creativity. Mike Maggini put on a good show with his popular yellow Peterbilt with green flames, as he stopped under the arch and dropped his air bags until his bumper was sitting on the street, all the while sounding off his on-board siren and train horns. The two show trucks put together by the folks at Truk Rodz also made a huge impression as they blew bright orange flames out of their stacks some five feet in the air. The crowd went wild! Other drivers rocked their rigs back and forth with their engine brake, blew their horns, revved their engines and, in general, did everything they could to get the crowd cheering. The trucks took two trips around the route on both nights and then headed back to the truck stop. On Sunday morning, the winning trucks got to make one last trip down Virginia Avenue with all of the winning cars from the Hot August Nights events.

Competitors and fans gathered in a room at the Silver Legacy Casino on Saturday evening for the awards ceremony. It was no surprise when Mike Maggini was announced as the winner of the first class (Working Combo), but it was a surprise to see him go up to collect three more top prizes - after all, there were only ten total classes (photo 2). Other not-so-surprising names that were called included Sandvik Trucking and George Van Dyke, each winning their class. Tom & Mary Ann Quick from LaFollette, TN took home two first place awards with their red, white and blue Kenworth covered in biblical scriptures and patriotic messages (photo 3). One very surprised winner was Mark Pounds of Central Valley Transport. Mark was already feeling overwhelmed after having his flamed Freightliner (along with his brother’s) featured on our August cover, but when they called out his name as the winner of the Limited Mileage Bobtail Best of Show, he about fell over. Congratulations Mark (photo 1).

Some other notable rigs at the show that didn’t place as well as we would have expected (or at all) included Jeff England’s 1982 A-Model Kenworth (photo 4), Steve Sanchez’ classic-looking black & red 2003 Pete (photo 5), Don & Susan Pardue’s “Bad to the Bone” Pete and Fred Rivera’s Pete, which had two classic cruisers parked atop his flatbed. Other rigs that caught are eye were Trev Frederiksen’s rust-colored Freightliner with shaved headlights, Jeff Botelho’s 2006 Pete featuring a unique flame paint job and a matching polished reefer (photo 6), and Ed Davis & Jeremy Smith’s lime green 1994 Pete, which was shined up and standin’ tall (and making itself known with that bright green paint).

The truck show portion of this event was organized by Stars & Stripes Show Truck Events. Our thanks go out to all the participants, attendees, vendors and sponsors that helped make this a great event. And the winners at TruckerFest 2005 in Reno/Sparks, Nevada were:

WORKING COMBO: 1st Maggini & Son Trucking/Mike Maggini – 1998 Yellow & Green Peterbilt 379 & 2002 Utility Flatbed; 2nd Central Valley Transport/Keith Pounds – 1987 Purple Flamed Freightliner Cabover & 1998 Utility Flatbed; 3rd MCK Express/Cary Bess – 2005 White Kenworth W900L & 2005 Utility Reefer; 4th Klassic Rock, Inc./Floyd Johnson – 2005 Flame Red Pearl Metallic Peterbilt 379 & 2005 Reliance Transfer Dump; 5th Graham Transportation/Alan Tuttle – 2003 Tan & Blue Peterbilt 379 & 2005 Western Dropdeck.

WORKING BOBTAIL: 1st Tom & Mary Ann Quick – 2000 Red, White & Blue Kenworth W900L; 2nd TDT, Inc./Mike Auker – 2000 White & Orange Peterbilt 379; 3rd Randy & Jona Rebillard – 2002 Dark Blue & Light Blue Peterbilt 379; 4th Don & Sandra Watson – 1997 Blue Peterbilt 379; 5th (tie) Betty & Ralph Wittren – 2004 White & Green Western Star; 5th (tie) Ed Davis/Jeremy Smith – 1994 Lime Green Peterbilt 379.

LIMITED MILEAGE COMBO: 1st Sandvik Trucking/Bill & Marie Sandvik – 1998 White & Blue Peterbilt 379 & 1993 Ravens Flatbed; 2nd Mike Stoneman – 1951Brown GMC 970 & 1981 Stepdeck; 3rd George Van Dyke Trucking/George Van Dyke – 1977 Green Peterbilt 352M & 1962 Utility Flatbed; 4th Speed Demon/Ray & Braden Myer – 2000 Red Freightliner Century & 2002 Carrier; 5th Pride Transport/Jeff England – 1982 Gray & Black Kenworth W900 & 2001 Utility Reefer.

LIMITED MILEAGE BOBTAIL: 1st Central Valley Transport/Mark Pounds – 2001 Purple Flamed Freightliner Classic XL; 2nd Gary Berrington – 1987 Dark Rose & Light Rose Peterbilt 359; 3rd R&C Trucking/Rick Sladek – 2002 Red Kenworth W900L.

ANTIQUE COMBO: 1st George Van Dyke – 1951 Light Blue GMC Conventional & 1943 Weber Flatbed; 2nd Frank Merrill – 1973 Brown Kenworth W900A & 1973 Tanker.

ANTIQUE BOBTAIL: 1st Ed Bonestroo – 1948 Green & Black Peterbilt Conventional; 2nd Phil Oak – 1967 Green & Gold Peterbilt 358A; 3rd William Latimer – 1973 Light Blue Kenworth W900L.

LIGHTS COMBO: 1st Maggini & Son Trucking/Mike Maggini – 1998 Yellow & Green Peterbilt 379 & 2002 Utility Flatbed; 2nd Walt & Dee Waite – 1977 Orange Kenworth W900L & 2000 Kentucky Van; 3rd Botelho Bros./Jeff Botelho – 2006 Blue Peterbilt 379 & 2004 Great Dane Reefer.

LIGHTS BOBTAIL: 1st Tom & Mary Ann Quick – 2000 Red, White & Blue Kenworth W900L; 2nd R&C Trucking/Rick Sladek – 2002 Red Kenworth W900L; 3rd Central Valley Transport/Mark Pounds – 2001 Purple Flamed Freightliner Classic XL.

MOST HEAD-TURNING USE OF CHROME & STAINLESS: Maggini & Son Trucking/Mike Maggini – 1998 Yellow & Green Peterbilt 379 & 2002 Utility Flatbed.

BEST THEME: Maggini & Son Trucking/Mike Maggini – 1998 Yellow & Green Peterbilt 379& 2002 Utility Flatbed.