10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

SUPERRIGS CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY
By Rod & Kim Grimm

If you like beautiful big rigs, Joplin, Missouri is a great place to find them. Not only is it the “home” of the Chrome Shop Mafia and other truck builders, but this year it was also the site of the Shell SuperRigs show. Held at the Petro Stopping Center in Joplin on June 21-23, this event celebrated a milestone – its 25th anniversary – with one of their best shows ever. Over 125 trucks competed for trophies, belt buckles, prize money and a shot at being picked for Shell’s 2008 calendar. The show did not start until Thursday, but the excitement began a little earlier for some.

On the Monday before the show started, show trucker Karen Zander (Icy Blu 2) and her polishing helper Jean (pronounced John) Dubuesne got stranded in Kansas City, MO. After a flight cancellation due to weather, the two travelers were told that they were going to have to wait until Tuesday night to get a connector flight to Joplin and there were no rental cars available. But, luckily for them, fellow show truckers and friends Randy & Jona Rebillard (Tired Iron) were running a day behind because their daughter Jennifer had just gotten married on the Saturday before, so they made a short detour and offered them a ride. And at one o’clock in the morning at a Waffle House on the north side of Kansas City, a piece of “Tired Iron” looked like a great ride to Joplin for two weary tourists. So off they all went, and the day was saved. They say good things happen to you when you do good things, and I believe that. Well, something good happened to Randy & Jona in Joplin, which I will reveal later.

Day one was sunny and started off with the #29 Pennzoil race car taking a lap around the parking lot. With 80 trucks already registered, the show was off to record-breaking numbers. And with $25,000 in prize money up for grabs, it gave a lot of truckers a little extra incentive to clean their rig better than ever and make it look its absolute best. At the end of the day, they put up a large screen in the awards tent and showed the movie classic “Smokey and the Bandit” (I can remember thinking back then that those old trucks featured in the film were the best thing going).

Day two was cloudy and there was some rain, but that didn’t keep the judging line from being constantly busy and wrapping around the parking lot for most of the day. That night there was a concert with Carmen Rasmussen and the SuperRigs light show, which is always a real treat.

Day three started with a downpour in the morning! It eventually cleared out, but not taking any chances, the folks from Shell continued their judging in an empty wash bay at the truck stop. And then at noon it was all over and it was time to make the final tallies so the winners could be announced. Shell really went all-out this year with the entertainment and the prizes.

As mentioned before, there were terrific trophies, custom belt buckles and lots of money (over $25,000 in total). They also had a makeover contest in which entrants were asked to write an essay to be qualified for. Narrowed down to six trucks, only drivers with a CDL were allowed to vote. The winner of the $50,000 makeover by S & J Truck Sales in Ft. Wayne, Indiana was Bob & Geri Martin. When his name was announced, Bob’s hands were trembling so much that he could hardly get his cell phone out of his pocket to call Geri to tell her the good news! Each of the other five finalists received $500 for their efforts.

Saturday’s festivities also included a visit by some of the Chrome Shop Mafia guys. Bryan “Bossman” Martin and Scott St. Germain cruised over to the show in their official “Mafia Car” – a cool old white Cadillac – and rode around visiting with drivers and friends. Too bad they couldn’t have set up a few of the fun trucker games to play like they do at the beginning of their “Trick My Truck” television show!

One of the trucks (and drivers) that really stood out for us was a rolling memorial to remember all fallen heroes of war. Sean McEndree’s “Fallen Heroes 2 Never Forgotten” Peterbilt was painted by famous CSM artist Ryan “Ryno” Templeton. With an amazing attention to detail, Ryno painted a waving flag flying at half mast on each side of the sleeper, using the stacks as the flagpoles. I’m not usually a fan of big stacks, but in this case, they are perfect. Sean himself, who almost lost his life when he was severely wounded in an ambush attack in Iraq, has a pretty amazing story, too – and he is so very humble about it. He said, “What I do with this truck is for the real heroes – the ones we’ve lost.” He also said, “If you do the right thing, you’ll never go wrong.” Those are great words to live by. We strongly believe in his message and feel that he is doing the right thing with this truck. Leased to Freymiller Trucking in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, we think this truck’s winning days have just begun!

Some other notable trucks in attendance included the Best of Show winner owned by Curtis Christians. His newly-redone 2005 Peterbilt featured a blacked-out paint job all the way up the stacks, along with his matching 2005 polished Great Dane reefer trailer. The First Runner-Up for Best of Show went to Tom & Kim Turner and their two-tone brown “El Dorado” Peterbilt. The Second Runner-Up for Best of Show went to Bob & Shelley Brinker and their “Legend of the Black Pearl” Freightliner (they also won the Best Interior and People’s Choice awards).

In the Classic Category, a cabover Kenworth painted like the “BJ and the Bear” truck took second place to Jerry Howard’s black 1954 Autocar. In the Tractor Category, a bright yellow Peterbilt with a huge sleeper called “Size Matters” came in second place to a little bit of “Tired Iron” owned by Randy & Jona Rebillard. Remember what I said about good things happening to those who do good things – well, a first place at SuperRigs is pretty darn good (and the judges had no idea about how they had helped a friend and fellow competitor get to the show). And last but not least, Clint Dicks, who seems to win everywhere he goes, took first place in the Tractor Trailer Category, while second place went to Brad Caton of Eilen & Sons Trucking. Clint also unveiled a new Kenworth that he just finished – and we are sure that you will be seeing more of this awesome truck.

We all know that the ultimate goal of this show isn’t placing in the competition – it’s being chosen for the calendar! I remember the day we were asked in Walcott, Iowa to be a part of the 2000 calendar – that was cool! I don’t know all of the trucks that were chosen this year for the 2008 calendar, but I do know that some of the pictures in this article represent some of the trucks chosen – you’ll just have to wait until October, when the calendar comes out, to see who made it. Rod and I would like to thank Kevin Young from Minnetonka, Minnesota for providing most of the pictures in this article, and Randy & Jona Rebillard for providing the rest of the pictures and some of the information used in this article. Congratulations to everyone that attended – and to those that won awards and/or were picked for the calendar. It’s going to be a great one this year.

CLASSIC CATEGORY: 1st Place ($1,500) Jerry Howard of Fairborn, OH – 1954 Autocar DC-75; 2nd Place ($1,000) Steve Hendershot of La Porte City, IA – 1985 Kenworth K-100; 3rd Place ($750) Gerald Kissinger of Stoughton, WI – 1991 Mack Superliner; 4th Place ($500) Bob Steffy of Oak Forest, IL – 1985 Frtlnr. Cabover; 5th Place ($250) Ron Elledge of Hampton, VA – 1994 Kenworth W900L

TRACTOR CATEGORY: 1st Place ($1,500) Randy & Jona Rebillard of Gimli, Manitoba, Canada – 2002 Peterbilt 379 (photo 2); 2nd Place ($1,000) Toney & Donna Bennett of Macks Creek, MO – 2007 Peterbilt 379; 3rd Place ($750) Harvey & Karen Zander of St. Louis Park, MN – 2003 International 9900; 4th Place ($500) Sean McEndree of Copperas Cove, TX – 2005 Peterbilt 379 (photo 5); 5th Place ($250) Rusty Wyrick & Tina Lomax of Mansfield, OH – 1998 Western Star

TRACTOR & TRAILER CATEGORY: 1st Place ($1,500) Clint Dicks of Lake City, FL – 2000 Peterbilt 379 & 2006 Mac Flatbed (photo 1); 2nd Place ($1,000) Brad Caton of Hampton, MN – 2007 Peterbilt 379 & 2007 Mac End Dump (photo 6); 3rd Place ($750) Brian Jones of New Brunswick, NJ – 1999 Kenworth W900L & 2008 Mac Step Deck (photo 3); 4th Place ($500) Mike Penrod of Fargo, ND – 2000 Freightliner & 1998 Great Dane Reefer; 5th Place ($250) Mickey & Tyler Gwillim of Carlinville, IL – 1986 Peterbilt 359 & 2001 Great Dane (photo 4)

THEME: Tom & Kim Turner of Cynthiana, KY – 1995 Peterbilt 379

MURAL: Jerry Dickson of Perry, OK – 2007 Peterbilt 379

INTERIOR: Bob & Shelley Brinker of Grayling, MI – 2000 Freightliner Classic XL

CHROME: Dave & Vicki Weldon of Joplin, MO – 2003 Peterbilt 379

ENGINE: Harvey & Karen Zander of St Louis Park, MN – 2003 International 9900

LIGHTS: Rusty Wyrick & Tina Lomax of Mansfield, OH – 1998 Western Star

PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Bob & Shelley Brinker of Grayling, MI – 2000 Freightliner Classic XL

BEST OF SHOW: ($10,000): Curtis Christians of Rockford, MO – 2005 Peterbilt 379 & 2005 Great Dane (photo 7); 1st Runner-Up ($4,000): Tom & Kim Turner of Cynthiana, KY – 1995 Peterbilt 379; 2nd Runner-Up ($2,000): Bob & Shelley Brinker of Grayling, MI – 2000 Freightliner Classic XL