“GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION”
CHROME SHOP MAFIA HOSTS FIRST SHOW
Our friends at 4 State Trucks, home of the Chrome Shop Mafia, recently hosted their first-ever “Guilty by Association” truck show and customer expo on October 9-10, 2009. We were excited to get a personal invite from the “Boss-Man” himself, Bryan Martin, to come out and have some fun with the “boyz” in Joplin, Missouri and we jumped at the chance. Knowing these folks pretty well, we assumed it would be a top-notch event, and were right. It was great being invited to a first-time truck show in the Midwest, but getting there proved to be more difficult than we could have ever imagined.
Leaving Orange County, CA on the first plane out at 7:00 am Thursday, we flew into Houston, TX on a stopover before going on to Tulsa, OK without a hitch. Then, things got interesting. When attempting to leave Houston, the takeoff was aborted at the last second and we ended up sitting on the tarmac for hours while a computer module on the plane was replaced. Then, it was off to Tulsa. Upon entering the Tulsa airspace, there was turbulent weather and we experienced a sudden drop in altitude (we were all saying our prayers). It spooked the pilots and they put that jet in high gear and got out of the area and actually landed us in Little Rock, AR. After waiting around for two hours, we found out that we were grounded for the night. Luckily, we met two gentlemen that needed to get to Tulsa that night, so we bummed a ride and headed there together. Four hours later we were in Tulsa, and just barely got a rental car before the last counter closed for the night. Tired and hungry (we missed the VIP barbecue) and still 104 miles to Joplin, we finally checked into the hotel at 3:00 am Friday – 20 hours after boarding the plane in Southern California. What an ordeal!
The rain in Joplin was relentless on Thursday, as 6-8 inches fell in just one day, making setup difficult. Thankfully, the rain began to let up on Friday morning, but everything was soaked – including Jason and Randy – who were in charge of parking the 100 or so trucks that showed up. All of the staff at 4 State Trucks really stepped up and made this a show to remember (employees were easy to spot as they were all wearing fluorescent green shirts). And if you had a question, all you had to do was find someone in a blue shirt – they had all the answers. The popular place to be on Friday was inside the Jones Performance tent, which had a few large propane heaters that were cranked up to full blast (at was really cold). The crowds were thin at first because of the cold and wind (which helped to dry out the pavement), but as the day progressed it got better. Finally, as the day came to a close, the sun popped out for just a bit.
The Friday evening festivities included a fun concert by Matt Coleman, known for singing the Chrome Shop Mafia theme song. In an impromptu moment, Bryan Martin took the stage to recognize the folks that helped put the show together, which took four long months of intensive planning and preparation. Bryan asked his mother Linda, his wife Lisa and their oldest daughter Jessica to all come up on stage, where they were recognized with a round of “thank you” applause (they were all pretty embarrassed). The folks at Backstreet Music Productions in Anderson, MO setup the stage, sound and lighting – and it was incredible (even the musicians made comments about how great it was). Later that evening, a small group of us headed over to Turtleheads Raw Bar in Joplin for a late-night dinner and more live music. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Mike & Dave from TruckVac Pro, as well as Sean from Fleetline Products (Hogebuilt).
Saturday morning we awoke to bright, sunny skies – it was still cold, but at least the sun was shining. Inside the 4 State parts and chrome store, people were able to get out of the wind and look around at the vendor displays set up by companies like Lincoln Industries, Merritt, TruckVac Pro, United Pacific, Details Show Truck Accessories and others. Attendees could also sign up for a tour of the entire 4 State facility. Outside, several more companies were on display including Rockwood, Bostrom, Thunder Grafix, Truck-Rodz, Accuride and Freightliner (corporate). Freightliner’s Director of Marketing Melissa Clausen was present to help the company roll out, for the first time, their newly redesigned Coronado, which was decked out in true CSM style. Attendees also flocked to the “Bargain Basement” area of the show, where tons of discontinued, slightly damaged and used items were sold at rock-bottom prices. Alex Debogorski, the original ice road trucker, was also on-hand to sign autographs and take pictures with his fans.
Much of the truck judging was done by the actual competitors – they weren’t able to vote for their own truck, but they could vote for their favorite bobtail and combo. The People’s Choice awards were voted on by all of the attendees at the show. There were also three local judges that chose the winners in the Lights, Paint, Interior and Stereo classes, and then one special award, which was chosen by Bryan and the folks at 4 State, to recognize one special person that stood out above the crowd.
The winner of that special “Larry Martin Memorial Award” was Randy Huddleston from Illinois. Randy always liked the Mobsled truck that CSM built several years ago, so he customized his white and purple Freightliner Classic to look similar to the famous truck (which is now part of the 4 State sign in their parking lot). A week before the show, a 10-point buck rammed into the side of Randy’s truck and banged up the stack and tank. He tried to cancel, but Bryan wouldn’t let him. Instead, he had Randy come early so the guys in the shop could make the truck look as good as possible. When Randy’s name was called, there was a lot of tears – Randy included.
As the sun set, tons of firewood was piled up and a huge bonfire was lit to warm the open area in front of the stage. At that time, Bryan and his helpers (along with some of the vendors) said “thank you” to those that were deserving, including Gailand Johnston, who is like a brother to Bryan and is always around to lend a helping hand. The wind picked up as the night chill set in, but the music was hot, as the “Road Hammers” took the stage and cranked out the tunes for all who stayed up late. What a party! We can’t wait until next year – we just hope the travel goes smoother and the weather is better. Hey, Bryan, can you help us out with that!
And the winners were... LIGHTS: 1st Billy Carter & Steve Hendershot; 2nd Jerry Kissinger. PAINT: 1st Jeremy Graves; 2nd Matt McCord. STEREO: 1st Jeremy Graves; 2nd Colin Stuart. INTERIOR: 1st Paul Saline; 2nd Dallas McCord. COMPETITOR’S CHOICE BOBTAIL: 1st Matt McCord; 2nd Doug Perkins. COMPETITOR’S CHOICE COMBO: 1st Wayne Baker; 2nd Jeremy Graves. PEOPLE’S CHOICE BOBTAIL: Thomas Ivy. PEOPLE’S CHOICE COMBO: Jeremy Graves. LARRY MARTIN MEMORIAL AWARD: Randy Huddleston.
In addition to these trophy winners, twelve trucks were chosen to be photographed and featured in the 2010 Chrome Shop Mafia / 4 State Trucks calendar, which is now available for purchase. There was also a Poker Run done on-site and the winner (with four Kings) was Jayme Snow ($150). Three awesome gift packs, courtesy of 4 State and their vendors, were also given away – the lucky winners were Shannon Crenshaw ($650), Chad Blackwell ($1,000) and Cupp Farms ($2,000). Congratulations to all of the winners. We’ll see you all again next year and, hopefully, you will bring along some friends. Our thanks go out to Bryan Martin and the rest of the crew for showing us such a good time and for hosting such a fantastic, professional event that had big-time flair, with a down-home feel. Great job!