BIG FUN AT THE BIG IRON
TROPHIES AREN’T EVERYTHING - BY BRYAN WELSH
Back in the 1990’s, Jim Finn and a few friends were walking around a truck show wondering, “What would this show be like with no trophies?” Well, the answer to that question finally came in 2000 when Jim mailed out 30 or 40 invitations for a truck show and get-together (more like a weekend party). That year, almost 100 rigs showed up for the first annual Big Iron Classic and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, this event has grown bigger and better every year – it now features a wild truck pull, a truck parade and plenty of food, vendors and music to keep everyone entertained and fed all weekend!
This year’s event was held September 10-11 at the fairgrounds in Kasson, Minnesota. I was lucky enough to roll into the 2010 Big Iron Classic driving Kevin Kramer’s dark green 1980 Peterbilt 352 cabover, following Kevin and his good friends Buck and Brent, into Kasson. Just over 500 trucks joined us on the grassy grounds surrounding the dirt track where the truck pull takes place. And since nobody is competing for trophies, everybody is laid-back and stress-free. Many truckers took advantage of their time at the show and spent much of the weekend cleaning and polishing – at least until the sun went down – then the fun really began!
Dax Trucking brought out their bright red “longest truck in the world” (Red Giant), which sports an eleven-foot wide by six-foot tall LED screen on each side of the twenty-one-foot long sleeper on this huge 1990 Diamond Reo. These folks entertained the masses with “trucker movies” all weekend long. The Pavilion was always the place to be – especially the first night when the rain storms were blowin’ through! This proved to be a perfect time to relax and enjoy a cold drink and a juicy pork chop on a stick.
This show, which was packed with fine rides, is also a charity toy drive benefitting organizations such as Toys for Tots and Semcac, a local agency that serves southeastern Minnesota. This year 3,600 toys were collected, which will be given to children in need this Christmas (everyone’s entry fee is simply to donate a toy). From the beginning, Jim and his friends always wanted this fun event to benefit a local charity, and over the years they have collected tens of thousands of toys for underprivileged kids.
Saturday morning started off with a bang when the clouds parted and the sun came blasting through, making it a perfect time to walk around and check everything out. Gary Prins’ maroon “little window” 1973 Peterbilt long hood was a blast from the cool old truck show past, while Wayne Nagel’s head-turning viper red Kenworth T660 and polished tanker was a look into the show truck future. Jeremy Heiderscheit and his smooth blue and silver 379 and matching roll top commanded more than one look, as did a super sharp black and white striped 1967 Kenworth K100 cabover owned by Barry Meyers and Tracy Rieks’ red and white 1978 Kenworth A-Model and trailer. The Eilen boys had at least 10 of their rigs at the show, including a new two-tone blue Pete, and Richie Bula was lookin’ cool in his green 1964 Diamond T cabover. There were so many nice trucks at this show it would be hard to mention them all!
On Saturday afternoon, around 100 rigs fired up and hit the road for the annual cruise through a few nearby towns. The truckers were greeted by cheering residents that lined the entire route and honked their horns. We all had a lot of fun during the parade, but we wasted no time in getting back to the fairgrounds in time to park the wagons and grab our seats for the truck pull! Being at the Big Iron on “official business” for the magazine, I was allowed to go out on the track, which was really cool. It’s not every day that you get a front-row seat to see trucks with their front wheels in the air, tugging a sled hundreds of yards down a dirt strip, and coming right at you! At the end of the night, the “King of the Hill” (KOTH) award in the Open Class went to Jack Keilmeyer and his white Peterbilt 379, while the winner of the KOTH award in the Working Class went to Brent Hamilton and his powerful blue Freightliner FLD120. In regards to the evening’s festivities, let’s just say that the smell of burnt fuel in the air went well with the beverages.
What started out as a cool idea among friends has developed into one of the finest truck displays in the country – for trucking enthusiasts of all ages. Rihm Kenworth, Allstate Peterbilt, Rockwood Products and dozens of other sponsors played a huge roll in helping out with the entire event. Jim Finn and his wife Brenda owe so many thanks to folks like Pat Barken, Glen Wallerich and artist Dustin Snell, along with over 42 other volunteers (most of whom have been helping since the event’s beginning) for making the 2010 Big Iron Classic such a hit. We at 10-4 Magazine would like to thank everybody in Kasson for making this year’s “Big Iron” such a fun-filled event. We hope to see you all (plus a few of your friends) next year!