The 4th Annual East Coast Large Cars Truck Show was held on June 30th at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in beautiful Augusta, New Jersey. The show’s organizer and East Coast Large Cars (ECLC) founder Richie Acosta made one major change this year from the previous years – the show’s date was changed from the 2nd weekend in June, which happened to be the same weekend as the NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway in nearby Long Pond, Pennsylvania. This might not mean much to many people, but most of the locals know that it normally always rains on race weekend at Pocono. So, looking to improve his chances at having better weather, Richie moved the show to the last weekend in June, and for the first time in its short four-year history, it was a picture-perfect day. Well, except for the heat! The near 90-degree temperatures, coupled with blue skies and at times strong wind gusts, made for a great day of taking pictures, getting sunburnt, and enjoying cold drinks.
The ECLC show, which was presented by Elizabeth Truck Center (ETC), offered an array of things to look at and do this year, including vendors such as die cast toy truck dealers, trade schools, local truck dealers, truck parts, truck accessories, and even some stuff for the women at the show. One new attraction at the show this year was monster truck rides for a $5.00 fee (Richie himself was driving people around in the monster truck). Something else that makes this show special is the yearly meeting of the East Coast Mini Truckers, a group of die-hard truck enthusiasts who build scaled radio controlled (R/C) trucks and trailers that rival the detail of their full-sized counterparts. Attendees and participants at the show also got to listen to live music from “The Halo Effect” all day long.
As the sun came up on Saturday morning over the grassy fairgrounds, trucks started to roll in at a constant pace. By early afternoon the show field was filled with over 150 trucks, but even with the beautiful weather the event’s turnout was still slightly down this year. But even with the lower turnout, there were some really large rides in attendance.
Hillwick Trucking had a few standout rigs at the show that including several of there show trucks, a few of their everyday working rides, and their new Peterbilt 359 extended hood they just finished with the help of ETC. That particular truck was one of the talks of the show, as it was a beautifully-restored piece of rolling iron. Another standout truck at the show was the bright pink and black Peterbilt owned by Lebeau Menick that came all the way from Quebec, Canada. Cedar Hill Trucking from Selkirk, NY also brought out several trucks from their fleet of Kenworths and Petes that work every day pulling dump trailers. In fact, the Cedar Hill fleet was looking so good, they took home the Best Fleet award.
Speaking of awards, one thing that sets the ECLC show apart from other shows is the fact that all of the drivers who bring a truck to the show are the judges – it is completely driver’s choice. Awards are given, in no certain order, to the top ten trucks in each of the four categories: Classic, Straight Truck, Bobtail and Combination. Special awards were also given for Best of Show, Best Fleet, and Sponsor’s Choice. There is no ranking in the categories – no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. – the top ten trucks in each category are simply given an award.
So, at the end of the night, when all the awards were given out and everyone began to leave, the day came to an end. The 4th Annual ECLC truck show was a great success. Even with the smaller turnout, Richie put together another great show. The date for next year hasn’t been set as of yet, but make sure if you are in New Jersey next June and can make time to head over to Augusta, it will be well worth the trip.
CLASSIC: #29 Hillwick Trucking, #33 Mul-Ty Collection, #22 Brian Mindnich, #38 Bill Foose Sr., #18 Bill Nagy, #46 Manny Lopez, #48 Tony Scinto, #15 Brian Bobrick, #16 Allison Bobrick, and #20 Mul-Ty Collection.
STRAIGHT TRUCK: #31 Mike Castro, #8 Steve Rancurt, #24 Mul-Ty Collection, #56 David Francis, #61 Larick Towing, #103 Brian Jones Trucking, #105 Anthony Auriemma, #26 Direct Waste Services, #6 P.J. Perkins, and #93 Glenn Belfi.
BOBTAIL: #39 Bill Foose Jr, #28 Dominique Vessette, #59 Larick Towing, #52 Cedar Hill Trucking, #25 Hillwick Trucking, #69 Mark Lotz, #111 Joe Gallapo, #11 Brad Cosh, #49 Mark Harkleroad, and #51 Cedar Hill Trucking.
COMBINATION: #41 J & J Specialized, #107 CRL, #57 David Francis, #40 CRA Trucking, #108 Maya Sieber, #109 Charlie Guida, #75 Craig Stine, #74 Brandon Stine, #19 Todd Modderman, and #96 Michael Gulliver.
SPONSOR’S CHOICE: Joe Gallopo.
BEST FLEET: Cedar Hill Trucking, Selkirk, NY.
BEST OF SHOW: J & J Specialized, Totowa, NJ.