Once again, for the third year in a row, beautiful St. George, Utah was the site of the annual Customer Appreciation Dyno Event & Pride and Polish Contest hosted by Performance Diesel Inc. (PDI). Held Friday and Saturday, November 2nd and 3rd, this show, which this year was an official stop on the 2012 Pride & Polish truck show tour, featured perfect weather, about 35 trucks, vendors, food and more.
Last year, the folks at PDI added a truck show beauty contest to their dyno competition, and this year, that part of the event got even bigger. Being part of a “national circuit” of truck shows drew in people from all across the country. On Friday, most of the truck beauty competitors spent the day getting parked, cleaning, and just hanging out with friends (or making new ones). After the sun went down, all of the trucks fired up their lights, hoping to impress the judges in the Light Show categories.
Saturday morning came quickly, as the judges began to walk the lot and mark their score sheets, searching for the cleanest trucks. All Pride & Polish events are considered to be “white glove” judged shows – which basically means that you had better clean every nook and cranny. At this particular event, they added a laid-back category for everyday work trucks called the Wash & Show class. Several trucks opted out of the white glove judging and instead competed in this class. In addition to the competitors and their families, the entire PDI staff, and several vendors (who had set up displays at the show), there were also many people walking around the parking lot who had just came out to see the cool rigs. Everyone in attendance, on both days, was treated to a free lunch, courtesy of PDI.
PDI also had their pink and black “Breast Cancer Awareness” truck parked at the show, which will be raffled off at the big truck show in Louisville, KY this coming March. The folks at PDI have been selling raffle tickets for this truck all year, and all of the proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. This cool (yes, pink can be cool) 2001 Peterbilt 379, which has been tricked out by a variety of participating sponsors, has an estimated value of $80,000. The tickets, which are only $10 each, are going fast. To buy yours, go to www.pdidiesel.com today.
Like every year, the standout event at this show is the dyno competition. After chaining the trucks down inside the dyno building and hooking the machine up to the truck’s computer, the truck is fired up, and then the dyno proceeds to place a load on the engine. Crowds stood outside the dyno bay and cheered as the trucks blew thick black smoke and screamed loudly – you could “feel” (as well as hear) the power, for sure. The results were pretty incredible, too. Kurt Murray’s Cat C16 powered red Peterbilt logged a whopping 1,529 horsepower, making him the “King of the Hill” at the competition. Another strong finisher this year was Don Ipson (last year’s “King of the Hill” winner), whose Cat-powered rig registered an awesome 1,444 horsepower, putting him at the top of the Caterpillar class.
Some of the notable winners in the beauty contest included Paul Marcotte, who came all the way from Momence, IL to show off his black and red 1999 Peterbilt 379 and polished Heil tanker (he won a ton of big awards), Cody Madsen of American Fork, UT who bagged the 1st Place trophy in the Wash & Show Bobtail class with his yellow 2007 Peterbilt (and “the big trophy” in the Cummins dyno class), and Tommy Larsen of Ryan’s Feed in Santa Ynez, CA. Showing Ryan Hooten’s black cherry 1995 Peterbilt 379 hooked to double hay trailers (our February 2008 cover truck), Tommy took home several trophies for his efforts. Another big winner was Josh Skidmore of Brigham City, UT – his 2007 white and yellow Peterbilt Legacy earned four awards, including Best of Show Working Bobtail. This event was a real success, and I hope to be there again one year from now at the next PDI show and dyno contest. The 2012 winners were:
DYNO (CAT): 1st Don Ipson (1,444 hp); 2nd Paul Marcotte (850 hp); 3rd Robinson Transport (676 hp).
DYNO (CUMMINS): 1st Cody Madsen/Mcallister Enterprises (707 hp); 2nd Moe Whitchurch (650 hp); 3rd Guy Shock (591 hp).
DYNO (DETROIT): 1st Randy Rebillard (641 hp); 2nd Bill Duckworth/JCT (422 hp).
LIGHTS (BOBTAIL): 1st Isaac Aguilar/Sandvik Trucking; 2nd John Gonzales/Yamko Truck Lines; 3rd Nick Mitchell/Michael Most Trucking.
LIGHTS (COMBO): 1st Tommy Larsen/Ryan’s Feed; 2nd Paul Marcotte/Marcotte Farms; 3rd Moe Whitchurch III/Whitchurch & Son Trucking.
WASH & SHOW (BOBTAIL): 1st Cody Madsen/Mcallister Enterprises; 2nd (tie) Kurt Murray/Highland Transport; 2nd (tie) Gurney Trucking; 2nd (tie) Michael Weymouth/Tuf Transport; 3rd Rocky Mountain Transportation Services.
WASH & SHOW (COMBO): 1st Kamrie Brinkerhoff/Bob Orton Trucking; 2nd Ken Bettridge Trucking; 3rd DATS.
WORKING (BOBTAIL): 1st Josh Skidmore/Skidmore Transportation Services; 2nd Robert Thomas/Skidmore Transportation Services; 3rd Kevin Williams/Dan Robinson.
WORKING (COMBO): 1st Tommy Larsen/Ryan’s Feed; 2nd Bill Duckworth/JCT; 3rd Moe Whitchurch III/Whitchurch & Son Trucking.
INTERIOR (CAB ONLY): 1st Josh Skidmore/Skidmore Transportation Services.
INTERIOR (OEM SLEEPER): 1st Tommy Larsen/Ryan’s Feed; 2nd Bill Duckworth/JCT; 3rd Kevin Williams/Dan Robinson.
BEST INTERIOR (LIMITED MILES): Isaac Aguilar/Sandvik Trucking.
PAINT (COMBO): 1st Tommy Larsen/Ryan’s Feed; 2nd Bill Duckworth/JCT.
BEST PAINT (LIMITED MILES BOBTAIL): Nick Mitchell/Michael Most Trucking.
BEST PAINT (LIMITED MILES COMBO): Paul Marcotte/Marcotte Farms.
ENGINE: 1st Tommy Larsen/Ryan’s Feed; 2nd Josh Skidmore/Skidmore Transportation Services; 3rd Bill Duckworth/JCT.
BEST ENGINE (LIMITED MILES): John Gonzales/Yamko Truck Lines.
BEST OF SHOW (LIMITED MILES BOBTAIL): John Gonzales/Yamko Truck Lines.
BEST OF SHOW (LIMITED MILES COMBO): Paul Marcotte/Marcotte Farms.
BEST OF SHOW (WORKING BOBTAIL): Josh Skidmore/Skidmore Transportation Services.
BEST OF SHOW (WORKING COMBO): Tommy Larsen/Ryan’s Feed.
BEST OF SHOW OVERALL (BEAUTY & DYNO): Paul Marcotte/Marcotte Farms.
KING OF THE HILL: Kurt Murray (1,592 hp).