Truckin’ For Kids is always a fun show, but this year it was a smokin’ good time – partly because the trucks were smokin’ hot and partly because this year we hosted a free dinner on Saturday night featuring smoked pork ribs. Held annually for various children’s charities, this event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over its 36-year run. Held at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, CA on October 1-2, 2016, we at 10-4 have been sponsoring, promoting and participating in this event for almost 25 years.
Being one of our “backyard” shows, we always try to do a little more than usual at this event. This year, we hosted a full-on free dinner for anyone in attendance on Saturday night. With major amounts of help from my BBQ buddy Vince Jenkins, he and I spent the entire day slow-smoking 30 slabs of spare ribs, on a large trailer smoker provided by Paul Pangburn. Along with the ribs, basted with my homemade sweet and spicy BBQ sauce, we also provided homemade baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, fresh-baked cornbread muffins and drinks (water, beer, soda and Gatorade).
When it was finally time to start serving, we took care of all of the Truckin’ For Kids volunteers first, and then opened it up to the general public, that had already lined-up 50-deep and were waiting. Needless to say, after about 45 minutes, everything was gone! We hope everyone enjoyed the meal – we sure enjoyed making and serving it. Special thanks to Paul Pangburn, Vince Jenkins and the entire 10-4 crew for all of their help in making this happen. During dinner, we also enjoyed some great music compliments of our friend and former truck driver turned DJ “Big Daddy” (Julian Ralph Perez).
After a good night’s rest, it was time to get back down to business at the truck show on Sunday morning. Setting up our bright red party tent in the usual location by the stage, we had plenty of magazines and posters to hand out. We also debuted our latest t-shirt, which was well-received by the crowds of truck owners and drivers at the show. Sunday featured working contents, truck and pickup drag racing, trucking-related vendor booths, various food options, and the truck beauty competition – and with over 350 trucks on the lot, the judges had their hands full.
Amidst all of the well-known rides owned by folks like Nava, Maggini and Lil Ray, there was plenty of other amazing iron there to drool over, as well. A few notable ones included Double E Trucking’s fleet of black, white and green rigs, DeBoer’s silver and blue Peterbilt 389 cattle hauler, Carballo Transport’s slick white aero Peterbilt, and Ryan Van Dyke’s turquoise-colored Pete (which we awarded with our Sponsor’s Choice trophy). There were also some sweet rides from Bender Ready Mix, Drake Farms and PDI. John Murray’s small fleet of flame-adorned red Peterbilts and Todd Campbell’s “old school” classic two-tone green Peterbilt 352 cabover were turning a lot of heads, too.
With their “Uno Mas” and “Wicked” trucks winning Best of Show, Best Engine, Best OTR Truck, Best Lights (Combo and Bobtail) and several of their classes, it would be fair to say that Ray & Suzie Rodriquez of Lil Ray’s Transport were the big winners this year. PDI (Brady Jensen) and Joel Olson Trucking (Gary Ross) did pretty good, too, earning the top honors in Best Art Detail and People’s Choice, respectively. Once all of the awards and raffle prizes were handed out late in the afternoon, it was time to clean everything up and head home.
Big thanks go out to Frank and Diana Pangburn, and their entire volunteer crew, for once again putting a fantastic truck show and party together. We are proud to be affiliated with such a terrific group of people. Dates for next year have already been announced, so we hope to see you at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, CA on October 7-8, 2017. And this year’s winners were:
SATURDAY NIGHT LITE THE LOT
COMBO: Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport (Wicked).
BOBTAIL: Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport (Uno Mas).
ANTIQUE: Mark McLeroy.
WORKING CONTESTS
REAR-END LOADING: 1st Kurt Avend; 2nd Carlos Lopez; 3rd Patrick Scollard.
FRONT-END LOADING: 1st Kurt Avend; 2nd Carlos Lopez; 3rd Rob McLoud.
BACKING: 1st Mark Tarascou; 2nd Jharod VanDer Tuig.
DRAG RACING WINNERS
JUNIOR DRAGSTER: Melanie LaBurn.
PU/SUV (STREET TIRES): Danny Marquez.
PU/SUV (SLICKS): Charles Nesselpoa.
DIESEL PICKUP: Nathan McClusky.
BIG RIG BRACKET RACING: Mark Tarascou.
SUPER DRAG TRUCK: Wayne Talkington.
SHOW & SHINE AWARDS
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK: 1st Bubba Teixeira/Maggini & Sons Trucking; 2nd Jose Huerta/A & L Truck Supply; 3rd Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport.
3-AXLE CONV (2015-2016): 1st Daniel Barragan/Popelinos; 2nd Mark Tarascou; 3rd Ritchie Gutierrez/So. Cal Express.
3-AXLE CONV (2012-2014): 1st Enrique Barra/Golden State Foods; 2nd Jim Jones/DDT; 3rd Daniel Barragan/Popelinos Transport.
3-AXLE CONV (2007-2011): 1st Jose Ruben Vargas/R & E Trucking; 2nd Guillermo Zuniga/So. Cal Express; 3rd Colton Pounds/Central Valley Transport.
3-AXLE CONV (2001-2006): 1st Ryan Van Dyke/George Van Dyke Trucking; 2nd Brady Jensen/PDI; 3rd George Ballesteros/Nava.
3-AXLE CONV (1992-2000): 1st Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport; 2nd Eric Castro/US Allied Logistics; 3rd Eduardo Lopez/Premier Transport.
2-AXLE CONV (2011-2016): 1st Rafael Avalos/Mora Trucking; 2nd Jesus Perez/DDT; 3rd Max Mondragon/Mondragon Trucking.
2-AXLE CONV (2006-2010): 1st Scott Sakugawa/Macedo Hay; 2nd Everardo Lopez/Lopez Trucking; 3rd Josh Carballo/Carballo Transport.
2-AXLE CONV (1992-2005): 1st Raymond Reyes/Gardner Trucking; 2nd Alexis Solares/Alexis Trucking; 3rd Frank Fuentes/Fuentes Super Soil.
CABOVERS (ALL): 1st David Bryson/Hettinga Transport; 2nd Brian Governo/Southside BBQ; 3rd Marty Miles/H & M Express.
WORKING ANTIQUE (1970-1991): 1st Don Arias/D.J. Arias; 2nd Don Arias/D.J. Arias; 3rd Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport.
WORKING ANTIQUE (1969 & OLDER): 1st Paul Anker.
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE (1991 & OLDER): 1st Paul Cox; 2nd Willem DeBoer/DeBoer Dairy; 3rd Craig Tomlinson/Goodall Trucking.
LOCAL DELIVERY: 1st Colton Pounds/Central Valley Transport; 2nd Scott Sakugawa/Macedo Hay; 3nd Hector Barraza/Barraza Refrigerated Transport.
DUMP TRUCK: 1st Glenn Fetters/Tarascou Trucking; 2nd Moses Marin/Tarascou Trucking; 3rd Danny Ramirez/M & Sons Trucking.
WRECKER/ROLL-BACK: 1st Felix Montoya/Monzon & Son Enterprises; 2nd Miguel Martinez/Today’s Towing; 3rd Dan Gilbert/Lagomarsino Transport & Towing.
SERVICE TRUCK: 1st John Murray/M & J Trans; 2nd Todd Lemke/F.T. Willert Construction; 3rd Mike Fletcher/Fletcher’s Diesel.
SPECIALTY RIG: 1st Matthew Prentice/Prentice Auto Transport; 2nd Mark Tarascou/Tarascou Trucking; 3rd Derek Severson/Underwood.
HOBBY TRUCK: 1st Todd Lemke/Lemke Speed & Marine; 2nd Travis Vermeer/S & C Service; 3rd Mark Tarascou/Tarascou Trucking.
ROCKWOOD INTERIOR: 1st Jose Ruben Vargas/R & E Trucking; 2nd Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport; 3rd Shawn McClintic/Arrowhead-Nestle.
SMALL FLEET: 1st Simi Pacific Bldg. Materials; 2nd Drake Boys; 3rd Stan Alles Transport.
LARGE FLEET: 1st DDT; 2nd Arrowhead-Nestle.
SPECIALTY TRAILER: 1st Brady Jensen/PDI; 2nd Donald Arias/DJ Arias & Sons; 3rd Sam Fey/Sam Fey Trucking.
FLATBED: 1st Bubba Teixeira/Maggini & Son Trucking; 2nd Daniel Barragan/Popelinos Transport; 3rd Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport.
HEAVY HAUL/LOWBEDS: 1st Dave Doll/R.D. Reed Heavy Transport; 2nd Colton Pounds/Central Valley Transport; 3rd Joe Adavari/Adavari Trucking.
END DUMP: 1st John Murray/M & J Transport; 2nd Justin Borges/Justin Borges Trucking; 3rd Pat Parker/P.A. Parker.
TRANSFER: 1st Sean Lightenberg/Ver Steeg Trucking; 2nd Ron Ver Steeg/Ver Steeg Trucking; 3rd Jared Reed/Jared Reed Trucking.
STAINLESS STEEL TANKER: 1st Jim Jones/DDT; 2nd Uriel Paramo/Double E Trucking; 3rd Eddie Munguia/Stan Alles Transport.
ALUMINUM TANKER: 1st Eddie Davis/Arco; 2nd Richard Arbisa/United Hauling; 3rd Robert Pole/United Hauling.
SPECIALTY TROPHIES
QUICKEST PICKUP: Edgar Reyes.
QUICKEST BIG RIG: Wayne Talkington.
BEST OTR TRUCK: Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport (Uno Mas).
BEST ART & DETAIL: Brady Jensen/PDI.
BEST ENGINE: Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport (Wicked).
BEST INTERIOR (CAB ONLY): Jorge Ballesteros/NAVA.
BEST SLEEPER: Mark Wettstein/Intercontinental Express (I.C.E.).
LONGEST TOW: Daniel Viens (Derry, NH).
SPONSOR’S CHOICE (10-4 MAGAZINE): Ryan Van Dyke/George Van Dyke Trucking.
BEST INTERNATIONAL: Max Frenes/Golden State Foods.
BEST FREIGHTLINER: Gus Flores/Tamo.
BEST KENWORTH: Paul Cox.
BEST PETERBILT: John Gardner/Gardner Trucking.
BEST METAL SHINE: John Murray/M & J Trans.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Gary Ross/Joel Olson Trucking.
BEST OF SHOW: Ray & Suzie Rodriquez/Lil Ray’s Transport (Uno Mas).