As the 2024 truck show season began winding down late last year, we had one more event to attend before the final show of the season took place, which was our 10-4 Trucker Rodeo in November. This second to last event was the 3rd Annual Bobtail Apparel Truck Show, held once again at the Dixon May Fairgrounds in Dixon, CA on October 18-20. For the past three years, this event has been a casual and relaxing affair, with a nice collection of somewhat “local” iron, that we look forward to each year – and this year was no different.
Driving up on Friday, October 18, Dixon is about a four drive north for us. Facing some strong winds along the way, a wildfire broke out south of the show just before we got there. We were able to get by the flames, but we had to drive through a lot of smoke and dodge several fire trucks along the way to do so. Thankfully, the wind was blowing away from town and the show, and the awesome firefighters got control of the blaze in just a few hours, but it was a little bit scary, nonetheless.
Arriving at the fairgrounds just after noon, the winds were too strong for us to set up our canopies, see we opted to just do a makeshift setup inside our TFK trailer. Big thanks to our great friends Roger and Annette of Maggini & Sons Trucking who, once again, brought our 53-foot show trailer to the event with their famous yellow “Godfather” 1962 Peterbilt show truck with green flames. We love these people (the entire Maggini family) and cannot thank them enough for all they do for our Truckin’ For Kids charity event and 10-4 Magazine.
With a bar inside the trailer stocked with drinks and snacks, plenty of chairs, music, and shelter from the wind, this trailer quickly became a hangout spot for many that afternoon. Of course, we also had a good supply of 10-4 posters and centerfolds, t-shirts, and the last four or five editions of 10-4 Magazine for folks to grab and enjoy. To make sure people knew we were in there, we hung one of our banners above the open side doors of the trailer (it’s a Kentucky furniture van). It actually worked out really well but the next day, since the wind had calmed down, we went ahead and put our normal setup together in front of the trailer.
Friday night featured an unofficial light show, but we didn’t stick around for that, knowing we would be there the next night. Instead, we headed over to Bud’s Pub in downtown Dixon, which is just a mile or so down the road, with a group of friends from Central Valley Transport. Our digital manager and Studio 10-4 LIVE! weekly webcast host John Testa joined us, as well. We have been friends with brothers Mark and Keith Pounds at CVT (and their growing families) since they graced our cover back in August of 2005. The specialty at Bud’s Pub is Blackened Prime Rib, which many of us got (and it is the best), while a few others opted for the equally tasty Blackberry Ribeye steak! It was a fun night with good friends and a great meal.
Arriving at the show on Saturday morning, as mentioned before, the wind had died down, so we put our “regular” setup together, which features a canopy on the left side of the trailer doors for 10-4 Magazine, and a canopy on the right side of the trailer doors, which has a table and several chairs, and acts as a “lounge area” for people to just hangout in. There were about 17 other vendors which included Carballo Air Ride, Valley Tire, North Coast Wine, 972 Customs, Shine Supply Vacaville, Northgate Cargo Control, Western Trailer, Shine Master and Orozco Polishing, just to name a few, along with 147 registered trucks, so there was plenty to see and do.
Walking around the beautiful setting of the fairgrounds, most of the trucks were parked on grass. Some of the ones that stood out to us were names you’ve probably heard before – names like North Coast Wine, Mike Lowrie Trucking, Hildebrand’s Black Market Express, and Central Valley Transport. Along with those larger fleet operations were several small fleets and single truck owner operators you might have heard of like CG Soza, Chris Rocha, Mike Viviano, Bruce Campbell, Mitch Railsback, Phil Miller, and Stan Silva.
A few folks you maybe have not heard of but who had sweet rides at this show included Chad Hudson (a brown, orange and yellow 1985 Peterbilt 359), Mike Nelson (a caution yellow 1985 Peterbilt 359), Kirtis Burroughs (a “rusty” and highly modified 1987 Super-Liner rat rod roadster with a chopped top), and Troy Lathrop (a dark metallic green 2018 Peterbilt 389 with a standup sleeper).
Along with Troy Lathrop’s green 389 bobtail, my other personal favorite was Jared Morrison’s 2020 Peterbilt 389. Painted red and silver with a classic Seminole scheme, this sweet little 2-axle hay truck was sitting just right – and screamed California cool! Two other standouts included Tom Donaldson’s white, silver, and red 1966 Peterbilt 351 (which is built on a modern Peterbilt chassis with a 2005 model C-15 CAT under the hood), and P.J. Pedroncelli’s newly built dark maroon 2024 Peterbilt 389. I would not want to be a judge, but, thankfully, they had a few seasoned pros on hand to do it – Rod and Kevin Pickett, Steve Mitchell, and Missy and Rich from Bed Rock, a company that goes way back in California’s cool truck scene.
Saturday involved a lot of picture taking, a lot of talking, and a lot of those famous margaritas that are so popular at this event each year. When the day ended and the night began, the trucks turned on their lights in a dazzling display for the “official” light show. Shannon and Annette decorated our 10-4 booth for Halloween, adding all sorts of spooky lights and other fun things, and handed out candy. I love taking night shots, so I spent several hours capturing as many as I could. Admittedly, I am a little slow and meticulous when taking light show shots, but night pictures take a bit more time to do them right, so I never rush. By the time we closed down our booth and got in the car to head back to the hotel, it was well after 11:00 PM, and most of the show was pretty quiet.
Sunday morning came fast, and before we knew it, we were packing our trailer and getting ready to go home. This year, the trophies were passed out inside a building, instead of outside. With the ceremony starting at 11:00 AM, I arrived early to find a place near the front to take pictures alongside my friend and occasional 10-4 contributor, Chad Violet. Chad and his fiancé Amanda came all the way from Ohio to help take pictures and videos for Madison Lowrie, the show’s founder and producer, and rumor has it, they’ll be back next year!
This show has a few unique awards including “Fred’s Choice” (in memory of Fred Campigli), and “Heather’s Choice” (in memory of Heather Echarte). Both of these awards were made from a 5-foot tall piece of chrome exhaust pipe with pinstriping, and both awards went to worthy recipients. The Best Fleet award went to Central Valley Transport (CVT), and the Best of Show award, which was the biggest “trophy” we had ever seen, went to Colton Pounds of CVT and his red 2020 Peterbilt 389.
Once the awards were handed out, we went outside to get a few final photos, and then off we went, headed home. Big thanks go to Madison and her crew for always taking such good care of us. Next year’s show is scheduled for October 17-18, 2025. We will be there, and we hope to see you there, too! And this year’s winners were:
BOBTAILS (2022 & NEWER):1st Ron Ponchetta, 2024 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Ricky Guzman, 2024 Peterbilt 389.
BOBTAILS (2011-2021):1st Troy Lathrop, 2018 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Jared Morrison, 2020 Peterbilt 389.
BOBTAILS (1981-2010):
1st Mitch Railsback, 1987 Pete 359; 2nd Harold & Nick Silva, 1999 Pete 362.
BOBTAILS (1980 & OLDER):
1st Jake Wheeler, 1967 Peterbilt 288; 2nd Charlie Cunningham, 1965 Pete 352.
BOBTAILS (PRO. SHOW TRUCK UNDER 50K MILES):
1st PJ Pedroncelli, 2024 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Westen Williams, 2022 Pete 389.
BOBTAILS (PRO. WORK TRUCK OVER 50K MILES):
1st Jacob Rodriguez, 2016 KW W900; 2nd C.G. Soza, 2022 Kenworth W900.
COMBOS (PRO. SHOW TRUCK UNDER 50K MILES):
1st Cole Barbieri, 2023 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Stan Silva, 2023 Peterbilt 389X.
COMBOS (PRO. WORK TRUCK OVER 50K MILES):
1st Vince Anchondo, 2013 Pete 389; 2nd Preston Ketcherside, 1996 Pete 379.
BEST LIGHTS (BOBTAILS):
1st C.G. Soza, 2022 Kenworth W900; 2nd Troy Lathrop, 2018 Peterbilt 389.
BEST LIGHTS (COMBOS):
1st Stan Silva, 2023 Peterbilt 389X; 2nd Chris Rocha, 2020 Peterbilt 389.
SPECIALTY:
1st Colton Pounds, 2020 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Jared Reed, 2019 Peterbilt 389.
TANKERS:
1st Tommy Stine, 2022 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Mark Pounds, 2015 FL Coronado.
TRANSFERS:
1st Bruce Campbell, 2022 Pete 389; 2nd Miro Dragich Jr., 2021 Pete 389.
HEAVY HAULERS:
1st Stan Smith, 2023 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Alfonzo Garcia, 2020 Peterbilt 389.
FLATBEDS:
1st Cody Lowrie, 2021 Peterbilt 389; 2nd Wim Sirks, 2011 Peterbilt 389.
BEST STEREO:
Tommy Stine of North Coast Wine.
FRED’S CHOICE:
Phil Miller of Phil Miller Livestock.
HEATHER’S CHOICE:
The Morrison Family.
BEST FLEET:
Central Valley Transport.
BEST OF SHOW:
Colton Pounds of Central Valley Transport, Bakersfield, CA.