In the world of truck shows, each one typically has something unique to help it stand out from all the rest. And although truck and tractor pulls are a regular occurrence in the Midwest and back east, they are not nearly as common out west, but the Soza Memorial Truck Show & Tractor Pulls, which raises money for a good cause that is near and dear to the show founders, featured not one but two nights of exciting truck and tractor pulls right here in the heart of California’s Central Valley. The 5th annual event was held at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, CA on September 26-28, 2025, and in addition to the tractor pulls, it also featured a truck show and shine, vendors, food, live music, raffles, giveaways and more.
Rolling into Turlock on Thursday afternoon to get our vendor space set up, which again featured the bright yellow and green Maggini & Son “Godfather” 1962 Peterbilt, piloted by our friends Roger and Annette Ghidelli, pulling our TFK show trailer. The trailer, which has two side doors and a set of stairs at the center of the trailer, was flanked with several canopies. The 10-4 Magazine booth, with magazines, posters, and shirts, was set up to the right of the stairs, while the “10-4 Lounge” was located on the left side, which provided shade, tables and chairs, music, snacks and drinks, and a fun place for folks to just hang out during the show. Truck shows are all about spending time with friends and making new ones, and the “lounge” helps give us that opportunity.
With our booth situated in a great central location, as it always is, we enjoyed the show and all it had to offer. But, before things really got kicked off on Friday afternoon, we had scheduled a photo shoot for Friday morning, so Miss Shannon and I were out and about getting that done first thing. As most of you now know, “Cabover Kev” (Kevin Young) of Waxahachie, TX brought his classically styled 1981 Freightliner cabover, fitted with a 12V-71 Detroit and a set of sticks, all the way out to the show for this photo shoot. Taking photographs all over the fairgrounds that morning, we were proud to feature Kevin’s cabover on our November 2025 cover.
The show officially opened at 3:00 PM on Friday and we were ready. With near perfect weather in the mid to upper 80s, 115 beautiful trucks were parked (mostly) on the grass. This show drew in some of the finest fleets from California’s Central Valley including Hildebrand’s Black Market Express, Silva Trucking, and Double E Trucking. Each of these fleets had several units on display, among all the other big rides, brought out by their proud owners and/or drivers. And, based on the awards, it would be fair to say that Billy Ezernack and his crew at Double E dominated at this event.
Along with all the trucks, DJ Dan Utica spun tunes all weekend while several food vendors served up some of the finest treats including Mid-Valley BBQ, Promix 559, The Soda Parlor, El Comalon, Squeezed, Mexibites, Ro’s Shaved Ice and Churrocks Churros. The “dirty sodas” seemed to be a big hit this year, but I did not try one. Along with all the food vendors there were about 20 trucking related vendor booths with everything from bumpers to mattresses, cleaners to cargo control products, and trucks to trucking apparel – there was something for everyone at this show.
This year, to help grow and promote the event, show producers Ashleigh and C.G. Soza hired Josh Mendoza and his team at Centered Marketing in Madera, CA to help get the word out – and a lot more. In the months prior to the show, they redid the show’s website, created unique and engaging content for their social media channels, and took part in much of the show coordinating and planning. Ashleigh said it was a great investment for the future of the event. They also produced and printed the first-ever show program, had a team of photographers and videographers at the event, and even came out to the “Team 10-4” headquarters a few months before the show to create an event promo. It was fun. These folks seemed really good to work with, and we look forward to all that hard work (and money) paying off for C.G. and Ashleigh.
With the truck and tractor pulls, produced by MLM Motorsports, on both Friday and Saturday nights, there was a lot of action out on the track. Although there were no big rigs pulling, it was still fun to watch the pickups and big custom tractors screaming down the track, billowing black smoke, and kicking up dirt. These events also brought in a lot of spectators, which is always good for a truck show. Each night also had a light show, and Saturday night featured a Morgan Wallen tribute band called 7 Summers, and they were great. Miss Shannon and I both donned our cowboy hats that night and proceeded to walk around and promote our “trucker rodeo” that was just a few weeks away.
In addition to the cowboy hats that we wore much of the weekend, we also wore rodeo shirts, and some of the ladies in our booth went full “cowgirl” with denim skirts, boots and turquoise jewelry. We also brought out the “heavy equipment” for our newest competition class at our rodeo, which just happened to be John Deere pedal tractors! We had fun watching the faces of would-be competitors as we described the event and pointed out the “heavy equipment” they were going to be required to ride. Of course, we also had a few “Betsy” cows on hand, as well, which are the stars of our cow loading competition.
Another neat thing at this year’s Soza show were the trophies. Made by a place called Kre8ive House in SoCal, these unique trophies featured the official logo for the event, presented in “layered” acrylic, and were real head-turners. Find them on Instagram if you are looking for something different for your next event.
In addition to the trophies, there was also a belt buckle for the Best of Show winner, along with a few other styles of awards for some of the different classes. And, as mentioned before, the folks at Double E took home many of these trophies – seven in total, including Best Fleet, Best Polish, Best Dry Van, all three trophies in the Tanker class, and Best of Show Working Truck.
Some of the other big winners were Chris Rocha of C. Rocha Enterprises and his black Peterbilt 389X (Kid’s Choice and Best Commodity Trailer), Silva Trucking and their turquoise Peterbilts (1st in the Construction and Specialty classes, 2nd in Lights and Pro Show Truck Combo, Competitor’s Choice, and Best of Show Limited Miles Combo), and Bobby Vaz of Robert Vaz Trucking, whose cream and burnt orange 2-axle 2022 Peterbilt 389 earned A.J.’s Choice and Best of Show Limited Miles Bobtail. Another big winner was Supreme Auto, as several of their sweet car carriers took home a bunch of trophies, as well.
Some of our other favorites that were standing tall included our friends at Double R Trucking and their nearly matching cream, orange and turquoise Cascadias, Dominic Gonzalez of Antonio & Sons Trucking and his slammed silver and black Freightliner Coronado, A & L Truck Supply and their mascot, a red 2003 Peterbilt 379, and Genace Hay’s red and white 2025 Peterbilt 567 hooked to a matching cattle pot. Our friend and past cover trucker Kenny Campos of Heet Trucking also looked good with his metallic grey and red 2016 Kenworth T680. Two older trucks that may or may not have caught your eye – but should have – were a pair of somewhat rare 1980 Peterbilt 353s, with sequential serial numbers, and very low miles (one has 859 original miles, and the other has only 4,200 original miles). Look for a feature on these two unique trucks in a future edition of 10-4 Magazine.
As mentioned in the beginning of this report, this show raises money for a cause that is very near and dear to C.G. and Ashleigh Soza. C.G. lost his first wife Windly and their son A.J. in a tragic auto accident in 2016. A.J., like his father C.G., struggled with dyslexia, and Windly was taking him to his weekly treatments when the accident occurred. In their memory, and to raise money and awareness for the cause, C.G. and his wife Ashleigh formed the A.J. Soza Dyslexia Foundation, and this show funds the efforts of that foundation. In January, the couple will announce the next recipient of the dyslexia tutoring, at no charge, from the proceeds of this year’s Soza Memorial Truck Show.
Next year’s dates have been set for September 25-27, 2026, at the same location in Turlock, CA. Stay tuned to 10-4 Magazine and the Soza Memorial Truck Show website for updates as they become available. Going to shows is fun, but raising money for a worthwhile cause AND having fun is the best of both worlds. We hope to see you next year so that you can be part of the excitement, showing and shining, and pullin’ for charity – in 2026 and beyond.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To see all the winners of the truck and tractor pulls from this weekend, visit www.mlm-motorsports.com and check out the “results” section. Following are all the winners of the truck show!
HOT SHOT: 1st L&E Mechanic Services, Scott Lewis (2011 Ford F-550).
TOW TRUCK: 1st Tow Guys, Cierra Terra (2024 International MV).
PRIDE IN YOUR RIDE: 1st Manna Ranch, Colton Vincent (2022 Peterbilt 389); 2nd Coxe Transportation, Ray Shorey (2024 Western Star); 3rd Hartill Heavy Haul, Alan Pelaya (2019 Peterbilt 389).
WORKING ANTIQUE (1990 & OLDER): 1st Big Sexy Truck & Tractor, Rob Donato (1983 Peterbilt 359).
NON-WORKING ANTIQUE (1990 & OLDER): 1st Jerry Salinas (1963 Peterbilt 281); 2nd Maggini & Sons, Roger Ghidelli (1962 Peterbilt 281); 3rd FJ Willert Contracting, Todd Lemke (1966 GMC).
FREIGHTLINER BOBTAIL (2001& NEWER): 1st Antonio & Sons, Dominic Gonzalez (2012 Freightliner Coronado); 2nd Double R Trucking, Rene Camacho (2014 Freightliner Cascadia); 3rd Double R Trucking, Manuel Cardenas (2011 Freightliner Cascadia).
KENWORTH BOBTAIL (2001 & NEWER): 1st: Figueroa Trucking, Danny Figueroa (2015 Kenworth T680); 2nd A. Sanchez Transport, Jordy Sanchez (2016 Kenworth T680); 3rd Garcia & Sons, Diego Garcia (2020 Kenworth W900).
PETERBILT BOBTAIL (2001 & NEWER): 1st Coxe Transportation, Kenny Coxe (2023 Peterbilt 389); 2nd URI’s Transportation, Uriel Perez (2016 Peterbilt 389); 3rd Moonlight, Craig Souza (2015 Peterbilt 389).
COMBO (REFER/DRY VAN): 1st Double E Trucking (2022 Peterbilt 389); 2nd Teocal Transport, Andrew Aguirre (2024 Kenworth W900); 3rd Herman Transport, Ignacio Flores (2019 Peterbilt 389).
COMBO (FLATBED/DOUBLES/CURTAIN): 1st J. Delgadillo Trucking, Johnny Delgadillo; 2nd Heet Trucking, Kenny Campos (2016 Kenworth T680); 3rd J. Delgadillo Trucking, Johnny Delgadillo (2011 Peterbilt 386).
CABOVER BOBTAIL: 1st Robert Vaz Trucking, Jhett Johnston (1995 Peterbilt 362); 2nd G. Young & Son Trucking, Kevin Young (1981 Freightliner).
COMMODITY TRAILERS: 1st C. Rocha Enterprises, Chris Rocha (2024 Peterbilt 389X); 2nd West Coast Hauling, Donny Peterson (2018 Peterbilt 389); 3rd Five Star Custom Spreading, Bryce Betschart (2023 Peterbilt 389).
CONSTRUCTION (BOTTOM DUMPS/END DUMP/LOWBOY): 1st: Silva Trucking, Stan Silva (2022 Peterbilt 389); 2nd FJ Willert Contracting, Todd Lemke (2024 Peterbilt 389X); 3rd Silva Trucking, Stan Silva (Peterbilt 389).
SPECIALTY (CAR HAULER/LANDOL): 1st: Silva Trucking, Stan Silva (2019 Peterbilt 389); 2nd Supreme Auto, Paul Ortiz (2023 Peterbilt 389); 3rd Supreme Auto, Brandon Spengeman (2020 Peterbilt 389).
CATTLE TRUCK: 1st JM Mascaro, Ryan Burke (2024 Kenworth W900); 2nd Genace Hay, Jerud Millard (2025 Peterbilt 567).
COMBO (TANKER): 1st Double E Trucking (2024 Peterbilt 389); 2nd Double E Trucking (2019 Peterbilt 389); 3rd Double E Trucking (2016 Peterbilt 389).
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK COMBO: 1st Hildebrand’s Black Market Express, Tony Noto (Peterbilt 389); 2nd Silva Trucking, Stan Silva (2022 Peterbilt 389X).
PROFESSIONAL SHOW TRUCK BOBTAIL: 1st A&L Truck Supply, Maylken Huerta (2003 Peterbilt 379); 2nd Michael Harvey Trucking, Michael Harvey (2023 Peterbilt 389).
KID’S CHOICE: C. Rocha Enterprises, Chris Rocha (2024 Peterbilt 389X).
BEST INTERIOR: Hildebrand’s Black Market Express, Tony Noto (Peterbilt 389).
BEST ENGINE: A&L Truck Supply, Maylken Huerta (2003 Peterbilt 379).
BEST PAINT: Hildebrand’s Black Market Express, Tony Noto (Peterbilt 389).
BEST POLISH: Double E Trucking.
BEST LIGHTS: 1st Supreme Auto, Paul Ortiz (Peterbilt 389); 2nd Silva Trucking, Stan Silva; 3rd Supreme Auto, Brandon Spengeman (Peterbilt 389).
BEST FLEET: Double E Trucking.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: EG Trucking.
COMPETITOR’S CHOICE: Silva Trucking, Stan Silva (2022 Peterbilt 389X).
AJ’S CHOICE: Robert Vaz Trucking, Bobby Vaz (2022 Peterbilt 389).
BEST OF SHOW (LIMITED MILES COMBO): Silva Trucking, Stan Silva (2022 Peterbilt 389X).
BEST OF SHOW (LIMITED MILES BOBTAIL): Robert Vaz Trucking, Bobby Vaz (2022 Peterbilt 389).
BEST OF SHOW WORKING TRUCK: Double E Trucking (2012 Peterbilt 389 & Step Deck).