Stars were shining in the form of gleaming trucks and trailers and rigs were seen racing around EchoPark Speedway at over 100 mph on November 7-8, 2025, at the Stars, Stripes & White Lines National Championship in Atlanta, GA. The “Stars and Stripes” were flying in multiple locations throughout the event, and the “White Lines” went around the venue’s racetrack. This iconic place, that is formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, has a long history of welcoming big trucks to run full throttle around its mile and a half oval, and this show was no different.
We all know a truck show starts days before the scheduled dates, so I got to the speedway on Wednesday afternoon and got to see a few old friends. I also made a new friend as I was admiring a stunning 1969 Peterbilt. I started chatting with Ronnie Milsap and we laughed as he told me he wasn’t going to sing. But he didn’t need to sing, because his truck “Carolina Crush” was hitting all the notes. Next, I got a big hug from Raiko Graveran, and then I finally got to see Jerry Linander and Kate Whiting’s “No Fences” rig in person. With an Aero 1 bunk, this truck and trailer is one of my personal favorites and everything I’d been hearing about – and the longhorn on the side of the trailer is amazing. It was also nice to get a little time to catch up with Kasey and Terry Aslinger and their girls. Talking while cleaning goes hand-in-hand after you’ve been doing this truck show thing for a long time.
On Thursday morning, the process of parking everyone began, and I have to say, the speedway has a lot to offer when it comes to space. The infield of this track is a perfect venue. It has a rich history of trucks putting rubber to the racetrack, and where the first official truck race at a track was held on June 17, 1979 – they called it the Great American Truck Race (GATR). That first race, that was called the Bobtail 200, led to a truck racing series that lasted roughly 20 years. Our friend Lesa “Yoyo” Worley won the first race there, reaching 110 mph in her Peterbilt. The opening scene of Smokey and the Bandit II used actual footage from this race to launch the sport of truck racing.
Walking around I was impressed at all the attention to detail everyone was doing. The smell of cleaners mingled in the air, the sky was blue, and the temperature was absolutely perfect truck show weather. I don’t remember being at a show where I saw so many boots set beside the truck, as the stocking feet that belonged in those said boots were up in the engine compartment cleaning every little nook and cranny. I saw many ladders, totes full of supplies, and even Q-tips for those really hard to reach places. I have to give a shout out to all the polite young men who said “yes ma’am” to me. Parents, you did a good job!
Josh Rowan and his son Josh Jr. (he was one that said “yes ma’am”) were there with his suburban he calls Snooki. This was the first time I got to see her in person, and she is an impressive labor of love. Josh was in his booth drawing trucks as requested. He designs artwork for shirts, logos, and does amazing truck drawings on the spot. It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly he can put pen to paper and create a masterpiece. He also did a beautiful job designing the official t-shirts for this show.
They literally rolled out the red carpet, complete with red velvet curtains and a “VIP Entrance” sign that lit up, to walk through when entering the show area. Walking across that carpet and into the infield early Friday morning was like taking a little trip back in time for me. I thought about my best friend Bette Garber being here with her friend Dierdre Wogaman at that first race. Dierdre was happy to share with me pictures Bette took of her up on the side of a truck with Jerry Reed. I have stickers that Scott Bouma at Scott’s Signs in Grandville, MI made of Bette with her picture and her famous saying: “I can’t make you rich, but I can make you famous.” It was an appropriate place for me to hand out those stickers to friends and drivers. We lost a true trucking ambassador on November 13, 2008. For those that knew her, they have memories, and for those who don’t, I want to introduce you to her (we also feature her work in every edition of 10-4 these days as “Out of the Archives” with Bette Garber).
As I walked around talking to drivers and taking in all they had done to their trucks and tractor-trailer combos, I couldn’t help remembering again all the ways we did it back in the day. All the trucks had beautiful presentations sitting on carpet, tiles, cow hides and unique brag boards telling their truck or combo’s story. Kate Whiting, thank you for putting the “pouty baby” by Jerry’s left steer tire – I can sure remember that being a big thing at one point in time, and it really took me back.
Evan Steger went to seven shows throughout the year, all across the country, choosing trucks that stood out for him, and then invited them to compete at this national championship event. To be a part of the national championships, you had to be invited, but there was a whole other part of the show that you did not need to be invited to compete in. The national championship “qualifier” shows were Large Cars & Guitars, the Woodstock Truck Show in Ontario (Canada), SWVA, 10-4’s Truckin’ for Kids Show & Drags in California, Rigs on Route 66, Semi Casual and Old Town Rig Down.
Proudly presented by the Bennett Family of Companies for the first time last year, all the donations from this show go directly to Wreaths Across America. Now, between this show and the Taylor Family Foundation, they will donate what it takes to put a wreath on every grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Every driver there was proud to be part of such a prestigious event. The Wash and Park portion of this show, which did not require an invitation, was another way truckers could not only participate in the event but, on Friday, they could help raise money for Wreaths Across America by purchasing laps around the track in their trucks. It was awesome watching the trucks run around the track and listening to the sound of Jake Brakes, and in my mind, I saw a little bit of history being repeated.
I personally think it’s okay to take pictures of trucks running around the track, but the better place to shoot is from the cab of a truck driving as fast as it will go around the track. Thank you to the people at Bennett for making it happen. I got to ride with their 2024 Driver of the Year AJ Haley. The truck he drives has a wrap of pictures of his wife Loretta when she was younger and a nurse in the Army on one side, and a veteran themed wrap on the other side. As I sat in the passenger seat of that truck, I thought of all the times Bette rode with us in our passenger seat, shooting pictures over the hood of the different trucks I drove – it was pretty overwhelming, to say the least.
Friday night turned ducky, and a shower dampened the festivities, along with the live concert Tony Justice was putting on. But, looking at the bright side, the water left behind from the rain on Friday night created spectacular reflections in the pictures taken Saturday morning. It was quiet that morning as drivers wiped the rain off their trucks. During that time, I had struck up a conversation near Kenny and Heather Ziglar’s truck with a young man taking pictures. This young man, named Ethan Talamo, has a good eye when it comes to taking pictures, and he shared one of his “reflection shots” with me and I was beyond impressed. He was even willing to let me use it in this show report, so thank you for that, Ethan.
I took a stroll around the show, which was spread out, and included a row of Jeeps, motorcycles, and some classic cars. In the pit garages there were some vendors and people passing through the open garage doors. On the other side of the garage area was the Bennett compound, with more Wash and Park trucks, and an RV set up where they had dinner for the drivers on Thursday night. You didn’t have to wonder who was on the Bennett team as the entire staff was wearing matching, patriotic baseball jerseys. This was a “team” that knocked it out of the park, hitting Grand Slams all weekend!
We know that every show needs to have its sponsors and a big thank you to all that supported this event and the cause it goes to including Bennett Family of Companies, Trucker’s Body Shop, MHC Kenworth, MAC Trailers, Purple Wave Auction, CDL Life, Time 2 Shine, Roadworks, Dickerson Custom Trucks, Lifetime Nut Covers, Semi Casual, Lightning Jack, Hogebuilt, Rockwood, Dominguez, Hot Rig, 12 Ga. Customs, Rowan Conceptz, PDI, AP Coatings, Loyer Lubricants, Trux Accessories, Dynaflex, 10-4 Magazine, and EchoPark Speedway.
Saturday afternoon they held an auction for all the cool stuff that was donated and raised $22,400 for Wreaths Across America. Before Evan began announcing the winners, he got choked up a little as he thanked everyone for helping make his dream come true. Evan, by making your dream come true, you helped make many other’s dreams come true, too. Then it was time to crown the National Champions in the four classes. The winners were: Don Wood in the Limited Miles Combo class; CJ Nairn and Drew Discount in the Limited Miles Bobtail class; Rob Baesel in the Working Combo class; and Kenny Ziglar in the Working Bobtail class.
Congratulations to everyone who participated! And thank you, God, for making the clouds go around and not rain out the evening’s festivities. Now for the fun part – it was time for everyone who got invited to go out on the track and strut their stuff. Starting with two-time champion Don Wood, the master showed everyone else how it’s done when he did 116 mph around the track – with his show trailer in tow! I had the honor of riding around the track with Kenny and Heather Ziglar, and let me tell you, talk about intense concentration. I have been to a show or two over the years, but never anything as cool as this.
Last year there were 78 trucks and this year that number nearly tripled to 210+ trucks. Evan’s goal was 200 for this year, and his goal for next year is to have 400 trucks at the show. There is room on the infield to hold 500-600 trucks, and even if they fill that space, they will have the option to utilize some of the outside parking. Looking back at this show, I said, “The real trophy is the friendships you make at events like this, because they make memories and don’t collect dust.” Every truck there was a winner, and I have no doubt memories were made that will last a lifetime. The stars (trucks) were certainly shining bright in Atlanta that weekend!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Miki Paulauskas and Joe Ubertaccio for contributing some of the pictures for this report.