22 10-4 Magazine / April 2026 any of their brisket, ribs and such – there was just too much to do and the day, as it always does, was going fast. Other notable trucks at the show included a few of Crane Harvesting & Trucking’s yellow and white beauties, a handful of Mike Green’s always-amazing antiques, and Jeff Botelho’s latest black and blue 2-axle build. Ryan Hooten of Ryan’s Feed and his sweet red and black Kenworth was looking good with a load of hay, “Truck Show Joe” Eldridge and his violet and purple Pete was catching everyone’s eye, and Cody Lindamood and his bright red Peterbilt heavy hauler and matching trailer were on point, too. A few other standouts included David Viss and his 1953 “Bullnose” Kenworth, Action Materials’ silver and black 4-axle Peterbilt, Rusty Bradeen and his dark green 4-axle Kenworth, several white and blue trucks from PGH Excavating, Bruce Campbell and his black KW and, of course, Rod Pickett with his signature black Peterbilt RV. Spending most of the weekend walking around with our friends Kris and Angelina Gaare, along with past cover trucker (June 2018) Pierson “Teeny” Gravance, these guys are always fun to be around. We also enjoyed getting to spend some time with Nick Hale, who is currently publishing a book featuring pics from the late Stan Holtzman, who contributed to 10-4 for many years. In addition to talking (lots of talking!) and taking pictures, we were also there to promote our upcoming Truckin’ For Kids (TFK) charity show and drags coming in May, looking to secure more sponsors, vendors and participants. We handed out a lot of fliers!! But that show is a labor of love for all of us, so it never seems like “work” to work on it. After a long and hot day on the pavement and out on the track watching the drag racing, which culminated with Oscar Valesquez and V-Bros. (our cover feature this month) not only winning the Hot Rod Semi class but also setting a new ET record, it was finally time to hand out the awards. With custom trophies made by the guys at Pickett Custom Trucks in the shape of their home state of Arizona, Steve Mitchell did the announcing, and he is a man of few words, so the ceremony went pretty fast. Shelly and Warren Hartman also came out to the show and awarded the Kameron Wilken Young Entrepreneur Award to a stunned and emotional Sam Dodd. Look for more about Sam in an upcoming installment of our new “The Next Generation” column featuring the winners, past and present, of this prestigious award. After the awards, the diesel pickups (and a host of other diesel-powered oddities) headed to the burnout box for a hot burnout competition. And when I say “hot” I mean it, as several caught on fire, some blew tires, a few hit the concrete barriers, and all of them created so much smoke your eyes started to burn and you sometimes couldn’t even see them. The box was lined with Jersey Barriers, which were surrounded by spectators on every side. It was a wild way to end the show, and it proved once again that this was no mirage! If you missed it, we hope to see you there next year!! n
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA1MjUy