10-4 Magazine December 2021

12 10-4 Magazine / December 2021 Growing up with dyslexia, C.G. struggled as a kid, but once he was properly diagnosed, he got the help he needed to overcome this learning disability that affects the skills involved with reading, spelling, and writing. After his son A.J. was diagnosed with it, his wife Windley began driving him to a specialized tutor 30 minutes nor th of where they lived, twice a week. Windley, who was a highly educated teacher, also had some medical challenges, including epilepsy, which gave her occasional seizures, but was under control with medication. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but on September 7, 2016, on the way to one of these tutoring sessions with A.J., while traveling nor th on Highway 99, she suddenly jerked the wheel to the left and crossed the center median, colliding at full speed with a pickup heading south. Windley and A.J. were both killed instantly. The other driver sustained serious injuries but survived. According to witnesses and the “black box” recorder in their car, all indicators pointed to Windley having a seizure. C.G. was devastated and ended up taking about six weeks off, but eventually realized that he NEEDED to go back to work – for various reasons. In situations like these, diving into your work can sometimes be a good distraction, and that is what C.G. did. He also leaned on his two older kids, that really helped him get through this difficult time. Going back to hauling cars, C.G. decided it was time to take the business to the next level, so he and his old friend from high school became par tners. In January of 2017, C.G. had his 2-axle KW conver ted to a 3-axle and stretched his wheelbase to 278 inches. At this point, he added new single-hump fiberglass fenders, painted to match by his cousins who owned a body shop (Romero’s Tri Valley Auto Body) in Livermore, CA. He also installed a painted visor, added air-ride to the front axle, and did a few more things to it, before going back to work pulling a 7-car Miller transpor ter. Although they were working hard, they never seemed to get ahead. Then, in 2019, C.G. realized that his par tner was living large off the company and embezzling money. Par ting ways with his business par tner, C.G. took his one truck (the Kenwor th) and one trailer and went on his way. Litigation was in the works, but before that could happen this ex-par tner died. Now that C.G. was keeping all the money he actually made, things were good. Some other good things happened in 2019, as well. Back when he owned the Subway store, Ashleigh was his FedEx driver, and he saw her on a regular basis. He thought she was cute, but he was happily married. Well, after running into each other in 2017, they got reacquainted and star ted dating. In 2018, they had a son named Ryleigh (3), and then got married in 2019. Also, that year, they had a second son, Tucker, who is now two years old. Ashleigh and these young boys really helped heal C.G.’s hear t after all the pain and loss he had endured. From 2017 to 2020, C.G. did a lot of work to his Kenwor th. Over that time, he replaced the 6” exhaust with a complete 8” AK system from Dynaflex with Chino tips, added custom front and rear light bars, a custom painted aluminum deck plate and frame cover made by Central Cal Welding, Trux LED headlights, and nine bullet cab lights. C.G. also had custom mirror brackets from Arroyo Custom Rigs installed, an 18” American Eagle stainless steel front bumper, and more than 150 lights, tactfully painted and placed to not be too noticeable in the day (an attitude and style adopted from his dad). He also replaced the first air-ride system he had installed on the front a few years prior with the latest system from Arroyo Custom Rigs. Under the hood, the Cummins ISX15, which was originally rated at 500 horsepower, was fitted with PDI’s “Big Box” tuner, along with their exhaust and intake manifolds, and turbo. Pushing over 600-hp now and hooked to a 13-speed transmission, C.G. is very happy with the truck’s power and performance. He also installed chrome air intake tubes from Dynaflex, and then sent out a bunch of smaller par ts like the power steering bracket, radiator brackets, air-to-air tubes, and more to be chromed. In 2019, C.G. purchased a brand-new 2020 Cottrell 8-car transpor t. Ordered in the same Flame Red to match the tractor, the trailer came with a few lights, but C.G. and his friend and driver Brett Scroggins, installed a lot more of them – like almost 100 more, including “penny lights” down each side on custom tabs/brackets, blue under glow lights, and blue light strips that light up the wheels. They also polished the air tanks, decks, boxes, and hydraulics, and reprinted all the control panel signs to operate the trailer in his fonts and colors (thanks to Mike Freitas of Freitas Signs in Hilmar, CA). To make sure the entire combination is always show-ready, even when rolling down the road, this daily driver, with over 610,000 miles on it, is polished exclusively by our friend Colby Caliva at Sic Rigz. When the Covid-19 shutdown occurred in March of 2020, C.G. and Brett found themselves with a few weeks to kill, so they decided to tear the interior apar t and redo it. They knew if they ever wanted to win a Best of Show award, they needed the interior to be done, so they went for it. This job ended up taking about four months, so it was good C.G. had another truck to drive once they could get back to work. Gutting the entire interior in C.G.’s driveway, they sanded all the hard plastic par ts smooth and then had them painted. For the soft interior pieces, they sent them to Advanced Interior Restoration Services in Modesto to be dyed. This place also used cutting-edge technology to “print” the graphics on all the door panels, the headliner, and sleeper walls. C.G. and Brett also