10-4 Magazine December 2021

22 10-4 Magazine / December 2021 all our friends at Lincoln Chrome. For the next two hours or so, hot rod diesel pickups, farm tractors, and big rigs attempted to pull a weighted sled down the dirt track in front of a sold-out crowd (they had to turn hundreds of people away). Once the final pull was complete and the winner was crowned (Pat Eilen), the show ended with a 10-minute “high impact” firework display that would rival any 4th of July celebration. By Saturday the temperatures had risen up into the lower 90s, but it was still pretty comfortable. In addition to the big rig burnouts, there was also a Kid’s Pedal Tractor Pull, a “meet and greet” with some members of the Maximum Overdrive movie cast, along with a replica of the famous “green goblin” truck featured in it, and then an auction (at 4:00 PM) for preferred spots in the charity convoy for Special Olympics happening later that evening. Just before the convoy began, it was time to pass out a few awards. This is not a “judged” show, but there are a few trophies handed out, most based on the competitor’s choices. The Best of Show Bobtail award went to Chad Foss and his slammed “Silver Lining” Peterbilt, and the Best of Show Combo trophy was given to Todd Gribble and his super-clean, dark blue 2012 Peterbilt and polished and painted pneumatic trailer. The People’s Choice went to Dusty Berry of Berry & Sons for his white Peterbilt 389 (all of the voting for the People’s Choice award was done on the GBATS app). The trophy for Best Rat Rod went to Jason Douglas of Arnold, MO and his 1950 GMC (Jason and his GMC were also the winners of the Diesel Dirt Drags on Thursday night). TBS gave out a “Coolest Truck” award to Don Wood of DSD Transport and his blue and yellow Peterbilt combo, and Zephyr Polish chose Kary Bryce of PMI and his “Snow White” Peterbilt as their “Best Shine” winner. To try and mention all the notable trucks at GBATS would be impossible. There were, however, a few that really stood out. In addition to the trucks that got awards, with Chad Foss’ being one of my obvious favorites, the one that stood out the most to me was TraLo’s latest build – a highly customized Kenworth T660. Painted in “Legendary” metallic brown, gold, and red colors, with no visible bolts or brackets, this thing was smooth as a baby’s bottom. All the vents and handles were shaved clean from the exterior, the dash was reconfigured and completely custom, and its big sound system had plenty of one-off fiberglass speaker pods and such. Being an “aero” style truck, it probably didn’t get the attention it deserved, but it was definitely worth a second (or third) look. Once the awards were handed out and a few pictures were taken, it was time for the convoy. Held as a fundraiser for Special Olympics of Missouri, each participant is asked to donate $100 to the cause. This year’s event included a record number of trucks (429) and raised almost $160,000! The 8.5-mile route took the convoy of trucks north toward Joplin proper, but instead of going all the way into the downtown area like before, the trucks were diverted to Mercy Park, not far from the usual location. Parked along a wide side street, there were four rows of trucks, parked end to end, with a walkway down the middle. This 4-row lineup of amazing bobtail trucks went on for well over a mile.