10-4 Magazine January 2025

22 10-4 Magazine / January 2025 media manager John Testa, the two of us, with wireless microphones in hand, did our best to entertain and inform the spectators in the suites and grandstands, while Tim Sieben operated as staging coordinator for each event. The backing and transfer dump contests included a “course” delineated with cones that truckers had to maneuver through and around, and the tire changing contest featured a flatbed trailer, provided by Central Valley Transport, and (2) sets of tires provided by our friends at KRISS Trucking (they also sponsored the show’s window cards that went on each truck after being registered). Big thanks go to Lupe and his team at Daniel’s Tire Service in Bakersfield, CA for providing the tools and service trucks for the tire changing competition – along with some good advice and help when determining how the contest should go. The last competition of the day was the “Loudest Stereo” contest. This was not a Best Stereo contest, as we had no judges, but simply a “loudest” contest. Lining up the six competitors on the track facing the grandstands, we went from left to right, giving each competitor 60 seconds to play the song or songs of their choice, while I stood just outside the open driver’s side door with a decibel reader, recording the highest reading for each one. It was a lot of fun, but let me tell you, our winner’s stereo, coming in at over 130 decibels, truly hurt my ears! Once the stereo contest was completed, the on-track activities for the day were done at about 4:00 PM. Once it got dark, at about 6:30 that evening, the light show began in the parking lot. And what an amazing display it was, as almost every truck on the lot was lit up! From the back of the grandstands, there was an amazing view of the entire show, and many went up there to take advantage of the photo opportunity. The day’s activities officially ended at 10:00 PM, but some folks kept the party going until a little later into the night – but nothing too crazy. Thanks to everyone for having fun, but not TOO much! The Sunday morning competitions began at around 10:30 AM out on the track. The much-anticipated cattle rustlin’ (cow loading) and hay loading and unloading competitions were scheduled for this day, and they did not disappoint. The cow loading contest included two portable chutes, one donated by Ronnie DeVries and the other by Cody and Melvin Medeiros of Medeiros Dairy. The trucks had to back up to the chute, open all the necessary gates and ramps inside, and then “load” three inflated blow-up cows, one at a time, into the nose. We had these guys huffing and puffing, as they hustled up and down those ramps, with cows in hand. It was hilarious to watch – and a big hit. Big thanks to Marty Miles for creating and posting his funny “workout” videos with Betsy (the cow), documenting his activities as he prepared for this competition, in the weeks prior to the event. After the cow loading, it was on to the hay squeeze competition, and after some last minute changes to the course and rules, with some help and advice from the infamous Jonny Cat, the event went off without a hitch and featured 12 competitors! After the squeeze competition, we took a short break to raffle off a few prizes for the folks who were kind enough to register early, and then handed out the five competitor’s choice awards. Each winner came down to the track to claim their prize or get their trophy. Thanks to GGE Products, Brent’s Custom Trucks, RLK Services, and 4 State Trucks for donating some awesome prizes for the early registration raffle, and to Carl at Rockwood Products for creating and providing the beautiful trophies. With a lot full of amazing equipment, the Show & Shine truck beauty contest would not have been easy to judge. Thankfully, we don’t do the judging – the competitor’s do – and we were happy with their choices. The Best Engine and Best Combo awards went to Stan Silva and his turquoise Peterbilt 389X and matching heavy haul trailer, while the Best Interior trophy went