Truck Show Report: By John & Kim Jaikes This year the second annual Road to Wishes Truck Show hosted by Raney’s Chrome Shop in Ocala, FL was held on February 6-7, the same weekend as the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, they kicked a football and closed out the NFL season, but at Raney’s Chrome Shop, they kicked off the 2026 truck show season in style and granted a few wishes to some deserving kids, as well! And this year, it was a two-day event. Joel and his team at Raney’s decided to take advantage of the Florida weather earlier than last year, when they held the first show on Memorial Day weekend. It ended up being a great choice. A welcome getaway from the cold and brutal conditions in the north this winter, Florida had perfect weather, with temps in the 70s, no humidity, blue skies and sunshine. When the trucks started rolling in on Thursday afternoon it was cooler than normal, due to a cold snap that had just moved through, but after that, it was awesome. Every truck there was a winner, but the ones who really win are the kids that they are there for. An average wish for a Make-A-Wish kid is about $8-10,000 (the cost varies by what the child wishes for). That means last year 10 wishes were granted with the $93,000 raised at last year’s show. Sara Desmartin is the Development & Community Outreach Manager for the Central and Northern Florida chapter for Make-A-Wish, and she is grateful for the connection to Raney’s, and what they did with their first show – and this year, she was even more impressed. She said, “This is a great partnership, and I am so impressed with the trucks and the people who come to this show.” Her wish is to ride in a truck one day, and I know I will be able to make her wish come true. This year I learned about how near and dear Make-A-Wish is to Joel and his now wife Jennifer. Back in 2012, Joel was in Las Vegas, and before his flight back home to Florida, he met a little girl that was going to be on the same flight, making her wish to go to Disney World come true. As it happened, because of that little girl and her family, fate had it that Joel and Jennifer got to sit together on the way home. A friendship started on that flight that later blossomed into love. Now, all these years later, look at what they are doing to grant as many wishes as possible with the money they raise at this show. This year, ten “wish” families attended the show, at different times, throughout the event. All the kids at the show got to enjoy the extensive play area, set up just for them. I have said for years, “There is nothing like little kids and big trucks,” and seeing the big smiles on all the faces of the kids that were riding the little train through the show lot and admiring all the trucks, is proof that statement is true. There was also face painting that made cute kids even cuter. Two motorized bicycles that Jennifer got had kids having fun cruising the show lot. At truck shows, a lot of drivers have a golf cart made to match their truck, but these two “bicycles” look like there were meant to match Raiko Graveran’s truck (our friend who we featured in the March 2025 edition of Trucker Talk). Another kid pleaser at the show was the “Danger” truck, and at the end of the day, this stunner took home the Kid’s Choice award. When I first saw the gullwing doors, I asked Daniel Garcia, the owner of the truck, along with A&A Stainless in Miami, FL, if he knew our friend Troy Huddleston, who also had gullwing doors on his “Old No 7” Freightliner. He looked at me and said, “We have Lamborghinis in Miami!” He went on to tell me that the purple accents were actually a Lamborghini limited edition color, and his doors were known as “Lambo” doors. But besides just the cool doors, this truck has classy and unique details everywhere. Last year, the nice folks at A&A Stainless made a connection with one of the wish kids named Jampier, who was there again this year. When I was by the truck and he was holding a stainless license plate, I didn’t know about the connection they had made last year. When I sat him in the seat for a picture, I realized that they had custom made this license plate for him. The “Danger” truck is a totally custom 1997 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood. The transformation was made 15 years ago, and the only thing remotely close to “stock” are the rear ends, transmission and engine. They made all the parts including the hood, fenders, interior, and so much more. But that is a story for another day. The Kid’s Choice runner up was our friends, Ryan and Cindy Wichtner, 54 10-4 Magazine / March 2026 WISHES DO COME TRUE
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