Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes The Vegas LargeCar Invitational has become a unique, annual, invite-only show that partners a truck show with the NASCAR fall race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sheri Goldstrom and her team put together two things near and dear to her heart – trucks and racing. It’s a package that shares a variety of trucks with race fans, and they both love it! The truckers at the show are treated to race tickets for both the Saturday and Sunday races and access to the Neon Garage. It was a big win for everyone involved, as the event, held on October 10-12, raised lots of money for Speedway Children’s Charities Las Vegas Chapter. Parking the trucks started on Wednesday, October 8th, with Brady Jensen and Sheri’s husband Pat teamed up with a tape measure to get the trucks and trailers spaced out with seven feet between each to make sure that everyone would fit in the space they’re allowed. In the end, with some of the bobtails at an angle, it was a beautiful setup. With an eye for detail, Brady made sure that the bumpers were all as close to a straight line, as possible. A total of 53 awesome trucks and their drivers were all proud to be there and on display. The best part of this show is there is no pressure of rags down and being judged. But that doesn’t mean the trucks weren’t show ready, there was just no need for a “white glove” clean. This leaves time for the more important part of a good truck show – making new friendships that are probably going to last a lifetime. Sheri excitedly told me that she had made a new friend, Ingrid Brown. They are “soul sisters” and plans are already being made to do a little traveling together in the future. We made several new friends, and it was nice to see old ones like Ingrid, Bill Rethwisch and family, Chad and Lisa Berry, Aaron Puterbaugh and PJ Brink. Two brothers, Dylan and Austin Badders, were each there with their own truck, and they couldn’t have been more opposite. Austin’s truck, a 1983 Peterbilt 359, features a patina brown paint job with gleaming polished aluminum and an interesting name. Austin’s wife Sabrina named this truck “S#*t Stain” after he pulled it out of a field four years ago. Now go to the other extreme, Dylan’s 2005 “Fine Wine” Kenworth W900L, which he built using real gold leaf on the deck plate and the truck’s stripe (Dylan was the 10-4 cover feature back in December 2022 with his purple and black Freightliner cabover). Being big fans of the color purple, we had to visit with Brad Steel and ask him about his “Purplicious” truck. Brad admitted to the color being his wife Janel’s idea. He had always had red or blue trucks, but she insisted on having this one her favorite color purple. I had to ask, “How do you like the color?” His answer, without even having to think about it was, “I love it!” Las Vegas only gets an average of four inches of rain a year (I looked it up) and on average it only rains 26 days a year. On Friday, October 10, the remnants of Tropical Storm Priscilla dropped .92 inches of rain (that was a lot). For the show, other than a record rainfall on Friday, the weather was cooler than average, with a nice breeze, and perfect conditions for a truck show. After walking around for a while I had a little “sit” to rest at Sheri’s show trailer. A young man was sporting a 10-4 Magazine shirt, so I started talking to him. Parker Enzenauer told me that he had gone into Sheri’s office and told her that she needed to do another truck show. He didn’t tell her his last name (his dad had worked with Sheri’s dad Art for years). In the end, Sheri said he helped give her the nudge she needed to 70 10-4 Magazine / November 2025 TRUCKS & RACING
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