Texas Show-Offs
41 www.CUSTOMRIGSmag.com Although the number of rigs entered was down about 25 percent from previous years, the turnout was impressive overall. We had nearly 50 custom rigs here at the Great American Trucking Show, commented Neal Holsomback, Pride & Polish director of judging. There's quite a contingency from Texas and a number of new builds. What surprised all of us was the level of quality the Texans showed here at Pride & Polish. The long list of winners included both past win-ners and unfamiliar names. Among those were the working-class combos owned by trucking compa-nies such as Lindamood Demolition, Farmers Oil, Hall's Trucking, Z-Bar Transportation, Bill Hall Jr. Trucking and Jade Transport. Bobtails were also well represented. Floyd Moore of Cagle Rock Trucking took home Best of Show Working Bobtail honors with his immaculate '00 Peterbilt 379, while Larry Swingle of Kenny Yeary Trucking captured Roadworks Best Use of Chrome with his 1978 Kenworth W900. Elvis Williamson of Southern Miss Trucking won the Rising Star Award (first-time showing) with his 1995 Peterbilt 379, and Kelly Ast's grain trailer-pulling '87 Peterbilt 359 won First in the Working Combo 2002 & Older class. By far the youngest Pride & Polish winner was 15-year-old Cody Lindamood, who showed his uncle's 2000 Peterbilt 379 toting a 2000 J&J dump. His entry took Third in First Show Combo. He vowed to do better next year, saying, I know what the judges look for now and I expect to move up the ladder. Next time this truck will be clean. You can bet other competitors will be doing exactly the same thing. And the stage is set for next year for another round of competition where all-out custom builds and first-time Pride & Polish entrants alike crowd the floor of the Dallas Convention Center. A couple of builders and working-class truck owners have promised to bring their A -game to show off in Dallas at the 2010 GATS. Looking good brought the Grand Antique award into the hands of Jimmy Wiley, Kenny Yeary Trucking, for his 1986 Kenworth W900. Another repeat winner among the working combos was Brad Johnson's '07 Peterbilt/CPS round-bottom dump combo, which won Best of Show Working Combo honors and First in Specialized Combo. GREAT AMERICAN TRUCK SHOW PRIDE & POLISH TOP AWARD WINNERS BEST OF SHOW WORKING BOBTAIL Floyd Moore, Cagle Rock Trucking, 2000 Red Peterbilt 379 BEST OF SHOW WORKING COMBO Brad Johnson, Lindamood Demolition, 2007 Peterbilt 379/2008 CPS round-bottom dump BEST LIMITED MILEAGE BOBTAIL Roland Mendez, Texas Chrome Shop, 1997 Peterbilt 379 BEST LIMITED MILEAGE COMBO Jeremey Graves, Farmers Oil, 2007 Peterbilt 379/2008 Mississippi tank PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER Jeremey Graves, Farmers Oil, 2007 Peterbilt 379/2008 Mississippi tank ROADWORKS BEST USE OF CHROME Larry Swingle, Kenny Year Trucking, 1978 Kenworth W900 TRUK RODZ BEST THEME Jerry Kissinger, 1991 Mac Superliner/2006 Great Dane reefer FIRESTONE'S MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED CAB Roland Mendez, Texas Chrome Shop, 1997 Peterbilt 379 VALLEY CHROME PLATING BUMPER TO BUMPER AWARD Pete Zamora, Z-Bar Transportation, 2002 Peterbilt 379/2006 CTS end dump MOBIL DELVAC BEST LIMITED MILEAGE TRUCK ENGINE Isaac Aguilar, Sandvik Trucking, 1992 Peterbilt 379 PRIDE & POLISH BEST LIMITED MILEAGE INTERIOR Roland Mendez, Texas Chrome Shop, 1997 Peterbilt 379 PRIDE & POLISH BEST LIMITED MILEAGE BOBTAIL PAINT Thomas Ivy, 1986 Peterbilt 359 PRIDE & POLISH BEST LIMITED MILEAGE COMBO PAINT Jeremey Graves, Farmers Oil, 2007 Peterbilt 379/2008 Mississippi tank To see the complete list of winners and a lot more photos from GATS, go to our website customrigsmag.com and look for GATS 2009 under the Events tab. PRIDE & POLISH SPONSORS Thanks to all the show truck competitors and sponsors: 10-4 Magazine; 75 Chrome Shop; Custom Rigs magazine; Dynafl ex Exhaust Technologies; Fire-stone; Howes Lubricator Products; Truk Rodz by Jones Performance; Mobil Delvac; OOIDA; Overdrive magazine; Overdrive Radio Network; PPG; Rand McNally; Roadworks Manufacturing; Rockwood Products; Valley Chrome/ Wingmaster; and WTI Fenders. www.CUSTOMRIGSmag.com 41