With the success of the State 2 State cruise, which took attendees from Southern California to Las Vegas for the Sport Truck and Truckin' Vegas Nats, an encore cruise was sponsored by Chevy Trucks and JC Whitney to coincide with the Truckin' and 4x4 Nationals to raise some money for the local charity, Camp For Diabetes. The cruise started at Dealer's Sport Truck, located in Los Alamitos, California, early Friday morning beneath a heavy marine layer. The early risers were treated to breakfast after registration, then one lucky name was drawn out of a hat to receive a gift certificate to Dealer's Sport Truck.
The first stop on the cruise was at Gibson Performance Exhaust in Corona, California. The company's location farther inland proved to be a chance for attendees to warm up and check out all the trucks under the sunlight. The Gibson family was on hand and showed its hospitality by giving away shirts and a free exhaust system.
After the Gibson stop, everyone settled back into their trucks for a short jaunt down the road, where they were treated to a guided tour of the huge warehouse and showroom APC calls home. Stylin' Concepts gave away a gift certificate after the cruisers were given a chance to freshen up before one of the long legs of the trip.
From there it was over the mountains and through the desert to the Wahoo's Fish Taco-sponsored lunch stop at Palm Desert Park, California. Wahoo's brought out its catering van and crew to feed the hungry cruisers, and were not only thanked by all who ate, but were also hooked up by the Sport Truck sticker crew.
The final and longest leg of the cruise ended at AIM Industries in Mesa, Arizona. AIM hosted a cruise dinner and presented a generous gift certificate for any of its products. For more information about this year's event, contact: amber.pierce@primedia.com.
Truckin' And 4x4 NatsHot Sun, Tough Trucks, And Hard BodiesEvery year, the Phoenix-area enthusiasts crawl out of their air-conditioned sanctuaries to take on a full weekend of scorching heat at the Firebird Raceway for the annual Truckin' and 4x4 Nationals. The third and final installment of the Chevrolet-sponsored events filled up Meguiar's show 'n' shine with lifted, lowered, chopped, and shaved trucks from across the Southwest, all competing for $5,000 in cold, hard cash.
On the 1/4-mile track, everything from Lightnings to pro-stock trucks and 18-wheelers were clicking off respectable e.t.'s, while monster trucks such as Big Foot and Snake Bite crushed rows of cars in the distance. Out in the truck pit, 60 trucks battled for the title of Toughest Truck of All in the rockcrawl, tire pit, and extreme off-road course.
New to the show was the testdrive course, which allowed spectators the opportunity to step into a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge truck and take a lap around the off-road course for the ultimate hands-on display.
Sunday's bikini contest packed the stands with tons of heads hoping to catch a glimpse of Arizona's hardest bodies. A group of judges undertook the daunting task of carefully examining each girl and crowning the best of the best. In the end, Melony LaRose was chosen as the pick of the litter, much to the crowd's satisfaction.
For more information about this year's event, contact: Firebird Raceway, (602) 268-0200, www.firebirdraceway.com.
Run What You BrungA show at Firebird Raceway just wouldn't be the same unless an 18-wheeler did burnouts and pro-stock trucks rattled your eardrums as they launched off the line.