Nearly 40,000 of our closest friends passed through the turnstiles over the course of the weekend to check out close to 500 vehicles that were on display throughout the expansive show grounds. In addition, more than 100 vendors were on hand selling just about everything you could think of that is truck related.
The three-day party began when the more than 170 trucks participating in this year's State 2 State Cruise rolled into town to the final destination of AIM headquarters in Mesa. After a few hours of food, folks, and fun, not to mention a shop tour, participants headed to their hotels for a good night's sleep before heading down to Firebird Raceway on Saturday morning for roll-in registration. The grounds were soon filled with trucks and spectators alike, and the hardest task of the day was deciding which section of the show to check out next.
In addition to the massive Meguiar's show 'n' shine, show-goers had the opportunity to watch genuine "run whatcha brung" drags that were dominated by Lightnings and Dakota R/Ts. Early iron and minis were also well represented, but the real fun started when the 10-second Pro Streeters fired up and made their way to the track. Our own World's Fastest Street Truck was present, making shakedown runs with World Record-holder Ron Fassl behind the wheel, but an ignition problem forced the truck to retire early in the weekend.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the grounds, the tough truck challenge was going strong as extra stout 4x4s battled tire pits, log crawls, and big-air jumps. In between rounds, spectators received a special treat when the monster truck Grave Digger and friends took the course for a wild demonstration. Of course, no truck show is complete without a bikini contest, so we enticed the crowd with nine of the hottest ladies ever to grace a stage. After some fierce competition, Melony LaRose emerged as Miss Truckin' Nats 2002.
For all of your truck needs, the Manufacturers Midway was packed with companies large and small, from around the country, offering some of the best deals we've seen all year. Just a sampling of the vendors on hand included: AIM, APC, Auto Core, Bigtime Threads, Dealers, Fabtech Motorsports, Falken Tire, Gibson, Line-X, Meguiar's, Rhino Linings, Skyjacker, Sport Truck Direct, Street Beat, and the Truckin' booth, which had a crowd around it all weekend, thanks to the lovely Nikki Zeno who was signing our latest poster.
In addition, Steve Van Demon performed an entire flame job for everyone to watch for the winner of our raffle, Lorenzo Ibarra. Meanwhile, Auto Leathers was reupholstering a Sport Trac in two-tone leather and suede for another lucky guy. Look for these installs in next month's issue of Truckin'.
Once again, your favorite truck magazine came through with a stellar event that grew leaps and bounds over the previous year. And wait till you hear what we're cooking up for next year! Let's just say that you should start checking www.truckinweb.com for information very soon because it will be an event you won't want to miss.