NAST 2008 CHAMPION CROWNED

Bobby Lindamood (center), owner of Lindamood Demolition in Irving, Texas, holds $5,000 check, which is part of winning the coveted 2008 NAST Truck-Lite Trophy. He is flanked by son Jake (right) and the winning rig's driver Brad Johnson (left).

While some 70,000 people came to the Mid-America Truck Show to see custom rigs and the latest in trucking industry innovations, four owner-operators came there with their custom working-class combos to see which one would be named the grand champion of the National Association Of Show Trucks 2008 series and driving away with the coveted Truck-Lite Trophy.

The 2008 NAST season points race literally came down to judges checking tool boxes for cleanliness and how each rig looked at night when their lights were ablaze.

When the judges tallied their points Jeremy Hassevoort with Rabbit River Transport out of Holland, Michigan, locked down the Second Place with his immaculate ‘86 Peterbilt 359 pulling a reefer. Second also added a tidy $3,000 to his bank account.

But it was Irving, Texas, trucker Bobby Lindamood who took home the Truck-Lite Trophy and the $5,000 check to go with it thanks to his ‘07 Peterbilt 379 pulling a round bottom dump trailer. This makes the second year in a row that a Texas truck takes home the gold.

“We’ve been showing for the last five years,” says Lindamood whose company, Lindamood Demolition, hauls heavy equipment and demolition debris around the Dallas area with their fleet of Peterbilts. “Winning like this gives you a little more drive to keep going. It makes you realize people really take an interest in our rigs and what we do.”

Brad Johnson, who drives the winning rig for the Lindamoods says their winning Peterbilt combo is not treated any differently from the other rigs. “It hauls equipment, rolls into demolition sites, and gets just as filthy as the next truck.”

The difference is before it heads to a truck beauty show it is pulled out of service for 1-2 weeks of white-glove detailing.

“When it gets down to the best of the best,” says son Jake Lindamood who is also an Overdrive Pride & Polish judge, “winning is all about attention to detail. And we’re all about details.”

The official start of 2009 N.A.S.T Trophy Series kicks off with the 6th Annual Great Lakes Truck Show May 29,30,31, 2009 at Cabela’s in Dundee, Michigan. For more information log on to www.nastshowtrucks.org or www.customrigsmag.com and click “Events.”