Shell SuperRigs Show taking place at Bristol

BRISTOL — "Breaker, breaker, you got ya ears on," the 44th annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs contest is currently underway at Bristol Motor Speedway. Actually held in the lot between BMS and Bristol Dragway, three-day event started Friday with over 20 categories of competition including Best Chrome, Best Lights and Best in Show. Truck owners compete for more than $25,000 in cash and prizes, while 12 drivers get a feature spot in the 2027 Shell Rotella SuperRigs Calendar. It is free and open to the public with gates open 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and a fireworks show at the end. It's open to the public 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday before an awards luncheon. Over 125 trucks from all over North America are scheduled to be a part of the show. These are not just show trucks, but actual working trucks still in use. "We are celebrating owner-operators, celebrating trucking and the community," Shell Rotella brand manager Julie Wright said. "It's about the hard work, the pride they take in their beautiful pieces of equipment. There are some gorgeous trucks. This is open to any trucks in the U.S. and Canada." Wright pointed out even local truckers are welcome to register and be a part of it. BMS isn't the first NASCAR track to host as the show was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2014. Recent host sites have included Gillette, Wyoming, Dallas and Atlanta. The trucks chosen for the calendar will be taken to various locations around Bristol for their photo shoots. Since this is a working truck show, some may even leave the show if called out to haul a load of freight. One of the trucks on display Thursday was "The Goose," a custom-built 1996 Freightliner Classic owned by Daniel and Phyllis Snow. The Harrison, Arkansas couple have won multiple contests with the truck which has been featured in numerous publications. That includes cover and a 22-page center spread in one trucking magazine. "This shows you can take some pride in what you do and spruce your ride up," Daniel Snow said. "This truck is our business card, our first impression. When we drive up, they can appreciate what we have with this truck." The Snows were formerly independent truckers, but are now are dispatched through Bennett in Georgia. It's not their first time at BMS as they've been guests in one of the suites to watch Bennett-sponsored NASCAR driver Austin Hill compete in the Food City 300 O'Reilly Series race. Their truck is fully equipped with more of a small apartment than simple sleeper cab. The is outside decorated in plenty of green lights and they've even painted the lettering on the tires and the lugnuts. But, it's still a working truck as they hauled livestock for 28 years. More recently, they have hauled materials ranging from high-grade explosives to food products and water. They've even had a steady run for Shell out of their Houston headquarters. One of the other trucks on display was a 1997 Peterbilt owned by John T. Barker Jr. out of Middleburg, Virginia. It featured the custom-built cattle hauler, officially a deluxe 15 horse trailer. It wasn't your typical livestock hauler, but a luxury ride, one of the last trailers built by Bristol Horse Vans in Bristol, Va. SuperRigs judge Eric Harley talked about some of the characteristics they are searching for when looking over the different vehicles. "The overall appearance is the first impression of the truck when it drives up," Harley said. "We look for detail, starting from the front at the hood all the way back. We look at the polish, how well they've cleaned and maintained it, certain touches like the Snow's truck with the matching green paint on the tires. We look for originality, something that makes it stand apart."