LOUISVILLE, Ky. – What began as a single event to raise donations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, will be hitting the open road for a nationwide tour.

At the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., Speedco hosted its “Tribute to the American Trucker.” The event featured Orange County Choppers founders Paul Sr. and Mikey Tuetul, a concert by Juno Award winners the Road Hammers and the unveiling of the Speedco Chopper.

The event, sponsored by Bandag and Goodyear Tires, raised $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Founded in 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. The largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 71 chapters in the US and its territories, the organization has over 25,000 volunteers and has granted over 144,000 wishes since its inception.

The company will tour its custom-built Speedco Chopper around the country, displaying the bike at races, Speedco stores, trucking shows and other locations to help raise more funds for the foundation.

“We are so pleased to name the Make-A-Wish Foundation as our corporate charity this year,” said Mark Clark, president and CEO of Speedco. “We are proud to associate with an organization that has to date granted 144,000 wishes to kids with life-threatening illnesses. It’s phenomenal to see children’s faces when you fulfill wishes; they ask for so little and are so humble.”

The Speedco Chopper, named ‘Tribute to the American Trucker,’ incorporates a number of unique attributes, including a headlight shaped like a Baldwin oil filter can, twin air horns, an oil tank shaped like a Shell RotellaT jug, a mud flap and dual chrome pipes fashioned after the stacks on a semi.

The Chopper, measuring just over 11 feet long, weighs in at 561 pounds. The bike was built in Montgomery, N.Y., as a product of Orange County Choppers, which is best known for creating custom Choppers for its Discovery Channel television show.

“Our Chopper is a rocket ship,” said Clark. “We chose Orange County Choppers to build our bike because they are number one in their industry just like Speedco is number one in ours. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to tour the bike around the country to raise additional money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.” For more information and a chopper tour schedule, visit www.speedco.com.