Nicolas Gagnon wowed fans when he lifted the front wheel
of his Pete more than once as he poured on the power.

TORONTO –Two summer weekends, two great gatherings. Two feasts for the many thousands of show-hungry people who make a living in the trucking industry or who just plain love trucks. And maybe beer.

It was the 22nd annual Fergus Truck Show in Fergus, Ont. in late July and the following weekend we were up to Notre-dame-du-nord, Que. for the 27th edition of the wild and woolly Rodeo du Camion. The fun quotient was very high in both places as usual.

At Fergus:

Some truly spectacular trucks were on display, including a new player in the field, The Gambler, owned by Doug Fisher of Transport N Service. It features some spectacular mural work done by Jason Gateman and Tyson Merriam. It’s a 2007 Pete 379 Legacy edition with a really big Indiana custom sleeper. We could hardly get close to it for a picture because of the crowds, and when we did, even the wide-angle lens wasn’t enough to get it all in.

Veteran owner op Bruce Martin earned first
place in the light show for this display.

As well, we saw for the first time a splendidly restored 1979 International Transtar II COE, owned by Dave Carey of Carey Leasing in Blenheim, Ont. We’ll feature this one in an upcoming Classic Series.

Jason McCoy and the Road Hammers performed Saturday night, capping a terrific day with an amazing performance.

Greg Evigan of ‘B.J. and the Bear’ fame dropped by the show on Saturday afternoon and treated visitors to a few memories. Greg says he’s trying to acquire the rights to the show so he can remount a contemporary version of one of the best-known trucking TV shows ever.

Unfortunately, on Saturday night, there were several acts of vandalism that saw a few of the show trucks stripped of some choice parts, and some of the vendors reported inventory had been removed from their booths. Maybe it’s time security was beefed up at the show. Too bad.

At Rodeo:

The 27th running of the Rodeo du Camion about seven hours north of the Little Apple featured the usual ferocious competition on the track — racing bobtail and with 63,500-kg B-trains in drag races up a 6-7 percent grade in town — plus a show-and-shine competition, a flea market, some great music, and mountains of good cheer.

It always attracts a zillion people and takes two non-stop days of elimination runs to declare kings — and in this case one queen, Sylvie Paradis — of the hill in six horsepower classes.

Racing is the main draw, but the show-and-shine is a big deal as well, enough to attract Robert and Shelly Brinker of Grayling, Mi. with their spectacular 2000 Freightliner show truck. Predictably, it won the People’s Choice award, as it’s done there and at many other shows before.

Kamal Grewal shows off the interior of his 2001 Freightliner
Classic XL. It’s loaded with lights and includes a plasma TV.

The furthest-from-home award, if it existed, would have gone to Gord Cooper of Calgary, who brought his Kenworth race-truck hauler home in second place in the Specialized Transport class, losing to Todd Doiron of CCT Auto Trans in Hampton, Ont. with his pristine Western Star car hauler.

Elsewhere on the track, fans cheered the return of Terry Nychuk and his ‘Wilder Thing’ Kenworth from Swastika, Ont., who missed last year’s racing due to illness. Unlike some other competitors, Terry throws very little money at his truck, yet he’s always vying for top spot in the Open Class. This year he blew three pistons a few days before the event, but just $500 later — the biggest expense being a head gasket — he had his Cat rebuilt and ready to roll.

The winner, though, was his usual arch rival, Donald ‘Baby Mad Dog’ Vachon from Timmins, Ont.. Mad Dog said he’d replaced the transmission in his immaculate 575-hp Detroit-powered Western Star, swapping an Eaton Fuller 18A for a new 18B.

In the ‘Free For All’ race that allows anyone to challenge anyone, Eric Bouchard of Lac-au-Saumon, Que. won the day. In the 460-499-hp class his very fast Western Star also won the loaded event and placed second in the bobtail category, losing out to Nicolas Gagnon who lifted the left front wheel of his Peterbilt in spectacular fashion more than once as he poured on the power at the start line.

Nobody had ever seen anything like it. And that’s why some 70,000 fans will be back next year. So will we.

For complete winners’ lists and more pics, go to www.highwaystar.ca and to a new section called ‘The Trucking Life’ at www.todaystrucking.com.