Truckers will be able to compete for cash, prizes and high honors next year in a triple-header of truck beauty competitions expected to draw more than 125,000 people.

Newport Communications, publisher of Heavy Duty Trucking and RoadStar magazines, has announced the 2003 schedule for the Stars & Stripes Truck Beauty Contests, featuring separate competitions for both working and professional show trucks, at the nation’s biggest trucking shows.
First up is the Paul K. Young Memorial Truck Beauty Championship, held in conjunction with the Mid-America Trucking Show March 20-22 at Louisville’s Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center. Mid-America is by far the best-attended trucking show in the country, drawing more than 70,000 people annually. Last March the Paul K. Young truck beauty event, staged outside the main show, featured 126 contestants.
“The 2002 Paul K. Young Memorial Truck Beauty Championship was a great success for all of the participants and everyone in attendance,” said Mid-America organizers.
In addition to the many awards handed out during this contest, a $10,000 donation is annually donated to charity by Stars & Stripes on behalf of the Mid-America Show, in honor of its late founder Paul K. Young.
In May, Stars & Stripes will travel to Boston for the May 8-10 North American Trucking Show. This rapidly growing event drew more than 27,000 people in 2002 at the Bayside Exposition Center.
“We were very pleased with the indoor Stars & Stripes Truck Beauty Show,” said North American Truck Show Director Greg Coughlin. “This event had a very favorable impact on our overall attendance.”
The truck beauty series will conclude during the June 26-28 International Trucking Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. There, the Stars & Stripes competition, called Show & Shine, will again be held indoors alongside the main ITS event. ITS is the longest running trucking show in the U.S.
All three Stars & Stripes beauty events will offer cash, prizes and trophies to winners in the top categories. These include Best of Show Bobtail and Combination Awards, and the Competitor’s Choice Award for working trucks. Professional show trucks will compete separately for Best Professional Show Truck. This honor, which equals the working trucks Best of Show Awards, is part of an effort to enhance the importance of the professional show class.
For more information, log on to www.starsandstripesshow.com or contact Bud Farquhar at 203-221-7861.