Summer Madness goes with Kern County like jam on toast. It just tastes and feels right, and nobody can deny that. When we rolled into the park on Thursday afternoon, we knew we were going to enjoy some old-fashioned truck-run antics and fun. Summer Madness is going on 20 years and it's still running strong. The promoter, Cherokee, can still be found running the gate all weekend, then hanging out on stage on Saturday night. Even at 72 years old, there's no stopping him.
Friday morning, we woke up to the sound of trucks rolling in. Granted, we woke up at 11 a.m., hung over from the night before; but trucks were definitely coming in the gates in force. Friday was the real deal. Trucks steadily rolled in all night long. Before morning, there were easily more than 300 vehicles in the park. The partying was very typical of a truck run. Camping was where the excitement was at, and people partied until the sun rose Saturday morning. That morning, trucks lined up for the show, which was bigger than previous years. This year, the show was a little different than any other we had seen before in SoCal, in a long time. The trucks were lined up all around the park and some even in their own camp.
The temperatures were in the 80s and the sky was sunny. You couldn't ask for better weather in sunny Bakersfield, California. Trucks came from all over, including Nevada, NorCal, SoCal, and CenCal. We can expect a bigger turn out next year, because word of mouth will spread on how much fun everybody had. For more information on this show, keep an eye out at the Southern California Mini Truck Council website, www.scmtc.com, where they always have an updated list of California shows.
This Star Wars-themed van has been a popular van for a very long time. | 
This Mazda reminds us a bit of a Transformer. |
Big minitrucks can still be found making the rounds in the show circuit. | 
Club unity was the order for Saturday. Here we had Down to Earth, Freaks of Nature, and Nokturnal all hanging out together. |
Down to Earth came out to represent. | 
Here are some Freaks of Nature hanging out at the No Regrets camp. |
We have a feeling this guy likes to drag. | 
Forbidden Fantasy NorCal chapter rolled deep, as always. |
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Lucha Libre was in town and these guys came by to throw themselves around for a bit. |
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At 72 years old, Cherokee can't be stopped from partying with all of the minitruckers. |