Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/535950
68 | Overdrive | July 2015 Custom Rigs Ray Rodriguez' 2015 Peterbilt 389 and matching flatbed, 'Wicked' (left), is in contention for Overdrive's Pride & Polish National Championship. His 1988 Peterbilt 379, 'Hardway' (right), won third in Shell's SuperRigs competition and has a long history on the Pride & Polish circuit. For more photos of both trucks, including more beauty shots and photos of exterior details and interiors, go to OverdriveOnline.com and search 'Wicked.' Small fleet owner and California grain hauler Ray Rodriguez, known affection- ately on the show circuit as Lil' Ray, brought to San Antonio for Shell Rotella's SuperRigs both his oldest rig – the cor- nerstone of his one-time single-truck business – and his newest, one of the most striking trucks presently gracing the show truck circuit. The former is a 1988 Peterbilt 379 that Rodriguez has dubbed "Hardway," a nod to the inherent struggles in life and in business running a small trucking operation. The latter is a 2015 Peterbilt 389 he bought new and turned into a custom rig among custom rigs. "Wicked," as he named it, stems from ideas from "my messed-up head," Rodriguez said, refer- ring to the truck's, well, wicked art. Rodriguez has been showing the '88 Pete for years, hitting some Overdrive's Pride & Polish shows and other show truck events. His hard work has been Lil' Ray brings 'wicked' Petes to SuperRigs Ray Rodriguez's 2015 Peterbilt 389 features demons, gargoyles and more evil spirits, along with this 'Wicked' woman. Ray Rodriguez' 1988 Peterbilt 379 and matching flatbed, shown at SuperRigs by Marciano Esparza Sandoval, placed third.