Lifted and lit-up Ford Super Dutys roll into Florida for the 5th annual Daytona Truck Meet.
Daytona isn’t just for motorcycle bashes and NASCAR racing. Since 2014, it’s also been the home of the Daytona Truck Meet. It started as a way for the owners of modified pickups to show off their vehicles and, according to the event’s official website, drew more than 500 trucks in its first year. Attendance grew to more than 10,000 trucks by 2017. Judging by this video from Youtuber Israel_tamez, this year’s Daytona Truck Meet had no problem attracting lifted and customized trucks, especially those from Ford.
Just a simple nighttime drive down the street was an event, a parade of sky-high Super Dutys, many of them sporting LED lights to show off their mods. Custom wheels sat far below the giant bodies, which were held up by spotless, flashy aftermarket suspension hardware. The only thing higher than the trucks was the dollar amount budgeted for their builds.
Of course, with all of that Power Stroke diesel horsepower in one place, it was inevitable that some drivers would start doing burnouts. Dark clouds of exhaust smoke made them even more of a spectacle.
The static displays on the infield area of the Daytona International Speedway were equally impressive. One especially notable truck was a third-generation Super Duty converted into an unofficial Excursion, then modified even more from its custom grille and lightbars to its chrome and colored wheels to its gleaming suspension setup.
There was a designated area for burnouts, which had plenty of visitors, including a second-generation F-350 Super Duty. Unfortunately, after filling the area around it and the sky above it with plumes of white and gray smoke, it suffered a malfunction of some kind and had to be towed away…by a Chevy.
On the beach, Fords and Chevrolets and Rams made for a view that rivaled that offered by the waves off in the distance. Disney World may be a great place to take a summer vacation, but the 2018 Daytona Truck Meet had the rides we want to go on the most.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
