The National Association of Show Trucks (NAST) and Newport Communications will put on the truck beauty show at the 2001 Mid-America Trucking Show next March in Louisville. The Paul K. Young Memorial Truck Beauty Show, named for the late founder of MATS, will replace the Pride & Polish Show. It will be open to all truck owners, with over $20,000 in cash awards. Also, a minimum of $10,000 in additional funds will go to charity.

NAST and Newport also will launch a nationwide series of truck beauty shows in which working truckers who are NAST members will compete for over $300,000 in cash prizes. The "Stars & Stripes Show Truck Series" will culminate with the National Championship Show Truck Finals at MATS.

Six Stars & Stripes qualifying shows will be held at participating truckstops around the country. The top regional finishers (three in the Bobtail category and three in the Tractor-Trailer Combination category) will qualify for the National Championship Show in Louisville. Each qualifying show offers a total of $17,000 in cash, trophies and plaques. The first event will be TruckerFest 2000, Aug. 17-20, at the Alamo Travel Center in Reno.

The National Bobtail and Combination champions will each win $30,000 cash. Second places will pay $15,000 and third places win $10,000. Cash prizes will be paid to the top 18 finishers in each category.

"Truckers can now qualify for the national championship — and compete for big prize money as well as the Truck-Lite Trophy — by finishing third or better in just one qualifying show," said NAST President Bob Guy. "That makes a NAST membership a pretty sound investment." Memberships cost $50 per year. More info is available from NAST at (941) 626-1530.