RENO, NV — It took Dermie Close 20 years to build his “Dream Truck” 1948 Chevrolet pickup.
It took him one trip to Hot August Nights in Reno, NV to earn a Grand Champion award. In his first visit to Hot August Nights, Close will go back home to Las Vegas with the Summit Racing Downtown Reno Show-n-Shine competition Grand Champion trophy and $1,000 in cash.
“Can you believe it,” Close said after receiving the award. “I never in my life would’ve thought I would win this.”
Close is being a tad modest as you can see in this feature story we did earlier in the week. He put nearly 20 years into the truck, working on it in his spare time. The “Dream Truck,” as Close calls it, is based on truck he saw earlier on his life and was made possible by Close’s ability to do just about anything around the shop.
It was truly a hands-on build with tons of build creativity.
I have known this guy for over 30 years and he is one of the classiest persons you will ever meet.