Fourth-generation truck driver and owner-operator Chris Kulow bought his Pride & Polish-winning 2007 Peterbilt 379 back in April 2021 after truck show royalty had customized it in its previous life. This year, the truck earned first place in the Overdrive’s Pride & Polish Working Bobtail, 2008 & Older class.
The truck, dubbed “Long Term Affair” by Kulow’s wife, Jaqueline, was originally ordered by an older gentleman with the 144-inch ARI sleeper that it still sports today. The paint job and other custom touches, however, were done by Pat Eilen with Hampton, Minnesota-based Eilen & Sons Trucking. The Eilens are regulars at the Pride & Polish competition, as Pat and his brother Jonathan have both competed and won awards in the series’ history.
Kulow said Pat Eilen painted the 379 to match his competitive truck-pull truck and used it to primarily haul that to truck-pull competitions.
Eilen later sold the truck to Caldwell, Texas-based Truett Novosad, who owns Equipment Express – a heavy-haul fleet that is also no stranger to show truck competition.
“I’m friends with Truett, and he sold me the truck back in April,” Kulow said. “Most of the stuff was already done on the truck. Eilen & Sons, they go all out with their paint jobs and everything.”
The paint work on the truck was done by a previous owner, Pat Eilen, with Eilen & Sons Trucking out of Hampton, Minnesota.
The truck features a 550-hp Cat C15 with an 18-speed and sits on a 320-inch wheelbase. The sleeper is fully loaded with the full shower, toilet, convection oven and microwave, big-screen TV, a fold-up full size bed with a fold-down dinette table, as well as a twin top bunk that Kulow’s 3-year-old son can sleep in when he goes on trips.
