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They say everything is bigger in Texas, and in our experience, the expression is very true. This especially goes for the truck scene, as there is a large number of stunning examples of them from this region of the country. Texas also happens to have a strong oil and agriculture industry, which explains the abundance of trucks. Where there are more trucks, there are more custom versions of them to follow
With all these vehicles roaming around Texas, there was a need for a place to showcase them all. The Houston area has the strongest concentration of enthusiasts in the state, and in the past there was a truck show just about every weekend throughout the year. However, none were held at a large enough venue to really thrive. A number of years back, Todd “Radar” Hendrex and Lonnie Thompson saw the need for a better show and came up with the idea of the Lone Star Throwdown (LST), which was first held in 2012 at the same place it is now – the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Conroe, TX.
Of course, the initial show was nothing like it is now as there were just a few hundred trucks in attendance. Along the way truck enthusiasts of all kinds began to flock to LST and some things changed along the way. As the crowds grew, the masses flooded through the gates and local roadways. After a few mishaps, Lonnie and Radar decided that the show would be limited to 2,000 vehicles and all must be pre-registered ahead of time. With each passing year, the LST experience has only gotten better in our opinion.
As of late, this show has dominated as many builders have made it “the place to debut a vehicle.” With a nice line of custom billet awards made by Philbuilt Designs, people flock from all over the country to get a piece of the action. Besides the few “Best of” trophies given out, only the top one hundred vehicles take home some bragging rights. With only 5% of vehicles earning awards, you could say the competition is stiff.
With severe winter storms happening all over the country, Conroe was to see some rainfall in the forecast. Though the looming weather threatened to put a halt to the show (held on February 22-24, 2019), it couldn’t rain on this parade. Luckily, the majority of the downfall happened early on and the only real issue was with muddy sections of the grounds. With a good wipe down on trucks, the show went on to prove it is still the largest of its kind. We can’t wait until next year and see what shows up. If you plan on attending next year’s event, you can get the latest information at lonestarthrowdown.com or their Instagram page, @lonestarthrowdown. Just make sure to plan your trip in advance, as it will sell out for vehicle registrations and nearby hotels get booked quickly.
