Fans of the reality TV series Gold Rush, Mark Doerfler (left) of Wauponsee Township, Illinois, and Stephen Wilhelm of Troutman Excavating of Morris, Ill., meet Gold Rush Star Juan Ibarra in front of his service truck on display at the C-Tech booth at the 2018 Work Truck Show
Juan Ibarra, a star of the Discovery Channel’s Gold Rush reality series, drove his 1992 Peterbilt truck with its 1995 Aresco off-road mechanics body just over 2,000 miles from his home near Reno, Nevada, to Indianapolis.
He parked the big orange rig at the booth of CTech Manufacturing, where he spent some quality time with fans as well as at the booth of Taylor Pump & Lift, which also invited him to the show.
“Great show, a lot to see,” Ibarra said during a visit to the Taylor booth. “This is the right show for what we do in the industry, heavy equipment industry or anything that has to do with a service truck or any kind of a work truck.”
This was his first trip the Work Truck Show after having attended the International Construction & Utility Equipment Exposition in Louisville, Ky., last fall, and ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas in March 2017.
“I’m definitely impressed with what’s available and what’s here,” Ibarra said.
Service Truck marketing manager Rick Moss, a diehard Gold Rush fan has a chance encounter with Juan Ibarra
Equally impressive is that he drove 28 hours, mostly along Interstate 80, through snow and rain much of the way.
“We had weather the whole time,” he said. “But definitely worth it. Got here in one piece. The truck ran great.”
For the ride to the show, he had his brother-in-law for company. But he flew back home from Indy, leaving Ibarra to drive solo back to Nevada.
Then he was off to the Klondike — about 90 minutes south of Dawson City, Yukon, on the Indian River — to begin shooting another season of Gold Rush.
“Juan’s been real good for us,” said Jeff Taylor Sr., whose company struck a deal with Ibarra to provide him with a lube skid, something Ibarra had never had on the truck before that.
The rig’s goodies also include a Lincoln Air Vantage 600SD hydraulic four-in-one unit, an HC-8x crane from Auto Crane, and CTech drawers.
Ibarra’s presence at the CTech stand came as a pleasant surprise to Mark Doerfler, highway commissioner with Wauponsee Township of Illinois.
“We walked by and I saw that truck and I said, “Geez that looks like that guy from Gold Rush!’ And sure enough we walked around the corner and here he stands,” Doerfler said. “It’s pretty cool.”
Doerfler and his two sons, aged 4 and 6, never miss an episode of the show. “That’s our big thing on Friday night to sit and watch him sling dirt,” Doerfler said.