The 2026 Mid-America Trucking Show is in the books and, as reported in the immediate aftermath, the 1985 Peterbilt 359 crafted by Randy Menkel and the team at Never Satisfied Builds and J&L Contracting took home top honors in the Big Rig Build-Off.
First, a tip of that cap to strong competition. The Build-Off dropped three of the nation’s top custom truck artists in a race to build the best truck possible in limited time leading into the big show. In addition to Menkel and team, Big Rig Build-Off defending champ Luke Rethwisch and Stegall’s Truck Shop’s James Stegall competed.
Rethwisch brought “High Rise Suite,” a 1976 Peterbilt 352H with a 110-inch big bunk, powered by a V8 Cat.Photos and video in this story by Lawson Rudisill, unless otherwise noted
Stegall showed “Blue Collar Roots,” a 2007 Peterbilt 379 powered by a C-15 Cat with a 13-speed on a 295-inch wheelbase.
For Menkel’s award-winning 359, as he notes in the video up top, the Never Satisfied/J&L team “put about 11,000 hours' worth of hard work in” for the finish, with 12-14 employees at various times “averaging 115, 120 hours a week in the shop.”
The inspiration, Menkel said, was a desire for onlookers to be able to "walk around the corner 300 feet away and go, 'That's a clean 359.' But whenever you got closer to it, you started seeing details of ideas, and then you pull the hood and you open the door to the cab, or open the sleeper door, and you're like, 'Wow, these boys came to play.'"
The truck is about “98% customized” overall, Menkel said adding that “there's not really one thing on this truck that hasn't been touched.”
He calls the truck “Outta the Ordinary” for a number of reasons, he explains in the vid. Notably, Never Satisfied’s “ordinary” color is Viper Red, so going with a blue base paint was anything but ordinary for the crew.Matt Cole
That even includes the engine -- a 5EK Cat that, in addition to immaculate paint work that’s not uncommon among show trucks, was sanded down so all of the normal “squared and thick” angled edges of the block were “smoothed and rounded,” Menkel said.
That alone took upwards of a week of hand sanding before the paint went on, in addition to more than a month of work before that “getting everything ground down and fitted right,” he added.
That 5EK Cat is coupled with an 18-speed with a 4-speed auxiliary. Because J&L Contracting does a lot of heavy-haul work, the rig is outfitted with 46,000-pound full-locking rears, a double frame with a 320-inch wheelbase and a 20,000-pound pusher axle.
The cab of the truck is from a 359, but various parts and pieces on the unit come from later-model Peterbilts, including from a 379, 389 and even a new 589.
The rig’s interior features a custom, one-off dash that was built with the help of Jamie Johnson at Rust 2 Rodz.
That custom dash features chrome gauges and switches.Matt Cole
Menkel said he was getting a lot of questions at MATS about whether the truck had a 379 cab due to the flooring. It is indeed a 359 cab that the Never Satisfied team “flat-floored.”
The bunk started life as a Double Eagle, but the team tore everything out and started over from scratch. Menkel said the only original parts of the bunk today are the corners and roof cap.
Carmil Audio supplied the entertainment package, which packs a punch at 4,000 watts with 30 speakers. There’s no traditional head unit in the dash -- the sound system is controlled by a phone or tablet.
For a mid-1980s feel, the team added diamond-plate step boxes from 12 Ga. Customs, double-bubble lights from Calli’s Customs, Alumitank fuel tanks that were custom made with the fuller neck on the inside, boltless fender mounts, custom light panels underneath the truck and much more.
“Probably the best thing to take away from this build is the amount of hours that we put into this truck,” Menkel said. “The guys really, really pulled through and basically bonded better. You know, when you're spending 30-hour stretches with each other, there's a chance somebody is going to lose it, and it just kind of flowed. There's a lot of pressure, a lot of no sleep, and a lot of being away from home. So, they did a did an amazing job.”
Indeed, well-done.
[Related: PKY results: Never Satisfied Builds' 1985 Peterbilt 359 captures big Build-Off win]
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Todd Dills: So we're at MATS here at the Big Rig Build-Off, where three of the top custom truck builders in the United States are competing for $20,000 cash prize. In this video, you're going to see the winner's truck. But if you don't want to miss the other two, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and OverdriveOnline.com.
J.C. Alt: So without further ado, on the big reveal of this year's winner is Randy Menkel, 1985 359 Peterbilt.
Randy Menkel: I'm Randy Menkel with Never Satisfied Builds, J&L Contracting, builder of the truck. It's a 1985 Peterbilt 359 long hood that we've taken and put about 11,000 hours worth of hard work in. I had probably somewhere close to 12 to 14 guys at some point in the shop helping build, averaging 115, 120 hours a week in the shop.
There's not really one thing on this truck that hasn't been touched. Probably 98% customized. It's got a 5EK Cat, 18 speed. It's got a 4-speed auxiliary. It's got 46K full locking rears. We've went through and everything from 379 frame horns, 389 axle stem springs. We've done air piping out of a out of a 589. We've taken in, cut down and modified and made it work for us.
Done custom bracketry for the cooling package. We've rounded everything off on the block. So all this casting here, usually on a block, is all squared and thick. So everything's been smoothed and rounded. Everything's been touched. Any access bolts that we weren't gonna need or use got filled. There's probably, there's I know there's a week and a half of just hand sanding the motor before we painted it, and there was probably a month, month and a half prior to that, getting everything ground down and fitted right. For a Cat guy, the timing sensor is usually right here. So we closed all that in and we put an access panel to it. So in case you got to change the sensor, you can. The wires are running through stainless braided to where it matches the motor.
We did a one-off dash Jamie Johnson, Rust 2 Rodz, helped out a lot with the dash. We did lower panels in house. We flat floored the 359. So it's not, everybody's asking today if it's a 379 cab. It is not, it is a 359 cab that we flat floored. The bunk here, it started out as a Double Eagle. We completely tore it down. Started fresh from scratch. The only thing original on this bunk itself is the corners and the roof cap. Everything else has been modified. The sound system, it's Carmil Audio. He came in and done the stereo system for us. It was about 4000W. There's 30 speakers in the truck. No head unit. Everything's all ran off your phone or tablet.
Went with a stainless diamond plate step box from 12 Ga. Customs, just to match the feel of the era. Done the double bubbles, Calli's Customs, Calli Nelson. Did the Alumitank fuel tanks, had them custom made where the filler neck's on the inside.
So we double framed this truck to, the truck's a 320 wheel base. It's got a 20,000 pound pusher on it. Boltless fender mounts that we made in house. All the light panels underneath the truck has been made in-house custom.
"Out of the Ordinary" is the name of the truck. Basically, we were at Atlanta judging in the show, and we were trying to come up with a name, and this was on the playlist. Luke Combs' version, and I said it'd be a good name because normally our ordinary is red, Viper Red. So this truck being a base of blue, it is definitely out of the ordinary.
I did the hose loop for what we do. We do heavy haul. So we've got hydraulic lines and we've got, you know, your three and one air and electric. So we always run a hose loop like that. All that's in-house made.
Lawson Rudisill: So kind of zooming out here, the presentation of it all. What's the look you're going for here?
Menkel: Basically, we sent renderings off to get t-shirts made. And there was an old barn in the background and had some old signs hanging in it. And so we're kind of mimicking the t-shirt, and it's it's kind of a cool piece because we've got, you know, a big TV in there seeing what's the build from day one to day end. And Louisville being Louisville, you never know if it's going to be raining or snowing. So now we got a place we can go hide in for a while if we need to to stay all the weather.
Probably the best thing to take away from this build is the amount of hours that we put into this truck. The guys really, really pulled through and basically bonded better. You know, when you're spending 30-hour stretches with each other, and there's a chance somebody is going to lose it, and it just kind of flowed. There's a lot of pressure, a lot of a lot of no sleep and a lot of being away from home. So, they did a did an amazing job.
