t takes a village, as they say—and that couldn’t ring truer when it comes to producing this here magazine you happen to be reading. While the internal editorial staff list consists of yours truly and the ever-faithful Sarah Gonzales, who’s saved my hind end on many occasion when it comes to deadlines and whatnot for the past umpteen years, I pretty much rely on a solid crew of freelancers to make sure each and every issue of Classic Truck Performance is just that: solid with the best possible features along with the most informative tech articles we could possibly procure. I’d like to take this opportunity to formally thank them all.

When it comes to the vibrant color features I’ve always relied on two key photographers to grab the cream of the crop: Tim Sutton and John Jackson. And in doing so, I’ve developed a pretty close friendship with them as well. While I may not embark on adventurous road trips as I do with Tim, John is known to text or call at all hours of the day, seven days a week, and the topic of conversation isn’t always necessarily about feature vehicles!

But they’re not my only go-to shooters these days. Chuck Vranas has been by our side (and by our, I mean Brian Brennan and myself) for many, many years—always at the ready to shoot a feature, tech, or event without a hint of resistance … and always comes through like the pro he is. Additionally, Kevin Aguilar, Scotty Lachenauer, Grant Cox, Michael Christensen, and two shooters I’ll never get tired of working with, Tommy Lee Byrd and Josh Mishler, are some of the most dependable and talented there are—and we’re glad to have them on our team.

When it comes to tech, well, we’re super fortunate to have an all-star lineup constantly contributing to In The Garage Media. Whether it’s Rodney Bauman’s good-old down-to-earth articles or Ron Ceridono’s “tech book”–quality how-tos, Todd Ryden’s or my old buddy Ryan Manson’s firsthand knowledge material, you can always count on the most informative technical stories.

Now, why am I choosing this particular time and issue in which to be so outwardly thankful? Well, two reasons, actually. First and foremost, the June issue marks Classic Truck Performance/In The Garage Media’s one-year anniversary! We did it—in the worst possible timing, we kept our heads held high, persisted, and kicked some major ass! And it’s that timing aspect—the COVID-19 pandemic—which is the other reason I’m taking this time to be gracious. This past year hasn’t been easy in any way, shape, or form, and for our team to be able to produce such quality content under these conditions, well let’s just say I (we) couldn’t be more grateful for the work everyone’s done … everyone.

And last but definitely not least, I’d be more than remiss if I didn’t take this closing opportunity to say a huge “thank you” to our “almost-resident” art director Rob Munoz. Since joining the team at the end of 2020 (starting with our Dec. ’20 issue), he’s done an amazing job giving CTP the visual identity I’d envisioned since day one. The magazine couldn’t look better in my eyes!