‘Opportunity of a lifetime’

Fallon’s Jeff Pishion said his dream to appear on a national television show has come true.

Pishion, a previous Lahontan Valley News Best of Fallon mechanic with Fallon Ford-Toyota, was selected last year to appear on the History Channel’s “Truck Night In America” that originates from Atlanta.

“I have been involved in local mud racing for years, and I would love to get the word out of my appearance on the show,” said Pishion, who has been a mechanic with the dealership for 15 years.

The program’s second season debuts Thursday, but Pishion’s episode airs on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. If the time changes, the LVN will post the new time on its website and Facebook. The History Channel can be found on Spectrum (channel 62), CC Communications (22, 322 HD) and Direct TV (269).

Each episode features five drivers in their personal customized trucks and Jeeps facing each other in three challenges that test each vehicle’s speed, strength and handling.

“Between each challenge competitors demonstrate their craftsmanship by re-engineering their trucks for the next round,” according to the website. “The last two finalists standing then take on a three-mile, truck killing obstacle course known as ‘The Green Hell,’ which challenges trucks and drivers to fly off jumps, climb a mountain of crushed cars, and tear through a snake-infested swamp. Five trucks will enter to compete, but only one can win and take home the prize money and the title of ‘Truck Night Champion.’”

Pishion will be driving his 1977 Plymouth Trail Buster in the competition. Last summer, Pishion flew to Atlanta where he competed against four other drivers. The program also ships the contestants’ vehicles to Georgia.

“I used my mud bog truck,” Pishion said. “I compete in obstacles to test the truck’s strength and ability to power.”

Working on his Plymouth has been a labor of love for Pishion, who grew up in Fallon and was a member of Churchill County High School’s Class of 1992. Pishion said he has worked and tinkered with his truck for 15 years, laughingly referring to time with his Plymouth as being with his mistress. It was his relationship with his truck and mud bogging that led him to contact “Truck Night In America.”

Pishion said he sent a letter to the program in April, and a few days later, he received a call.

“I Skyped an interview with some of the producers,” Pishion recalled.

He said his interview was then edited, and his application promoted.

“Out of the blue, I got a call asking me if I wanted to do this,” he said.

At the end of August, Pishion spent three-and-a-half days competing in the heat and humidity of Georgia.

Naturally, Pishion wouldn’t reveal the outcome of his competition against the four other drivers. Nevertheless, Pishion said being on the program was an experience he will never forget.

“This was an opportunity of a lifetime, and I would like others to know that anything is possible when you follow your dreams,” he said.