Star of the show

A smoothed-over pebble stuck between the weathered wooden slats of the 18-wheelers’ custom, homemade floorboard.

John Schmitz — 46 with a three-inch goatee — wasn’t having the mess.

He delicately removed the impediment from the slot like he was playing a game of Operation with his index finger and thumb.

A rock lodged in his spiffed-up, award-winning customized big rig named Saddle Up … no way, Schmitz said.

Not this 2000 Peterbilt 379 long hood manufactured in Denton with its hunter green and stardust gold exterior. Not this truck with heavily chrome-accented interior, including uniquely designed armrests made out of a stirrup and window cranks crafted from horse bits.

And definitely not the truck he designed to his cowboy-loving tastes and polishes and primes each year for competition with the help of his four daughters and wife.

“It’s my hot rod and my hobby,” Schmitz said.

But as special as the trailer truck is for its unrivaled interior design — the panel light knobs look like six-shooter chambers — it’s the time Schmitz spends with his wife, Mary Jo, and daughters that counts most.

Together, they installed much of the flair that could lead to another trophy during the annual Pride and Polish competition at the Great American Truck Show. And it’s the all-hands-on, “do-it-right-or-don’t-do-it-at-all” polishing sessions that Schmitz cherishes.

“It’s our time,” said Schmitz, who has entered his truck in the Dallas contest five of the last seven years.

So this is a belated Father’s Day story for a dad who loves his daughters so much he wants them in the truck with him.

It’s 21-year-old Stephanie’s elbow grease that polished the wheel wells, and petite, 9-year-old Katie’s sweat likely dripped during the floorboard installation.

“We enjoy the compliments and the amazement that girls are working on the truck,” Stephanie said.

John Schmitz loves Rachelle, 23, so much that her picture with Stephanie hangs from the headliner. Mary, 12, poses with Katie in a second pocket-sized photo clipped above the driver’s seat.

“One reason I’m willing to do the truck shows is because it teaches the children so much,” Mary Jo said.

Such as patience, dedication, she suggested, and follow-through. The floorboard made out of the yard fence took two days with the whole family involved.

“In other words, don’t just throw a rag at it,” she said.

A little spit and shine isn’t about pimpin’ Schmitz’s ride. It’s about time with the family for a 29-year, truck-driving veteran who spends about 260 days a year on the road away from his West Odessa home.

Schmitz bought the truck in 1999 with six miles driven on it. Wednesday, the odometer read 914,266.7 miles.

The truck cab is home for too long each year. So a pebble has no place inside Schmitz’s rig.

But there’s always an open seat for his daughters.