Lone Star Throwdown: A Texas-Sized Show with Big Buzz

Cool Trucks and Warm Texas Sun

When it comes to huge, buzz-worthy EVENTS that usually break the Internet, there’s one Texas-size show that always tops the list—Lone Star Throwdown. This show, commonly referred to as LST, has grown dramatically since its debut 12 years ago. Back in 2012 when Lonnie Ford and Todd “Radar” Hendrix threw the first event at the Lone Star Expo Center in Conroe, Texas, they had no clue it would grow to the size it has become. Since the first year, a lot has changed, and the show has continually grown. In 2016, they had 2,500 entries, and the showgrounds were way too packed for their liking, so starting with the 2017 show, they capped the event at 2,000 entries and made it pre-registration only. This thinking would allow them more room to breathe at the show, but little did they know, it would become a race for showgoers to get this highly sought after entry ticket. Pre-registration has sold out almost instantly since this change. 

Making the show a little more manageable also created even more buzz about it, pushing the spectator count higher each year. The caliber of sponsors and vendors is some of the highest of the country, which gives those spectators plenty to see and tons of product to buy. We showed up Thursday this year for the set-up day and were quickly in awe due to it being more packed than most shows are on a Saturday. That, combined with the perfect weather, we knew  this event would be one for the books. With the show being mid-February, there is always the risk for cold or wet weather, which the show has seen plenty of over the years. I think the show staff paid off Mother Nature or gave her a free vehicle registration for 2024, because you couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. With lows in the mid-50s at night and highs in the mid-70s during the day with plenty of sunshine—this was probably the best LST to date weather-wise.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by our Motortopia booth, chatted for a bit, and grabbed a magazine. It was great catching up with you and putting a face with a name or a truck. We had our photographer team shoot multiple features over the weekend and even lined up multiple shoots for after the event. Numbers like that solidify it as a good show for us at the magazine.

Back in 2012 when Lonnie Ford and Todd ‘Radar’ Hendrix threw the first event at the Lone Star Expo Center in Conroe, Texas, they had no clue it would grow to the size it has become. Since the first year, a lot has changed, and the show has continually grown.  

Even with such a perfect event, there are always those bad apples who aren’t even showgoers that cause chaos and hurt the events we love. The LST staff had to fight with the city to keep the show around and was fortunate to lock in the 2025 event. So, if you enjoy going to events like this, or even just enjoy reading about them in our magazine, avoid any unofficial events after the show closes where people want to act like fools. The best thing to do is to stay away so these idiots have no one to “show off” to. Takeover events like that jeopardize true enthusiast events like LST.