BRISTOL, Tenn. -- They log nearly 70,000 miles a year on the road, a 75-hour work week is not unusual, and they are responsible for hauling equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars safely to its destination, week after week.

	Barry Sheppard, a.k.a "Hillbilly," soaks up the experience of NASCAR's parade of semi-trucks through Bristol.

They know which racetracks they like, and which ones present logistical nightmares for parking their perfectly shined, brightly colored 18-wheelers.

They are the drivers behind the drivers in the NASCAR Winston Cup series.

While the stars' photos and signatures are plastered all over their rigs, nobody knows a name or a face for these men. But as they pulled their haulers out of the roped-off parking lot after sundown Thursday, a wall of fans lined the streets to scream and wave as the drivers snaked their way across the roughly 10 miles that separate Bristol Mall from Bristol Motor Speedway.

For one night a year, the transport trucks are on parade.

"This is what it's all about, ain't it?" says "Hillbilly," rapidly pulling on his air horn and waving to fans who are as charged as when they greet their Winston Cup heroes.

Think Disneyland's Electrical Parade pumped up on steroids. It happens each August and only in Bristol, where the fans are so fervent the city's transportation engineer gears up for this event like it's the Super Bowl.

	NASCAR fans don't seem to care that it's not Ricky Rudd but "Hillbilly" who's behind the wheel.

When the trucks and all their blazing lights and blaring horns pass by, fans whoop and holler. Some even try to high-five the drivers, who are happy to toss team hats and greetings back to the sweaty masses.

Hillbilly, the radio handle for 44-year-old Barry Sheppard and thus the only name his fellow truckers know him by, drives Ricky Rudd's deep red Ford transporter. He keeps it spotless inside and out, and for parade night he was joined by his wife Kimmy.

While Hillbilly keeps a radio dialogue with "Bandit" and "Wishbone," Kimmy smiles and waves to the fans.

"It's like a Christmas parade," Kimmy says. "The kids tickle me, seeing the little bitty ones wave."

The trucks go in order of their Cup driver's current position in the points standings, with the reigning series champion's truck going first. This put Hillbilly 23rd in the parade.

Behind Hillbilly, a train horn goes off. "That's Stump's truck," he says.

"Oh my, those really are train horns," Kimmy says, laughing.

"Yeah, that's what I said, that's train horns on Stump's truck," Hillbilly says.

	Race fans line the streets of downtown Bristol as the transporter carrying Kyle Petty's Dodge rolls past during the annual truck parade to the Bristol Motor Speedway.

While fireworks go off in a parking lot on the parade route, and fans beg for the trucks to keep honking their horns, Kimmy is jiggling a fuse in the glove box to keep the hauler's lights on. They've periodically been blowing out.

Hillbilly says Kimmy, a nail technician and hair stylist, doesn't usually ride with him on the road, but is along for parade night since Bristol is only a three hour drive from their home in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

"She's got her job, and she couldn't put up with me," he says.

But the two have made the trek together from Daytona, one year driving home in seven inches of ice that would have forced most drivers to park.

"I took pictures of the ice, because I knew nobody would believe it," says Kimmy, who's listening to Hillbilly's banter with other drivers on their radios.

"All of these drivers are close," Kimmy explains. "They laugh together, cry together -- they're one big family. When one's hurting, they all hurt."

When Hillbilly's mom passed away the week of this year's Martinsville race, Kimmy counted 300 cards that came from truck drivers as well as car owners and other crew members.

"People you didn't even know they knew who you were sent cards," Kimmy says. "But you know, these races couldn't happen without these truck drivers. Tomorrow they'll work an 18-hour day."

They also have to entertain sponsors, just as the race car drivers often must do. Rudd's car is sponspored by the U.S. Air Force, and the Air Force generals have learned that Hillbilly makes a mean hamburger.

"They're hooked on his hamburgers," Kimmy says. "So now, he's got to cook for all these generals."

The only entertaining on parade night is for the fans. Hillbilly likes that about this night. "It's for all of them we do this," he says.

And the fans revel in the sight of the trucks.

Roger Zagorski traveled from Milwaukee, Wis., with his 9-year-old son, Nicholas Handlos, to see the race and festivities leading up to it.

As the trucks passed by, Nicholas only needed to catch a glimpse of the rig to yell out to his dad which Cup driver's car was inside.

"This has just been a great trip," Zagorski said. "There's so much enthusiasm behind this parade. We know about the drivers, and he knows all those drivers' numbers better than he knows arithmetic.

"In the car on the way down here, I was trying to help him with his math by having him calculate our fuel mileage," Zagorski said. "He had more trouble with that than he does with these car numbers."

By the time the final hauler had passed by, father and son gathered their bags. It was time to head to the hotel. But both were on cloud nine after experiencing their first hauler parade.

"I've waited nine years to get down here and see this," Zagorski said. "I finally got here. I'd put this race experience at Bristol right at the top."

Justin Hagey is an RPM editor for ESPN.com.