And the winner is...

I spent a few days in Dallas at the 2007 Texas Truck Rodeo. As a member of the Texas Auto Writers Association it is my sworn-duty to test drive cars, trucks and SUVs to determine the best in each class. So feel sorry for me as I was rolling up and down a dirt test track with heavy duty horse power in some cool 2008 models.

I'll provide more details about the vehicles here and on my show over the next few weeks. In the meantime, here are the winners in each category as voted by me and my counterparts:

TRUCK OF TEXAS
1st: Ford F-250 Harley-Davidson
2nd: Chevrolet Silverado 1500
3rd: GMC Sierra Denali

SUV OF TEXAS
1st: Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
2nd: Toyota Land Cruiser
3rd: Hummer H3 Alpha

TRUCK LINE OF TEXAS
1st: General Motors
2nd: Ford
3rd: Toyota

OUTSTANDING FEATURE
1st: Ford Tailgate Step
2nd: Ford Sync
3rd: Tahoe Hybrid Technology

FULL-SIZE SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
2nd: Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD
3rd: Toyota Land Cruiser

MID-SIZE SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Hummer H3 Alpha
2nd: Nissan Pathfinder
3rd: Jeep Liberty Sport 4x4

COMPACT SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Mercury Mariner Hybrid
2nd: Land Rover LR2 HSE
3rd: Honda CR-V

FULL-SIZE LUXURY SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Cadillac Escalade AWD
2nd: Lincoln Navigator
3rd: Toyota Land Cruiser


MID-SIZE LUXURY SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Mercedes ML 320 CDI
2nd: Volkswagen Touareg 2 V8
3rd: Acura MDX

LUXURY CROSSOVER UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Lincoln MKX
2nd: Volvo XC70

MID-SIZE CROSSOVER UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: GMC Acadia AWS SLT 1
2nd: Mazda CX-9
3rd: Toyota Highlander Hybrid

COMPACT CROSSOVER UTILITY VEHICLE
1st: Ford Edge
2nd: Saturn Vue XR Awd
3rd: Mazda Tribute

FULL-SIZE PICK UP TRUCK
1st: GMC Sierra Denali
2nd: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
3rd: Ford F-150 Limited

MID-SIZE PICK UP TRUCK
1st: Dodge Dakota CrewCab TRX 4x4
2nd: Ford Explorer Sport Trac
3rd: Toyota Tacoma Double Cab

LUXURY PICK UP TRUCK
1st: Lincoln Mark LT
2nd: Cadillac Escalade EXT
3rd: Toyota Tundra Lucchese

HEAVY DUTY PICK UP TRUCK
1st: Ford F-250 Harley-Davidson
2nd: Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Quad Cab
3rd: GMC Sierra 3500 HG