On second thought, Modesto’s new Pioneer Baseball League team will be the Roadsters, a tribute to the city’s cruising history.
Owner Dave Heller announced the “primary identity” Monday morning at the Graffiti USA Classic Car Museum. The first choice, Glow Riders, will be a secondary name used for games once a week to highlight low-rider culture.
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Heller acknowledged the public unease with the name Glow Riders as the team prepares for its first season next May at John Thurman Field.
“It’s not been a straight line,” he told the crowd. “It’s been a curvy, winding road to get there, but we got there, and that’s really great.”
The newly renamed Pioneer League Team is going to be the Modesto Roadsters. Owner of the team Dave Heller announced at the Graffiti USA Classic Car Museum in Modesto, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.
Roadster means two-seat convertible, like the ‘61 Corvette that Heller rode in for the announcement. The car belongs to the museum and was driven, slowly, from an adjacent exhibit room.
The team will succeed the Modesto Nuts, a minor-league club that left for San Bernardino after the 2025 season. The Roadsters will not have the same developmental role for Major League Baseball but could draw players hoping to extend their careers.
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The change drew praise from manager J. T. Snow, who played mostly for the San Francisco Giants during his own career. He noted that his father, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Jack Snow, owned a 1960s Corvette.
“I loved the new name,” Snow told The Modesto Bee. “They came out with the Glow Riders, got a little pushback. I don’t think that people knew what it was all about. So I give a lot of credit to Dave and the whole Modesto team to make the adjustment. Just like baseball, you need to make adjustments.”
The mascot remains the same, the San Joaquin kit fox, an endangered species in the Valley and the Coast Ranges. The logo shows Cruiser the fox in sunglasses and a leather jacket, driving a roadster and holding a baseball. Two more balls dangle from the rearview mirror. The design even works in the Modesto arch.
The museum celebrates “American Graffiti,” the 1972 film by native son George Lucas about his cruising memories. Heller said this venue and his team could promote each other, although details have not been discussed.
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The museum provided some ballpark flavor with hot dogs, popcorn and other food at the unveiling. The team displayed the new ball cap designs, but they and other gear are not yet on sale to the public.
A news release described the Roadsters’ main colors as “candy apple red, egg cream malt and neon diner blue.” Orange and black are there, too — a nod to Snow’s former team.
The Roadster logos were designed by Andie Kat and Greg Gallup of Slightly Obsessed Studios, based in Modesto. The Glow Riders’ was by Francis Santaquilani of FS Design. He did the same for Heller’s minor-league team in Iowa, the Quad City River Bandits.
Following the Nov. 10 announcement of the name Glow Riders, fans took to social media to express their disdain for it and confusion over the voting process.
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The top two vote-getters were Graffiti and Harvesters, each receiving 469 votes. However, Glow Riders received more votes from different people, according to an earlier news release.
Modesto Roadsters team owner Dave Heller, right, talks with longtime Modesto baseball fan Bill Carlson after a team name reveal at the Graffiti USA Classic Car Museum in Modesto, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. Heller said the Modesto team will play under the name Glow Riders once a week.
The release stated the other names had “partisans who repeatedly voted.” The six names voters could choose from were: Graffiti, Bombers, Harvesters, Monster Trucks, 99ers and Glow Riders.
In response to the online protests, Heller organized a beer-hall caucus at Sidelines Whiskeyjacks to hear feedback from the community.
