The burly men lined up early to see the woman of their dreams at this weekend's Dukesfest, a sea of camouflage and General Lee orange T-shirts.

Nervously glancing side to side, they blushed as they snaked through the more than 50-deep line at Atlanta Motor Speedway to finally reach their long awaited goal: Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach), the star from the hit television show "Dukes of Hazzard" who made hip-hugging Daisy Duke jeans shorts famous.

Becky Stein / Special (ENLARGE)

Eli Jones, 6, (right) and his friend Christian Feltman, 5, (left) admire the interior of a General Lee

It didn't matter to Tim Truelove that Bach, now 54, wasn't wearing the skin-tight shorts. (There were plenty of other fans wearing them outside, some not so comfortably.) Bach wore full-length jeans, a black blouse and open-toe shoes.

"You are just as beautiful as you ever was," Truelove, a landscaper from Clermont, declared as he introduced himself to Bach.

Truelove, who said he owns all the Dukes episodes on DVD, had tears in his eyes and "felt like a teenager all over again" when Bach rested her head on his shoulder and posed for a photo with him.

"I'm just a redneck and she is the biggest celebrity I have ever met," he said triumphantly, clutching her autographed photo.

Truelove is one of thousands who turned out at the racetrack for the two-day event Saturday marking the 30th anniversary of the show a little early. Parts of the show, which aired from 1979 to 1985, were shot in Conyers, and characters Bo and Luke Duke sometimes talked about racing NASCAR in Atlanta.

Outside the media center where Bach busily signed autographs, lunchboxes and T-shirts – for women and children, too – car enthusiasts showed off dozens of look-alike General Lees, the famous orange Dodge Charger cousins Bo and Luke drove in the show. Some of the car owners took fans on thrill rides around the track.

Other fans dressed up like characters in the show, including 13-year-old Austin Prather. He appeared as the show's villain, Boss Hogg, complete with white polyester suit, matching cowboy hat, and pillow stuffing to give him Hogg's paunch.

"Now we just need to find a gray wig to go with it," Prather's grandmother, Delina, said proudly as she admired him. The Prathers traveled to the show from Cairo, Mo., with five show vehicles including a 1970 Cadillac DeVille convertible they restored to look like Hogg's ride.

They weren't the only ones who came from afar. Steve Whittaker drove in Friday from Bristol, Va., spending the night with his wife and two young sons in their minivan. They lined up early Saturday morning to get Daisy's autograph.

"She's gorgeous," Whittaker asserted after Bach autographed a somewhat revealing photo of herself for him.

The Whittakers were planning to stay overnight again, this time in a tent, and return to the event today. After all, they are diehard Dukes fans.