NORTHEAST OHIO CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT GEAUGA
Another super crowd was on hand at the Great Geauga County Fairgrounds in Burton, Ohio on Saturday evening, June 13th for the first-ever North East Ohio Truck Pull Championships. The pull featured six total divisions with three classes that were specifically tuned to trucks from the counties that make up the northeast quadrant of Ohio. Eligible pullers had to live in Geauga, Ashtabula, Lake, Cuyahoga, Trumbull or Portage Counties in order to qualify for the crown. The pull was produced by Full Pull Productions, Inc. of Jamestown, Pennsylvania and was sponsored in part by Cen.Pe.Co. Lubricants and Fuel additives of Cleveland, Ohio. Paul Webster, the President and CEO of Central Petroleum is a nearby resident in Geauga County and was on hand to make a number of presentations to the local winners.
The northeast ohio STREET LICENSED DIESEL championship trophy went to Casey Gildersleeve from Rock Creek, Ohio with his 2002 Dodge that is named “Wasted Wages”. Gildersleeve is one of the top 2.6 diesel trucks in the United States having just returned from the RPMfest in the state of Indiana after finishing third against the national competition. Hot on his tail was the greatly improved 1999 Ford Powerstroke machine of Pat Cathan from Chardon, Ohio. Tom Atikinson from the Cleveland suburb of Broadview Heights got third with a ’06 Duramax GMC giving each of the major brands a shout out in the top three.
The STREET LICENSED GASOLINE northeast Ohio championship was won by “A Screw Loose” and Cory Sharping from Concord, Ohio. This 1997 Ford sports a mighty big block Ford V-8 for power and has competed with the USA-EAST Series for the past year. Coming in as the runner-up was Dave Wilcox, Jr. from Kirtland, Ohio driving a 350 cubic inch GMC 4x4 and third place went to newcomer John Manfredi of Novelty, Ohio with a 1990 Chevrolet. Manfredi was competing in his first pull!
Finally the STREET LICENSED SEMI TRUCKS took to the track with a stellar field of eleven of the over-the-road trucks on hand. Fred Sanders from Ravenna, Ohio snared the northeast Ohio championship trophy with his 1998 Mack road truck. Sanders is the same owner and driver that campaigns the “Silver Bullet” Mack in the Big Rigs Series. Second went to Willie Scheanon from Ashtabula, Ohio – a member of the world famous “Pennsylvania Posse”. Sheanon drove a Cummins-powered 1988 Volvo to the runner-up position. And in third place was Jim Lautanen from Jefferson, Ohio with a 1987 Pete.
The most powerful 4x4 trucks on the USA-EAST circuit were also in action as the “Run What Ya Brung Series” was contested at Geauga. The Eric Berkey and Ron Cutrell prepared 1950 Chevrolet from Somerset County, Pennsylvania took the laurels as Mr. Berkey piloted the beautiful and freshly painted antique to the victory over 19 rivals. Second went Joe Gambino from Springville, New York with the Brother’s Diesel 1997 Dodge with twin-turbo Cummins power. And local resident Tim Jackson from Chardon, Ohio was 3rd with an ever-improving 2002 GMC with a very stout Duramax under the hood.
Dale Bennett from Salem, Ohio took the open STREET DIESEL class with “Social Security” a 2004 Chevrolet that had a tremendous week-end. Mr. Bennett, one of the few senior citizens in this very competitive 2.6 division, had a win on Friday night at Bunker Hill, Ohio and another win on Sunday afternoon in Dover, Ohio to go along with this Geauga County victory on Saturday night vs. the USA-EAST competition. Dustin Kraft from Garrettsville, Ohio was an impressive 2nd with a 2003 Dodge and Ed Dicks, who finished as the class runner-up in 2008, came all the way from Portersville, Pennsylvania with his 2004 Dodge to grab third place in a field of eighteen.
The final class of this action-packed evening was contested with the USA-EAST STREET GASOLINE 4x4 trucks. All three of the top places went to invaders from the state of Pennsylvania. Mike Barr’s 454 cubic inch Chevrolet from Port Matilda, Pennsylvania made is ‘two in a row’ by capturing the victory. Barr had won earlier this year at Mercer Raceway Park. Mike Webster was 2nd with a 1979 Ford with a 460 c.i. engine under the hook from Venango, Pennsylvania. Third place was the 1990 Ford called the ‘Marwood Express’ driven by Matt Moser from Cabot, Pennsylvania.
A special guest appearence by 2008 NTPA Grand National Champion J.R. Collins and his re-vamped “Buckeye Bulldog” Super Semi was one of the highlights of the night’s festivities. Collins, who hails from nearby Chardon, Ohio has been a crowd favorite for many years in northeast Ohio made two powerful passes with the acclaimed Mack Super Liner that has undergone some significant chassis changes over the winter months. Collins is prepping the quad turbo 998 cubic inch V-8 machine for the NTPA Super Semi opener at Tomah, Wisconsin at the end of June.
The USA-EAST circuit moves to Brookville, Pennsylvana on June 20th at 7:00pm for the Keystone State Nationals at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. Back in action will be the “Run What Ya Brung” Series for Modified four-wheel drive trucks along with a point class for the Big Rigs Pulling Series. Also on the program will be the first hook of 2009 for the combined Limited Pro and Super Farm Tractors.
