RETURNS FOR FIRST 2011 WIN  AT

COLUMBIANA COUNTY FAIR

"Like Rip Van Winkle awakening after a long, long nap ….. or like the famous groundhog in Punxsutawney coming out of its burrow of February 2nd … or like – ‘well you get the idea”.

Dale Bennett, known at “Pops” to most of his fellow pullers, came back to the pulling scene with a vengeance on Friday night at his hometown fair in Lisbon, Ohio.  Bennett who has been very impatiently awaiting the completion of his new and improved Duramax power plant showed the rest of a stellar truck field that the former USA-EAST Chevrolet is back.  The new machine, partially assembled by Francis Engineering in Leroy, Ohio showed the same high-powered flair that propelled “Social Security” to the 2009 USA-EAST crown with a decided victory over the extremely tight pulling surface in Lisbon.

The pull at the Columbiana County Fair proved to be a sweep of the top three spots by Chevrolets with Duramax V-8 power as John Savage from Sebring, Ohio took the runner-up spot and the current point leader in the 2.6 Diesel division, Corrie Baker from Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania took third.  A total of 28 of the Street Licensed 2.6 Diesel 4x4 Trucks participated using the 2011 rules of the National Association of Diesel Motorsports (NADM).

On Friday, August 12th, the 2.6 diesel 4x4 class returns to the same area of eastern Ohio to compete in the USA-EAST sanctioned event at the Bunker Hill Shoot-Out in Beloit, Ohio.