photo by:  dartanya.com

Over the past few years Gary Rice and his International 966 have shown great promise in the USA-EAST Limited Pro and Super Farm combination class.  The Farmdale, Ohio native and his family operate a large dairy farm in eastern Trumbull County, Ohio  and his obligations on the farm have kept him from participating as a regular in the grueling USA-EAST Series.  But Gary appears to have his tractor poised to make a run at the points race in 2010.

On Saturday afternoon at the Keystone Nationals at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, “Milk Money” was right on the money as the Limited Pro grabbed 2nd place in the elimination session.  Rice was very pleased with that run and felt that the tractor was just about perfect in the elimination round.  However later in the evening Rice made what he called a driving error that caused “Milk Money” to finish back in the pack in the finals.  “The starting line was really going away by the time we hooked and I zinged the tires out of the hole”, said Rice.  “If I could have made the same type of run that I made in the afternoon, I  feel that we would have been up there in the finals”.  However Race also added, “Those Mod Turbo guys really know how to drive!!”  Travis Eaton ended up winning the class with his “Barely Gettin’ By” John Deere.

Rice’s beautifully prepared IH966 started out as a super farm tractor but was transformed for the 2009 season as a 540 cubic inch limited pro stock.  The new engine and turbo charger work was done by Extreme Machine in New Berlin, New York.  Rice credits Ron at Extreme for bringing his tractor to the very competitive level that he has attained.  The tractor utilizes a 3.9 charger and a Sheid fuel pump to get the most power possible from “Milk Money”.  Rice said that the team did not “make any major changes over the winter – just a few adjustments.”

“Milk Money” and Gary Rice will be ready for the opening leg of the 2010 USA-EAST Limited Pro/Super Farm Series when the tractors hook at the Keystone State Nationals at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Brookville, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 19th at 7:00pm.