USA-EAST ‘FINALS’ AT MERCER RACEWAY PARK 

The second annual USA-EAST “Finals” were held at Mercer Raceway Park in Mercer, Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 6th.  A gloomy afternoon turned into a very nice evening and produced an excellent field of pulling vehicles along with a sizeable crowd of spectators.  The pull was produced by and promoted by Full Pull Productions of Jamestown, Pennsylvania and was sanctioned through USA-EAST Sled Pulling.

For the first time ever the Southern Tractors Pullers Association provided their weight transfer machine for the pull.  The STPA sled from North Carolina was capably operated by Ken Stoner from Ashland, Ohio and did a creditable job stopping the five classes.

While the name “Finals” was retained for this pull, only three of the divisions actually were pulling for their last point pull of 2008:  Limited Pro/Super Farm; ‘Run What Ya Brung’ and ‘Hot Farm’ Tractors.  The two street-licensed classes at Mercer still have additional hooks remaining this season.

                                                       LIMITED PRO/SUPER FARM TRACTORS

As tropical storm Hanna battered the eastern part of the nation and all of the pulling events were cancelled a number of strong competitors from ‘down east’ made the trek to Mercer to participate in the USA-EAST event.  Jason Forrester and the current Interstate Pullers point leader, “Poppa Smurf” were the best in a four way pull-off.  The 540 cubic inch Genesis engine in the Ford 9000 performed flawlessly as Forrester finished just ahead team-mate Smokey Smith on “Bleedin’ Blue”.  Third place went to Brady Mermon, Jr. and the “Barnburner” Super Farm International from Avella, Pennsylvania.

CHAMPION: LIMITED PRO / SUPER FARM  TRACTOR CLASS FOR 2008

Mark Bell from Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania was 4th at Mercer Raceway with the “FireFox” John Deere 7800.  This was enough to win the 2008 USA-EAST point championship for Bell.  His point win was made just a bit easier when Nathan Graham could not get his “Blue Reaper” tractor fixed in time for the last pull of the season.  Graham was the catch-driver on the Forrester’s “BVT Express” on this night.

A trio of hard-charging Internationals from New York’s Empire State Pullers series also participated at Mercer Raceway making this a truly regional pull of the ‘smoker’ fans.  Henry Everman had captured the ESP championship with his Super Farm named “Mr. Determination”, but the IH stuck a plunger off the line and was not a factor on this night.   Steve Meyer from Springville, NY finished fifth with “All or Nothing” and Clay Christ got 6th with the beautifully-prepared “Just 4 Fun” to make their southern swing worthwhile.

                                         MODIFIED FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE “Run What Ya Brung” Series

Jack Keihl’s “Size Matters” Chevrolet skipped the Burton, Ohio pull on Labor Day after a disappointing finish at the Canfield Fair, but the big block GM machine returned with a vengeance on Saturday night to capture the win at Mercer.  Ryan Ritzert from Butler County was behind the wheel for the victory of the newly ‘fine-tuned’ Chevy.   The “Mighty Mouse” Dodge and Mark Tatalovic from Guys Mills, Pennsylvania was second and George Nichelson from Mount Pleasant brought out the ancient “Heavy Metal” 1937 Chevy to grab third.

CHAMPION: 2008  R.W.Y.B MODIFIED 4X4 TRUCK

Eddie Zedreck, Jr. and “Little Irish II” was fourth at the MercerRaceway event, but ended the 2008 season as the USA-EAST point champion.  Zedreck, from Chicora, Pennsylvania,proved to be the most consistent truck during this season at the 600+ cubic inch machine captured the most wins of any other truck in the RWYB Modified 4x4 Series.  The top diesel at Mercer was Matt Cooper’s Duramax Chevy named “Goin’ The Distance”.

                                                     ‘HOT FARM’ TRACTORS

Justin Stryffeler’s John Deere 4250 proved to be the best at this event as the Salem, Ohio owner had the only full pull of the class.  Minerva, Ohio’s Larry Hawk was 2ndat 288.7 with his IH 1466 and third place went to Scott Sanor from Homeworth, Ohio 281.0 with an International 1486.

CHAMPION: HOT FARM TRACTORS                            

  Dick Martin from Volant, Pennsylvania sealed his first-ever USA-EAST point championship at this event.  Martin’s “Black Magic” IH 1066 was the most consistent of all in the “Hot Farm” division and was the only tractor to compete in all eight of the hooks offered by USA-EAST in 2008.

          STREET LICENSED DIESEL 4x4 TRUCKS

This class still has two hooks remaining in 2008, but the winner at Mercer was the truck that has dominated the class this season.  Bill Bowser’s “Old Blue NOS Express II” from Mayport, Pennsylvania once again captured the victory – number eleven this season.  The awesome Cummins-powered Dodge has been virtually impossible to beat this year.  Ed Dicks from Portersville had to settle for the runner-up spot again at Mercer with his Dodge while Casey Gildersleeve from Rock Creek, Ohio was third.  This class pulls at Clearfield, Pennsylvania on September 13th and at Fairmount City, Pennsylvania on September 20th to round out the 2008 campaign.

          STREET LICENSED GAS 4X4 TRUCKS

Craig Bell from Titusville, Pennsylvania has emerged as the top truck of 2008 and got another win at Mercer with his 460 cubic inch Ford extended cab.  Bell and Aaron Rupert were locked into a ‘death grip’ on the pointchampionship until Rupert’s Ford blew the engine and was forced out of the race.  This opened the door for Bell whohas made the most of his run to the seasonal USA-EAST championship.  The Chevrolet of Mike Barr from Port Matilda, Pennsylvania has endeavored to keep the race close and finished 2nd at Mercer while Larry Popeck from SW Pennsylvania was third with his Ford machine.

                            Three pulls remain on the USA-EAST schedule for 2008:

September 13 at Clearfield, Pennsylvania for the Big Rigs EXPO. 

The street licensed diesels will be split into a local class and an open-to-the-world class at this event.  The remainder of that pull will be devoted to semi trucks.  A class for the local street licensed trucks as well as a class for the open “PA POSSE” trucks are also on the program.  And an appearance by the world-famous Big Rigs semis in the popular “Six Pack” format will highlight that event.

September 20 at Fairmount City, Pennsylvania for the “Rumble at the Redbank”. 

Pro Street Diesel 4x4 trucks will pull at this event as well as an open class for the Limited Pro/Super Farm/Hot Farm Tractors and the final appearance of 2008 for the “PA POSSE” open semi trucks and the ‘finals’ for the street licensed gas trucks and the street licensed diesel trucks.

September 27 at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for the Bloomsburg Fair. 

One of the largest pulling events in Pennsylvania this pull has been a total ‘sell-out’ in each of the past three years.  The pull will be the national ‘finals’ for the Big Rigs Pulling Series and the All-American “Smoker Series” and will draw some of the top pullers in the eastern United States in both divisions.  This is also the ‘finals’ for the Pro Street Diesel 4x4 Trucks.  Fans are urged to buy the tickets in advance for this event by going online to www.bloomsburgfair.com in order to choose the best remaining seats.