The 2013 pulling season was finalized on Nov.9, 2013 when Power Pulling Productions hosted a banquet and award ceremony. The event was held at the Washington Fair Grounds 4H building.
Invited pullers and their quests were treated to an excellent meal of steak and shrimp prepared by Frank Puskarich, owner of Hog Fathers Old Fashion BBQ and our own 7700 class puller with the Lunatic Fringe.
Event workers for Power Pulling Productions were recognized for the excellent job they do to make all of our pulling events a success. Each was presented with a new shirt to start the 2014 pulling season.
The first award was presented to Tom Taylor, Gunpowder & Lead, champion of the 6,300 Open 4x4 Class. Tom was presented with the first place check, a Lucas Oil Champion Jacket, a bucket of Lucas Oil Products, Statuette of his truck and a first place trophy. Trophies for the 6300 class are presented by Martin Motorsports who also presented second place trophy to Dennis Nichelson with Wild Thing and third place to Joshua Cooper with Expensive Guesswork. Ten pullers had signed up in 2013 to run points for the class and the winner was decided at the last pull of the year as Tom and Dennis were tied going into the event at West Alexander Fair. This was the third year for this point class and three different champions have been crowned.
The 7700 Open 4x4 Class was the next award to be presented. Shawn Hodges, On Borrowed Time, was crowned a two time champion of the pullers who were vying for points in the class. Shawn had another commitment for the evening so his two young sons accepted the award for their Dad. You can imagine the big smiles on their faces. Shawn also received a first place check, a Lucas Oil Champions jacket, a bucket of Lucas Oil products, a statuette of his truck and a trophy for his winning efforts. Checks were also presented to the following in their respective finish: Doug Martin with Huffman Auto Sales, Ryan Banik with Twisted Addiction, Frank Puskarich with Lunatic Fringe, Jeremy Davis with his 98 Chevy and Brad Berghoff with Attitude Adjuster II. The 7700 Class also has its own sponsors who are recognized at all their events. They are as follows: Blue Dot energy Services LLC, Bronco Oilfield Services, FTS International Services LLC, Hog Fathers Old Fashion BBQ LLC, Keystone Containment Contractor LP, Mountain Supply and Services, Producers Supply Company and Red Oak Water Transfer LLC.
The Lucas Oil Pro Pulling Super Stock 4x4 class was the next award presented. The class champion, Luke Simeon with Out-A-The-Blue, was crowned for the sixth time in seven years of competition for this class. Luke finished first in front of the other fourteen competitors in the class. Luke was presented a first place check with a total class payout of $12,960. Luke also received his Lucas Oil Champions Jacket, a bucket of Luca Oil products, a truck statuette and a trophy. The following competitors also received checks, listed in their final points standing order: Calvin Brown Jr. with Buckeye Bowtie, Steve Snider with Haunted Heartbeat, Richard Eberhart with Gitter Done, Bob Martie with Raisin A Ruckus, Bryan Coia with Out-Witt-Ed II, Darin Young with Pipe Dreams that he purchased from Calvin Brown Sr. mid pulling season, Pat Collins with Southern Pride, Pat Snider with Truckasaurus, Ron Jack with Bounty Hunter, Tyler Martin with The Outlaw, Larry Jarrell with the Punisher and Sam Magill with Predator IV.
The competition in this class of 410 cubic inch vehicles usually places the top five or six vehicles within 2 feet of each other and sometimes is decided by less than an inch. The class participated in 18 events this season and Luke finished in first place at 12 of those events. Other first place recipients were Calvin Brown Jr. with 2, Ron Jack with 2, Bryan Coia with 1 and Bob Martie with 1.
The final award was presented to The Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Limited Pro/Super Farm Class. Crowned for his fourth championship in seven years of competition was Brady Mermon Jr. with his International he calls Barnburner. Brady is chief of his local volunteer fire department thus the name. Brady was presented a first place check with a total class payout of $9,500. He also received his Lucas Oil Champion Jacket, a bucket of Lucas Oil Products, statuette of his tractor and trophy. Brady has 6 first place finishes of their 13 events. Other first place winners were Gregg Ferringer with 2, Ron Higgins with 2, Brady Mermon Sr with 1, Jim Swiontek with 1 and Laine Jobe with 1. Checks were presented to the following in their respective order of finish: Brady Mermon SR with Barnburner 2 (last year champion), Gregg/Larry Ferringer with Smokin John (2011 Champion), Jim Swiontek with BuckUp, Ron Higgins wit Red Rush, Tim Pugliese with Deere Friend, Laine Jobe with Patience of Jobe and Mark Bell with Fire Fox.
The banquet came to a close with Bob Blank, on behalf of Power Pulling Productions, thanking all in attendance for making the 2013 pulling season a success. He included pullers, their crew chiefs and pit helpers, friends and fans of pullers and event workers. It takes everyone working together to make each event a success. After an event when the person responsible for their track events tells you they had their biggest attendance numbers for the week we can all be proud of working together to make this happen at each event.