My midweek Pulls. Seymour WI Cedarburg WI Grayslake’s IL
Well this week started out on Tuesday Night where the NEW
Mod trucks where pulling at the Outagamie County fair in Seymour WI. This is a
Tractor pull with a few Truck Classes mixed in on a ½ mile oval clay track.
They did have it set-up right with two Tracks one for the Local Farm Tractors
Classes and we ran on the inner track with the big Tractors and Trucks on the
famous 007 Sled of Jim Luedtke’s. I started the night out with my Mod gear in
the box but Jimmy was letting the trucks fly down the track at some pretty good
speed tonight. So during a pause in the action due to a leaking air hose on the
sled I switched to my Super Stock gear to give me a little more wheel speed
during the pull. After the airline was fixed they had Three Mod Diesel Trucks
and then we switched to 4x4 Mod, Which I was the first puller in the class. So
after watching the Mod Diesel trucks pull they where out in the 330 foot mark, I
figured if I make it that far I’ll have to keep my pull and sit and watch.
Well as I was driving onto the track I saw Jimmy Shift a gear in the weight box
tranny so I don’t know if he sped the box up or down but that was the only
change he made to the sled.
So I got ShaZam all line up and was given the OK tighten
the chain up signal. So with the chain tight the flag man gives me the green
flag, I slip ShaZam into 3rd and I played Tractor with the tires for
about 5 feet then I gave ShaZam full throttle and the tach went to 7800 rpm’s
and floated between 78 and 8000 rpm’s during the whole run as I let the tires
eat that Seymour Clay until I seen that 22 dreg’s of banking coming from
number one corner, and I felt the last stage hit and ShaZam came to a neck
snapping stop at 315.83 with a track speed of 25.80 mph. This is the fastest
ShaZam ever went down a track. Now the flag guy say you going to keep it or turn
it down. It looked like I was deep enough into the corner so I said ya I’ll
keep it. With that I drove ShaZam back to my trailer that I had parked on the
infield of this Clay track. So Up next was Cold Ethel with my Beer
Drinking buddy Craig Emmes Driving, Craig had a little bounce coming out of the
hole but he recouped from that and was Hammer down in no time flying down the
track. Craig had flash backs from his pull in Gillett WI a few weeks back where
he got out of the throttle at the end of the track and lost all his momentum to
finish 2nd for the night, Tonight he stayed in the throttle till the
sled stopped him at 313.01 with a track speed of 25.30 mph. My Next beer
Drinking buddy was up Dean Wagner with Burn n desire, Now Dean was having a hard
time figuring which gear he wanted to run tonight He had the big one in and then
at the last minute he switch back to his smaller gear. Well he should have left
the bigger one in the box, When the pan hit Dean was sitting at 288.26 and had a
track speed of 24.70 mph. So Ok at this time I went to ask Jodi just where I
stood in the standings Cuz I didn’t know my footage at that time. When she
said I was 1st I said Hot Dame, But then Me other beer drinking Buddy
Bruce was up next with Poker Face and he’s been putting a whooping on me 6 out
of the 8 pulls this season. But tonight was ShaZam’s Night to shine, Bruce
left the line great but his tires never caught up to the track and he was just
spinning his wheels till the last stage hit and stopped him at the 300.03 mark
with a Track speed of 25.40 mph. With one truck left to pull I said the worst I
can do tonight is 2nd place. So Mike Kauss was the last truck to hook
to Jimmies sled for the night, As I left the line His motor never got up on his
Cam and he bogged really bad as he passed the 75 foot mark he stabbed the clutch
once to try and get his r’s up but he knew he was done for the night. Mike got
to the 276.19 mark before the 007 sled stopped him.
So 1st place here tonight and a big o pay check for me.
So Ok we get all loaded up and chained down Dean and I
where have a few beers to celibate my win tonight, Bruce and Craig loaded up and
headed home seeing they both had to work in the morning. And then the Rains
came, when I heard the first wave of rain drops the size of baseballs hitting
the trailer I said to me self I done fucked up here. I’m in the middle if a
Clay Bowl and there’s no way in hell I’ll be able to get out of here in the
morning with my 45-foot trailer. In like 3 minutes we had 2 inches of standing
water around the camper. So with that in mind I crawled in for the night only to
have dreams all night that I was stuck in Seymour Wisconsin and couldn’t get
out of the mud pit. Well the Sun came up and there was still standing water
every where But I locked the hubs in and fired up the Grunt truck and tried to
back up and get lined up with the gate to get out of there, But with in 10 feet
I was just spinning my clay filled tires gone no where. Will I figured I might
as well take ShaZam off the trailer and try pulling the grunt truck out that way
but then out of the corner of me eye I seen this big Farm tractor driving in the
parking lot next to the fair grounds. Seems there a Farm Tractor dealership next
door. So I took a walk over there and asked if they’d send a tractor over to
pull Dean and me out of there. They said sure we will, so 20 minutes later they
showed up with a brand New Big ass Four wheel drive Case to pull me out seeing
Dean had managed to get out onto the track after getting his 4 wheel drive to
lock in and made it out into the parking lot.
So now we only had 9 hours to kill till the pull tonight in
Cedarburg WI and it’s only a 2-hour drive. So we got some breakfast and headed
down that way, Pulling into the parking lot 2:30 p.m. and found our parking spot
there for the evenings pull. Getting here early always get you the best parking
spots. So with 7 hours to kill and driving always seems makes me tired I took a
little nap till 5 p.m. when all the noise from the track crew woke me up. As I
came out of my Camper I see Jimmy’s here with 007 again as we walked by I
asked if the sled was set like last night, And Jimmy Smiled and said yes it is,
So cool beans where going to fly again tonight. So Dean and I took a walk to the
fair for supper and found a nice food booth that was selling Philly Steak
sandwiches So I got one of those and a Pulled Pork sandwich for later tonight
after the pulls over. I always get the munches after the food booth seems to
close. So we have the drivers meeting and Bud the Track Boss explains to us that
at 9:20 p.m. theirs going to be a big kaboom fire works. That’s there signal
that in 10 minutes there’s going to be a 30-minute fire works show that the
fair board wants the truck pull to stop for until the fireworks are done. So Ok
we get the show going for the night the NEW Super Stock trucks are the second to
last class for the night seeing there's a group of Badger Open stock trucks
pulling in Union Grove WI and there going to get here later.
So they have 8 local classes, and as they go thru the line
up I see there's two spots in the track that are getting deep holes dug in them.
With talking to one of the local boys there, He said they ran new Storm sewers
into the in field two weeks ago and those areas are looser then the rest of the
track. Well as the sled would run thru those spots Jimmy was getting a ride
inside his cab big time, I swear I seen him hit his head on the ceiling once or
twice. So now it’s coming to the end of the local classes and Bud Comes up to
us and says We can’t guarantee your class will be done before the 9:20 Kaboom
so we’ll just take a intermission until after the fireworks are done and then
start the Super Stock class after that. And they still needed time for the
Badger Trucks to get there. So Donny and I asked Bud hey if were going to take a
hour break in the action can we get some equipment out here to fix these two
holes in the track, Jimmies really getting beat up in the cab tonight going thru
them. Bud said sure and they worked on the track for 45 minutes getting it into
Shape again. Now I was 3rd puller in the Super Stock class so this
track fix was going to work in my favor. So at 9:32 to fireworks began and they
started off kind of slow but they picked up there pace and at 9:50 there was a
10 minute of nonstop fire works going off like you little the fuse of all the
fireworks they had in the truck there. That was cool and the crowd seemed to
like it also. So with the fireworks over now it’s time to get back to business
at hand Truck Pulling.
So OK Mike Kauss was up first and when the last stage of
Jimmies sled hit him he stopped at 318.19 feet with a track speed of 25.20
mph’s next up was Jack Peters with his wife’s Open Stock truck, Now Jack
finally got his new motor in the truck and needed to get some runs on it to
break it in. And he had a good run till the last stage hit him at the 292.74
mark with a track speed of 21.30 mph’s, which isn’t to bad for a little 476
Open Stock motor. So ok It’s ShaZam’s turn to give the 007 sled a ride down
the track. As I drive out onto the track I see the holes are already starting to
form again, So I figures I’d head to the left of the first area to avoid the
second spot altogether and get the sled up to speed as fast as I can tonight. So
I’m all hooked up and I pulled the chain tight I get the green flag to go, hit
all the switches on then set the tach and put ShaZam into 3rd and I
walked the Sled just as I did last night in Seymour and at the 10 foot mark I
gave ShaZam a Mitt full of throttle and the tach went to 78 and hung between 78,
8200 the whole run and the sled was pulling me hard left and I was fighting to
keep ShaZam in bounds by turning hard right, I guess one onlookers said I had
the sled fish tailing pretty good down the track, But when the last stage hit
and ShaZam came to a sliding stop I was sitting at 318.55 with a track speed of
25.40 mph’s So as ShaZam left the track I’m sitting in 1st place
by 0.36 feet. Next up was my Beer drinking buddy Dean, As he got hooked to the
sled he had a good take off but he went thru the soft spot and his engine R’s
zinged up as he hit the loose clay there but he recovered from that and had a
good run going until the last stage hit and stopped his truck at the 308.82 mark
with a track speed 24.40 mph’s So Ok Now I made my way back to the announcers
booth with a few beers in hand it’s been a long day you know. So next up was
Dallas Luther this truck is getting to be in the top 5 in this club. But Dallas
made the mistake of going thru the hole in the track and he had a little bounce
and the sled gave him a little tug as they went thru it when the last stage hit
Dallas stopped at the 310.64 mark with a track speed 24.70 So next up was Donny
Skinkis he too went thru the hole in the track and got a little bounce and it
seemed Donny’s tires never hooked to the track. When the last stage hit him
his truck stopped at the 310.50 mark with a track speed of 24.60 mph’s. I
figured I dodged one bullet tonight but I had two more to go with Tory and Roy
coming up. As Tory got all hooked to the sled his truck is known to have rear
bouncing issues. So as he left the line and went thru the 1st hole he
bounced enough to get air under the rear tires but Tory hung on to it and as he
hit the 2nd hole his truck leveled out again and he laid a good run
on the back half of the track stopping at 318.81 with a track speed of 25.00
mph’s so Tory knocked me out of 1st place by 0.26 feet. Last truck
of the night was Roy and the Midnight Cheater I figured Roy and Tory’s trucks
are set up pretty much the same so Roy was going to bounce also coming thru
those low spots in the track. And I was right as Roy hit the first hole it
launched his truck into the air with all four tires coming off the ground but
Roy the veteran puller he is stayed on the gas and rode out the whoop whoops as
he went down the track until Jimmy dropped the last stage on Roy bringing the
Midnight Cheater to a stop at the 309.66 mark with a track speed of 25.60
mph’s. So I ended up 2nd for the night here and another decent
paycheck for the day. So it’s time to drink a few beers and head to bed as I
have to pull in Grayslake’s IL tomorrow. So at 6:30 I hear Dean fire his truck
up and he heads for home. So I picked up a few beer cans that where around the
truck and trailer and then head out to find a place to eat breakfast at. Before
I knew it I was in Waukesha WI and putting fuel in the truck and generator. Next
stop was Grayslake’s IL 40 minutes down the road. As I pulled into the parking
lot there I found my place to park and then the local guy in a golf cart told me
he’s take and drop me off at the farm stand that they where serving breakfast
at. So I climbed in to his cart and off we went he gave me a little tour of the
new complex they just built last year and he was pretty proud of the place. As
far as fair grounds go to me yes it’s bigger then most I seen. So he dropped
me off ad the food booth and I had me one of those belly buster Plates 2 eggs, 3
pieces of bacon, two pieces toast, Hash browns and three pancakes. Oh ya it was
a meal worth waiting for. So with full belly I walk back to the trailer and take
a 2-hour nap. Ya I know I just got up. But driving makes me tired remember. So
after I get up Gary’s there and he’s working the track up with a rotor
tiller on the back of a tractor and he comes over by the group of us that where
there and asked if he’d could get some help picking rocks off the track. So we
all take part in rock picking and fill the loader bucket with the rocks that
they dump over in the corner of the track. It’s 3:30 with the pull to start at
5:00 p.m. they had to water the track and pack it in.
Tonight I’m the 6th puller in the class of 11
trucks P.I. only pays down to 10th place so someone’s going home
with out a paycheck tonight. As they get the show on the road here I see that
the track is really loose with low track speeds also. I’m hoping that with the
Super Stock Trucks being the 3rd class of the afternoon that the
wobble wheel might get the track packed in better for us, But it never happened
it just stayed loose all day So when it was ShaZam’s turn to pull I hooked up
to the sled went thru my routine put ShaZam in 3rd and took off, My
tires never seemed to get a hold of the track at all the R’s stayed at 7800
the whole run and for me it’s telling me I’m hooked to something but I never
got any speed going down the track and Gary stopped me at the 275.53 mark on the
track. So back to the trailer get loaded up and chained down for the long ride
home. Walked up to look the class standing over and write down the finishing
order and I headed home at 8:00 p.m.
I Pulled into my driveway at 12:20 a.m. jumped into the
shower and crawled in to bed and never felt my head hit the pillow. At 6:30 a.m.
I jumped out of bed and played catch up with my yard choirs here. I got all
caught up by 5:00 p.m. now I can go play in Lena on Saturday.
Dan and ShaZam