9/26/2022
Pro Pulling League
Lucas Oil Pro Pulling Nationals Session Two Offers Dramatic Finale to 2022 Pulling Season
Revised 4:40pm Charlestown, IN (September 26, 2022) – The second session of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling Nationals, sponsored by Super Clean and presented by General Tire, offered some dramatic moments to conclude the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Champions Tour season. Seventy eight competitors across seven classes would make one last attempt to not only win at this heralded event but make that final push for a better final point standing…and possibly a points championship.
The evening started with the Super Farm division on the grandstand track where points leader Josh Miley and the High Maintenan$e CaseIH were first hook with the Protect the Harvest X-Factor sled controlling the action. Miley’s distance of 326.78 would set the early mark to beat in a class of eleven. Miley’s nearest competitor in the Super Farm points race, the Fast and Furious Deere driven on this occasion by James Slama would take the lead three hooks later at 328.80. Slama’s lead would quickly evaporate when Shane Masten and the Thumpin Pumpkin AGCO would go 328.88. Masten’s lead distance would be eclipsed by the Hooked Up IH of Brian Barman on the next to last hook of competition, and Jeremy Roberts and the Wicked Whitetail Deere sliding into second on the final hook. Miley clinched the 2022 overall championship with an eventual sixth place finish in Wheatland. The championship is Miley’s third in a row.
On the infield track the Unlimited Super Stock division held court with the RhinoAg X-Factor sled on patrol. While the championship winner was a foregone conclusion as Josh Blackbourn and the Considered Armed and Dangerous-HD CaseIH clinched the title before Wheatland, there was a battle still to be waged on the track. The resurgent Jeff Hirt and the Runnin Bare CaseIH took the lead at 343.81 early in the class on a pass that solidified his eventual second-place standing in points. Blackbourn would complete the class with a massive blast to 380.82, placing an exclamation point on a season where Blackbourn and the Team Chizek machine never finished outside the top five.
Coming up after the Super Farm class on the grandstand track was the Big River Steel Super Modified Tractor Division. Nine pullers and their machines would tackle the track one final time in 2022. Ricky Long and the MAVTV machine and his brother Keith Long and the Lucas Oil entry were 1-2 in points entering Wheatland and locked into those positions as was the third place machine of Wayne Sullivan, the Optima Batteries Kentuckian. Keith Long would take the event win, but not without going through a battle to get there. After a sled reset, Long would be the first hook of the class and kicked a blower belt off one of his potent hemis on that option run. Long took the option to drop and would return to pull last in the class with a pull of 335.69 that bested the effort of Shannon Leischner on the Dirtslinger Too machine. Bill Leischner and the Dirtslinger would finish third on the night at 330.81.
The smoke and fury of the Pro Stock Tractor class on the infield track complimented the noise and power of the Super Modifieds on the grandstand track. Brandon Simon and the Loud & Heavy and Loud & Loaded Deeres had locked up the top of the 2022 points race before Wheatland, with those machines in first and second place respectively. For the all the assurance in those two spots there was room for movement into, and out of, the top five. With season-ending breakage befalling the third place Buck Eater 2 of Mickey Shorter at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, Kevin Masterson, fourth in points on the Tinker Toy Deere, laid down a class-opening run of 340.89. Two hooks later Masterson would return with the River Rat Deere and improve on his first run with a distance of 346.10. That distance would stand for the event and give the River Rat three straight wins to end the season and put it into fourth place for the final points standings. Brandon Simon would finish 1-2 in points for 2022 with the Loud & Heavy and Loud & Loaded Deeres respectively, with Masterson and the Tinker Toy in third. Former class champion Jack Maize and the Billet Binder would complete the top five in points after a fifth place finish in Wheatland.
The Pro Modified Four Wheel Drive Truck class would follow Pro Stocks on the infield track. Jim Bosch and the Midnight Raider Chevy were defending class champions and points leaders coming into the Pro Pulling Nationals. Charlie Hinds and the Runnin Wild-Texas Style Ford had surged into second place in points on the strength of three straight wins before Wheatland a mere nine points behind Bosch. Hinds would take the lead in the class at 310.61 on an early pass, enforcing Boschs’ need to finish 6th or better to take the title. Bosch would make up a statement run of 312.93, locking up the title (his sixth) and would be the winning pass for the evening.
Optima Batteries Super Modified Two Wheel Drive Trucks were the final class to tackle the grandstand track with a huge field and major points implications based on a tight pack of vehicles at the top of the class. Jeremy Nelson and the Midnight Gambler Dodge would enter the evening as the class leader and RJ Simon and the Simon Sez Chevy in second. Michael White was in third piloting the Addiction Chevy coming into Wheatland just nine points out of first place. The fourth place competitor, Russ Nichols and the On the Edge Ford, was 13 points out of first. The door swung wide open for White and Nichols as sub-par runs by Nelson and Simon provided them opportunity to make moves to the top of the class. White would take the class win on a late pass and Nichols would finish sixth on the evening, putting them 1-2 in points with Nelson in a rare tie with Nichols for second and Simon in fourth for the season. A third place finish by Donnie Sullivan driving the Tim Beatty-owned Sawmill Express Chevy would catapult that machine into the fifth points spot on the season.
Finishing out the night on the infield track were the MAC Trailer Hot Rod Semis. Five machines made the trip out to Wheatland with Chris Wood and the Class Act Peterbilt tied with Joe Giultto and the Sneaky Pete in points. Giulitto did not make the trip to Wheatland, opening the door for Wood to take the title with Keith McConahay at the wheel for this event. McConahay would take a rough ride and finish last in the class but still claim his second straight title. Lonny Sailor and his Holy Smokes machine would take the win for the evening and Spencer Rook would take second, improving to third in points with that finish. The Freightshaker of Colton Sailor finished third, and past class champion Ryan Debroux and the Playin with Fire KW was in fourth. Debroux would move up to second in the final points tally.
Both sessions of the event are now available for replay on www.floracing.com. Complete results and finals points standings are online at www.propulling.com.
Photo provided by www.JPPullingProductions.com
Thank you to all the fans, promoters, pullers, and sponsors for a great 2022 pulling season!
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Lucas Oil Products is the world leader in high-performance lubricants and problem-solving additives, and distributes hundreds of unique formulations in 40 countries, with continued growth every year. Its television production arm, Lucas Oil Production Studios, manages high-def facilities that create more than 300 hours of programming for the Lucas-owned MAVTV Motorsports Network, and MAVTV-produced programming via www.FloRacing.com , accessible on all popular handheld devices, smartphones and computers.
2022 Official Team Lucas Pro Pulling League Marketing Partners
ARP (Automotive Racing Products)
"Official Fastener" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
Arizona Sport Shirts
"Official Merchandise Provider" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
Big River Steel
“Official Sponsor” of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
General Tire
"Official Tire" Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
Lucas Oil Products
"Official Oil" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
MAC Trailer
"Official Trailer" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
MAVTV Motorsports Network
"Official Television Network" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
OPTIMA Batteries
"Official Battery" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
ProtectTheHarvest.com
"Official Sponsor" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
RhinoAg
"Official Sponsor" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
Summit Racing
"Official Sponsor" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
SuperClean
"Official Sponsor" of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
UNOH
“Official Educational Partner” of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League
2022 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Supporters Include:
Ag Protect 1, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Champion Seed, Scheid Diesel, and Thermo-Tec
Submitted By: Bryan Lively