KENDRA RODGERS GRABS FIRST BIG RIGS WIN!!
Jun 02 2010
It was also reported that Don “Doc” Snyder’s “Mr. Nasty” is just about ready to pull, but that late spring planting and a nasty case of the shingles kept Snyder away from the Mercer Raceway Pull this week.
KENDRA RODGERS GRABS FIRST BIG RIGS WIN!!
History was made at Mercer Raceway Park on Saturday evening as young Kendra Rodgers drove her “Unleased” Mack Big Rig to victory to open the 2010 season. Kendra, daughter of Rob and Patty Rodgers of Philo, Ohio, has been driving the truck for the past two years and while she has been ultra competitive, the sophomore at Muskingum University has never been to the win
ner’s circle at a USA-EAST sanctioned pull. That all changed during the opening event of the Big Rigs Series on Saturday in Pennsylvania. Kendra made a masterful drive to win the pull-off against two other very strong members of the Big Rigs Pulling Series.
ner’s circle at a USA-EAST sanctioned pull. That all changed during the opening event of the Big Rigs Series on Saturday in Pennsylvania. Kendra made a masterful drive to win the pull-off against two other very strong members of the Big Rigs Pulling Series.Eight of the Big Rigs were entered at Mercer. Last year’s champion Fred Sanders reported that his truck was still ‘being readied’ at the Francis Engineering facility in LeRoy, Ohio and thus that adversary was not present. But the other half of the very powerful Sanders’ Pulling Team was on hand as Richard Scott from Diamond, Ohio (the 2008 Big Rigs Champ) drove “Silver Bullet” to the second place spot in the pull-off.
Third place went to the brand new “Sneekie Pete” owned by Joe Giulitto from Ravenna, Ohio. This truck is powered by a 3406 Caterpillar engine and had one of the strangest runs ever seen in the Big Rigs. The big yellow Pete lugged off of the starting line and appeared to be done around the 100’ mark when the engine came alive and shot down the track to a full pull. However problems with the water injection system forced Giulitto out of the pull-off.
John A. Mann had the “Lady Butterfly” Kenworth just out of the pull-off with a stirring run that propelled the V-12 Detroit machine out to 290 feet. Mann is getting ready to chase the NTPA Super Semis circuit this summer and will be heading to the Budweiser Dairyland Nationals in Tomah, Wisconsin at the end of June for this first NTPA hook of 2010.
Fifth went to the always improving “Some Assembly Required” and Dan Adams from Leetonia, Ohio. This Mack with a 998 cubic inch V-Mack under the hood made a great run at Mercer after a number of engine enhancements during the winter months. Adams has pre-committed to run the entire Big Rig Series in 2010.
To go along with Kendra Rodgers’ win at Mercer, this event also marked the debut of the brand new Mack R Model with uncle Chad Rodgers behind the wheel. The new dark red truck, named “Unpredictable” sports a six cylinder engine but lacks the high delivery Sygma fuel pump found on the big blue machine that was driven by Kendra. Chad finished sixth in his first run of the year.
Dale Mitchell from Mt. Gilead, Ohio had a rough trip to Mercer as each of his Freightliners experienced mechanical issues. The older “Freight Rod” sporting a rebuilt Tom Lindsey 400 Cummins engine failed to respond off the starting line under the guidance of Bill Rinehart and finished seventh. Dale’s new “Down and Out” with a KT-600 Cummins appeared ready to go but the fuel pump failed while in the staging area and the semi had to be scratched from the event.
It was also reported that Don “Doc” Snyder’s “Mr. Nasty” is just about ready to pull, but that late spring planting and a nasty case of the shingles kept Snyder away from the Mercer Raceway Pull this week.The Big Rigs Series returns to the track on Saturday, June 19th during the fifteenth annual Keystone State Nationals event at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds near Brookville, Pennsylvania. This pull will also feature the Modified 4x4 Trucks from the “Run What Ya Brung” Series and the opening event of 2010 for the USA-EAST Limited Pro Stock and Super Farm Tractors.