Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League

October 27th, 2007 (Indianapolis, IN) —the much anticipated 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League awards banquet was held this year at the very opulent Hyatt Regency Indianapolis; the evening was full of excitement and glimpses into the future of the Pro Pulling League. With well over 400 in attendance, there were people from as far north as Canada and as far south as Florida, all coming together for this very grand black-tie event to cap off a spectacular year for the PPL.  The event was steered along by emcees of the night, ESPN 2, Speed Channel, and Versus Network commentators, Ken Stout and Ted Brunson livening the evening up and setting the mood with laughter, visions of growth, and a few reflections from the past.October 27th, 2007 (Indianapolis, IN) —the much anticipated 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League awards banquet was held this year at the very opulent Hyatt Regency Indianapolis; the evening was full of excitement and glimpses into the future of the Pro Pulling League. With well over 400 in attendance, there were people from as far north as Canada and as far south as Florida, all coming together for this very grand black-tie event to cap off a spectacular year for the PPL.  The event was steered along by emcees of the night, ESPN 2, Speed Channel, and Versus Network commentators, Ken Stout and Ted Brunson livening the evening up and setting the mood with laughter, visions of growth, and a few reflections from the past.

The evening’s festivities started off with a fantastic cocktail hour provided to the nights guests by Frank Crystal and Company of Texas, not only were there several mouth watering hors d’oeuvres, there was a great slideshow playing on high definition flat panel monitors that showed many pictures of this past season of exciting events with the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League. Following the very generous happy hour was the delectable dinner and the awards ceremonies.

Emcees Ken Stout and Ted Brunson got everything rolling, they had everyone laughing and waiting to see what would happen next. After introducing all of the 2007 Event Coordinators, PPL Member States, and Directors; there the first of many very exciting announcements of the evening, the Ohio State Tractor Pullers Association will join the ranks of the other very prestigious PPL Member States. With the addition of this new PPL Member State, the 2008 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League will amass over 275 events next year, reinforcing the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League as the premier pulling league in the world.

Following the introductions, Jamie Devney enlightened the audience to what being a member of Team Lucas means, not only are the Team Lucas concepts working, but working well, in fact, the Team Lucas Marketing Plan is finishing out its first year and is already four years ahead of schedule. Jamie also made the very exciting announcement that there are two new member of Team Lucas, Fatheadz Eyewear and Super Clean Products with their top of the line home cleaners/degreasers, concrete cleaners, and wheel cleaners. All of the major sponsors for the PPL were present for the festivities, and several of whom, gave some very interesting speeches. Up first was Matt Land, with Dixie Chopper, the first official Team Lucas member, not only are the lawnmowers produced by Dixie Chopper the fastest in the world and one of the last family run companies in the business, but they all have Lucas Oil Products in them, straight from the factory. Travis Roffler, Director of Marketing, with General Tire, came up and talked about how much General Tire has gained from its sponsorship with the PPL, and that they look forward to a long partnership with Team Lucas and the PPL. Some of the other speakers for the night were, Tom Fredrickson Chief Operating Office of Lucas Oil Products flew in from Corona, CA to give a special thanks to the PPL from Lucas Oil Products. Rico Elmore, of Fatheadz Eyewear came up to the mic and gave a brief history on his new innovative company, its future growth, and how impressed he has been with the PPL over the last season.

Taking home the coveted Cody Lewis custom painted Champions helmets, Fatheadz Sunglasses, and Champions awards for the 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Champions Tour, were a group of very elite pullers;  out of all of the champions in 2007, the only ones to repeat back-to-back are in the Super Modified Tractor class, Bill Leischner from Weldon, IL with his 4 Arias engines powering him with his tractor, Dirtslinger, to the Championship; and in the Pro Modified 4 Wheel Drive class, Versailles, KY’s native Steve Clem in his Chevy Colorado, Ratical. Josh Martin of Chambersburg, PA started off his 2007 season by winning the first event, losing his points lead halfway through the season, and overcoming a six point deficit at the final event of 2007 to capture his championship in the 10,000 Pro Stock Tractor class with his 7710 John Deere tractor, Dairy Deere. Keith Long’s Chevy S10, Bullseye, dominated the whole season with multiple wins, and a string of top 5’s and top 10’s and has earned Keith the right to take the Super Modified 2 Wheel Drive Championship back to Glasgow, KY. In his 1st year on the Champions Tour, Mike Laribee in his 1970 90 Series Chevrolet rig, Shameless powered his way to the championship in the Hot Rod Semis Class by winning 12 of the 15 events in the 2007 season. Another first timer on the tour, Don Slama, Two-Time winner of the Badger State Pullers Championship, and his John Deere 7810 machine Fast & Furious taking is taking home the award for Champion in the Super Farm Tractor class; and Seven Time national series Champion, Jordan Lustik with his ride, Silver Bullet, the AGCO White 3208 Caterpillar Motor machine from Eighty Four, PA drove away with the Championship in the Unlimited Super Stock Tractors class.

With the high level of competitors on the Champions Tour in 2007, it speaks volumes of how well prepared the new guys are to knock off the past champions, and shows how difficult it was for Bill Leischner and Steve Clem to repeat their championships; it also bodes well to say that the competition in 2008 will be in stiffer, especially with the addition of some new events like the America’s Pull at Henry, IL; the 107.7 WIVK Pull at Knoxville, TN; the Ozark Empire Nationals at Springfield, MO; and the Kunes National Finals at Madison, WI.
Following the Champions awards were the awards for Pull of the Year, Puller of the Year, and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Kristi Chastain came up to give out the award for Pull of the Year, in 2006, it was the Show Me Showdown of Macon, MO; this year the award went to a first timer on the tour, the 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Pull of the Year was Hillsboro Charity Tractor Pull in Hillsboro, Wisconsin.

In 2006 the Puller of the Year went to Jared Nelson; John Mears took the stage and presented the award for 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Puller of the Year, earning this top honor was Granby, QC’s own, the Crazy Canuck, Patrice Beaudry; accepting the award for Patrice was his father, as Patrice stayed home as he is soon to become a new father.

Last year, the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Dan Cristiani; Mike Chastain took over the mic to announce this year’s award, giving a heartfelt and emotional introduction to the 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Cork Wagner of the Elkhart County Tractor Pull in Goshen, Indiana. Corky has spent the last 30 years fully involved in Tractor Pulling, and for the Past 16 years, he has been at the helm of the Elkhart County Fair Tractor Pull in Goshen, IN.

Wrapping up the evening was the one-man-band, recording artist, having recorded music with John Mellencamp and for the major motion picture, Madison, the musical stylings of Rusty Bladen. He put on a great show, playing many different instruments throughout his performance, and wowing the crowd with some great vocal pyrotechnics; it was a great cap-off to an extremely magnificent season for the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League.
The Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League is owned by Fortune 500 Lucas Oil Products based in Corona, California with production and distribution facilities located in Corydon, Indiana and Ocala, Florida.  The series is bolstered by corporate business partners:  Dixie Chopper, R&L Carriers, Torco Fuels, General Tire, Summit Racing, K&N Filters, KC Hilites, and Super Chips. In 2007 the series will receive over 60 hours of prime television coverage on cable sports giants ESPN2 and Versus. For more information log onto www.propulling.com or call 812-216-4024.