The Lucas Oil Pro Pulling league started season action last evening as the tour made its first stop at the Saluda Young Farmers complex in beautiful Saluda,SC. 19 competitors answered the call to start the season in the tough and highly competitive Optima Batteries Super Modified Two Wheel Drive division.
The always tricky red Carolina dirt posed some interesting challenges for the drivers as they employed their best tactics to make a run they would be pleased with.
When the dust settled on the evening, Jamie Mattingly was at the top of the pile with his pass of 314.91
M3 pulling embarked on a new journey this season as they unveiled the brand new vehicle reconfiguration of “The Drille”, which will become the “Thin Blue Line”. “I just wanted to go out there and shake it down and make sure it all felt OK to start with” stated Driver Dr. Tim Messer in an interview after his maiden voyage in the new machine which pulled a distance of 259.11 amid would be good for 18th position on the evening.
M3’s other entry “Wide Open” came into the evening with some fresh off season changes. Building off of a 9th place finish in the points series for 2015, Tim Messer took advantage of a later draw in the class and had the opportunity to make some changes to help dial in the setup of the familiar red and black Chevy from Memphis Tennessee. When all was said and done “Wide Open” scored a distance of 287.97 which would take home the #11 spot on the evening. Outside the top ten by just under one foot.
“I’ll take that as a start against this great crop of the trucks”. “We will continue to dial the trucks in and use that to our advantage as the season progresses” said messer when asked about his thoughts on the pass he made.
The Optima Batteries Super Modified Two wheelers are back in action tonight for session two of the “Hottest Pull in the south”.