3/27/08
Manning and Summerton Rotarians to resurrect SBF Truck Pull
By Cathy Gilbert

Manning Times File Photo

The Manning and Summerton Rotary Clubs will return the very popular Truck Pull to the Striped Bass Festival lineup. This year’s event will take place at 1 p.m. on April 26.

It is man and machine in a battle against nature.

It is loud and dusty. It is a vicious competition. And it the stuff that makes boys, big and little, whoop and holler, with their girls, big and little, right in there with them.

It’s a truck pull, and to the uninitiated, it seems so simple. But to the diehard fan, it is as exciting as it gets.

A long time favorite of the Striped Bass Festival that has been missing in action for the last few years is being given an exciting rebirth as a joint project of the Manning and Summerton Rotary Clubs … and it is all for a good cause.

This is how it works:

Competitors, those brave enough to throw their hats in the ring, enter their pickup trucks in varying degree of “souped up” and are challenged to pull a massive weight across a finish line. The competing truck is attached to a flatbed that is fronted by a giant sled, creating friction between the ground and the weight. On the flatbed is a mechanism that contains enough weight to challenge the hauling capacity of any truck. To even further rev up the challenge, that weight will slowly incline and move closer to the pulling truck, creating even more drag.

It’s a last man standing competition and is not for the faint of heart … or truck.

For spectators, however, it is an incredible good time.

After you have had your Festival-fill of parades, vendors, games and crafts, get your lawn chair and head out to Strickland Road, located off Loss Branch Road, between Raccoon Road and Davis Station.

There you will find some limited bleacher seating, but plenty of space for your vehicle and lawn chair. There will be refreshments (including burgers, hot dogs, sodas and ice cold beer) and music provided by SLAP Productions. Admission cost is $10 a head and special truck-pull Striped Bass Festival t-shirts will be available for $15.

“This has been an event that was enjoyed for years,” said co-chair Tad Graham of the Manning Rotary. “It has not been held in the past couple of years and we think folks will enjoy having it back as part of the Festival.”

Proceeds from the event will be used by the two clubs to fund projects both local and global.

“Rotary uses its funds for projects like the dictionary project that provides a dictionary for every third grader in the county, to our global initiatives like providing water purification systems to third world villages,” said John Belding, who co-chairs for the Summerton Rotary Club. “Not only will this event be a ton of fun, but it will serve many great causes as well.”

Graham said there will be three classes of competition: street class, 4-wheel drive class and the open class in which spectators can expect to see some loud roaring, flame throwing, nitrous fueled excitement.

“There may also be some souped up tractors and high powered riding lawn mowers,” Graham joked.

“This is a great opportunity for our two clubs to work together,” Belding added. “The Manning Club sponsored the Summerton Club two years ago and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to come together for the greater good.”

“We are especially grateful to Kenneth Ethridge for the use of his land and to Reardon’s Garage and owner Darby Fulton of Greeleyville for the use of their sled,” Graham said. “Darby will be the one operating the sled … and eating dirt all day,” he joked.

The fun starts at 1 p.m. and will last until the last truck competes. Business sponsors, who will receive recognition at the event and in all the promotional materials are still being sought. For more information, to register your vehicle or to be sponsor for the SBF Truck Pull, contact Tad Graham at 473-0808.