The USA-EAST Sanctioned Big Rigs Pulling Series will expand to ten events for the upcoming 2012 season.  The return of two former pulls to the schedule – Cortland, Ohio and Little Valley, New York – means that the modified semi owners will run for the points at ten different venues this summer.  Add to this the fact that each of the ten hooks is found on a week-end day and it would look like another banner year for the Big Rigs.  The Big Rigs Pulling Series was started by Full Pull Productions in 1991 and enjoyed its 20th anniversary season last year.

 

Saturday, July 7th will find the Rigs at the Trumbull County Fair in Cortland, Ohio.  This huge Fair with its great grandstand is a super pulling venue and the return of the Big Rigs will cap off an all-day round of tractor and truck pulling.  For the first time ever the Trumbull County Fair has schedule their entire pulling program onto one day!  Three USA-EAST classes will pull in the afternoon session and three different classes will participate in the evening session.   Fans will be able to see both shows for one admission price!  The Trumbull County Fairgrounds is located just north of Warren, Ohio and only a short distance from the Pennsylvania state line in eastern Ohio.

 

And then on Saturday, August 4th the Big Rigs will return to the Cattaraugus County Fair in Little Valley, New York.  It has been five years since the world famous Rigs have competed at this awesome Fair in western New York state.  The opening of the Saturday night date was a primary factor in the return of the modified semis to Little Valley this summer.  A class of street semis and divisions for 4x4 trucks are also scheduled for this event in 2012.

 

As has been the case for the past eleven years, the Big Rigs Pulling Series will open the 2012 campaign at Mercer Raceway Park in Mercer, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 27.  And again this year the ‘Finals’ for the Big Rigs will be held at the Bloomsburg Fair in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 22nd.  Each of those events will hold rain-dates for the next afternoon.  And in between a stellar series of very impressive semi truck pulls lies events at Butler, Pennsylvania, Meadville, Pennsylvania, Brookville, Pennsylvania and Pittsfield, Pennsylvania and the huge Labor Day week-end shows at Canfield, Ohio and at Burton in Ohio.  The best modified Big Rigs trucks in America are expected to participate in the Big Rigs Pulling Series in 2012.

 

It is expected that at least six of the past Big Rigs Series champions will be gunning for the top spot in 2012.    Don Snyder won the Big Rigs Series in 2002 with his Cummins-powered  “Mr. Nasty” Peterbilt. That truck has been outfitted with a new transmission and will perhaps introduce a new driver this year.   Dick Bonner’s “Killer” won the Big Rigs crown in 2007 and boasts tremendous power out of the Dale Francis built V-8 Mack.  The 2008 Big Rigs point winner was Richard Scott with the “Silver Bullet II” Mack from the powerful Fred Sanders Team of Ravenna, Ohio.  And the 2009 winner was the “Silver Bullet I” with a KT Cummins engine and operated by team-captain Fred Sanders.  The 2010 champion was Kendra Rodgers from South Zanesville, Ohio with the six-cylinder Mack Cruiseliner called “Unleashed” which exhibited significantly more power in the latter stages of last years chase to the top.  One of the ‘wild cards’ is the status of Dave Frantz from Marion, Pennsylvania with his former champion the Antrim-built Mack V-8 named “Thunder Dog”.

 

And last year’s champion, Joe Giulitto from Ravenna, Ohio and “Sneeky Pete” was very impressive in capturing four different events in the series.  The win by the CAT-powered Peterbilt marked the first time in many years that the Mack brand was not at the top in the Big Rigs Series.  And it also marked the eleventh straight year in which there has not been a repeat champion in the series.  Perhaps one of the former champions will rise to the top again in 2012.

 

But if one of these former champions can not get the job done there is a very strong ‘cast of characters’ waiting in the wings.  Dan Adams of Leetonia, Ohio with his 998 cubic inch Mack named “Some Assembly Required” was 2nd in the point race in 2010 and could rise to the top this season.  The second Mack Cruiseliner Big Rig from the Rodgers’ Team from Philo, Ohio is driven by Chad Rodgers and is named “Unpredictable”.  This truck has had major changes and might be the one to beat in 2012.  Bill Christ from Galion, Ohio ran the entire Big Rigs Series last year with a Kenworth named “Sticks and Stones” and actually led the point race for the early part of the season.  The beautiful “Killer Too” from the Bonner stable in Middlefield, Ohio did not make it to the track last season and with a revamped Francis Engineering motor in place might be a factor this year.  And the Dale Mitchell Team from Mount Gilead, Ohio is always a consideration if the team decides to run for the points with their two trucks “Down and Out” and “Freight Rod”.  The latter is driven by Bill Reinhart.

 

The primary sponsor of the Big Rigs Pulling Series is Central Petroleum Company of Cleveland, Ohio and Wolcott, Iowa – the makers of Cen.Pe.Co. Lubricants and Fuel Additives.  Cen.Pe.Co. has been a long-standing sponsor of this division and annually contributes to the USA-EAST point fund for the semi truck class.