Friday Night in Oconto Wisconsin:

Well after blowing it in Green Valley two weeks ago, we got rained out last weekend on both pulls we had available. So I made sure when I left the house I had all the tires pumped up to 30 Psi for the rear and 20 in the fronts. So when we got to the pull I only had to leave a little out of the fronts and I left the backs at 30. Put the gear I had selected for Super Stock I wiped down ShaZam with some water from a spray bottle and towel her dry to make her look spiffy. Then it was time to get some thing to eat and check out the track and shoot the Shit with the fellow pullers till the drivers meeting.

For the most part the evening was nice with a light breeze coming off the bay I thought it would have been cooler but it was surprisingly just cool. And as the evening went on it seemed to get warmer.

OK so the pull starts and right out the box Jimmy was dead nuts on with his 007 sled. The Stock guys where getting down the track with out breaking and most where in the 290 to 300 mark.
I think all together I only seen 3 trucks break down thru the whole evening.

Well we finally get to Super Stock and I was the 4th puller in the class,
Scott Kickbush was the 1st Puller in the class and he got a good hook as he feathered the throttle as he was going down the track and put a pull down of 319 08 and he kept his pull. The 2nd truck in the class thru a rod at mid track and had to be pulled off, then Mike Kauss was next and he put down and nice run stopping at 312 04. Then I was the next truck up, and I had figured to stay to the left on the track seeing last year it worked really well for me with a 310.04 pull, and there still seem to be a little hill at the end of the track where the pan seem to dig a little bit with each pull. So ShaZam and I get all hooked up to Jimmy Luedtkes famous 007 Sled. We got the chain tight and clear out the engine with two quick throttle stabs, turn on all the switches and put it in 3rd gear and hit the tach recorded. Off to the races we went I got a little head of steam going holding the throttle at 5000 rpms till I felt the rear end hook to the track and then at the light pole like I did last year and gave ShaZam the whole mitt full of throttle and ShaZam went to 7800 and held there just like she did last year and I had what I thought was a great run going, I felt the last stage hit and ShaZam came to a sliding stop at 309.00, Well that was almost a repeat of last year but it wasnt even good enough to get me in the top ten. I finished 11th for the day out of 16 trucks. As it turned out Dean got pass me with a 31504 good enough for a 4th place finish for him, and one up on who beats who most this season.
So off to the trailer to change tires for Mod class, tonight we seem to have lots of time seeing they have the Limited Hot Farm 10,500# class, Along with the 8000# diesel trucks. So I made sure everything up still up to snuff with tire pressures and fill all the gas tanks up and switched to a lower gear for Mod and waited till the other classes got done. Then just as I thought the last three Tractors where ready to run Jimmy decided to reset the eliminator due to the fact that the tractors where getting out of control and pulling pass the 340 mark on this 320 track. so with this reset they started the whole class over which was really cool for one tractor guy seeing how he get DQd for been the first tractor out in the weeds and a little out of bounds I guess.
My question is how can you be out of bounds if there's no line to mark where the out of bounds is? But anyways they rerun the class, which gave the spectators another 45 mins of Smoker class tractors to watch.
With 3 tractors to go we fire up ShaZam and head over to the scale to get in line for the Mod class which Im the 11th puller out of 13 trucks tonight.
Earlier that night over at the scale I was talking to Jack Peters, He just got his Mod tires back from being sharpened at the CDBD Custom Tire Sharpening Shop. And I was teasing him he might have to drop a gear or two more then he had run in the pass due to the bite the tires are going to have now. Jack told me he was first puller so he was going to go low and then turn the pull down and come back at the end with his regular gear and see what the different is.

Modified Class

OK this year we have 13 Trucks in Modified with one out after he blew up in Super Stock. So 12 trucks all-together, Jack was first puller and laid down a dame near prefect run of 31601 pull, like he said at the scale he turned it down to put a different gear in and see how his truck worked with the new tire sharpening. So next up was Jeff Kakuk and he had a run from hell going and some how his Kill plug got pulled out and he came to a rolling stop at 250 mark, So then decide to let him come back at the end of the class for his re-hook to give his truck some time to cool down. Next up was Steve Swanson and he had lots of wheel chatter off the line but still mustered up a 28703 pull So with this Jimmy felt the sled to be set right and let the class continue. Next up was one of my Beer drinking buddies Bruce Wagner and Bad to the Bone, Once again Bruce was able to get everything he could out of his truck, even with a mid track stubble where his ignition seem to be breaking up, it helped to get his truck to hook to the track even harder as he pulled the sled to the 30911 mark. Next up was another one of my Beer drinking buddies Craig Emmes and Cold Ethyl one of the Alcohol drinking true Mod Truck of the class. As Craig left the line he seem to have a good run going and Jimmy sled put a spanking on him at the 301mark,which put him in 2nd place at the moment, Next up was Jared Figas with the truck they call Playing Hooky, When you look at this Truck it says perfection all over it. They have 1500 H.P. to play with and more data logging gadgets then Ill ever have on this Truck. As he left the line he had a little bit of a left to right zig zag going but he got it all straighten out by the 10 mark and played wit the throttle most of the way down the track and never really hooked to anything and came to a stop at the 30310 mark,
After the pull I was talking with Jerry and the boys about their run and how the felt they did with the truck. And they said they where happy with the results they accomplished what they came out to do. That was give the motor its first run down the track with out breaking anything. Jared said the data logger said they turned 9800 Rpms at 52% throttle. So they have a good Idea now how its going to run this season.
So next up Randall Kliekamp and it seem he got the miss out of his truck this week but then again I was in the staging lane waiting to get on the scale so I could be wrong, but he laid down a 29811 run. John Vanne came up from Two River to play with us tonight, He didnt have Mod tires for his truck yet but he played in the class to see just how good he could do with is DOT tires. His run netted him a 28710 pull.
Next up we have another one of my Beer Drinking buddies Dean Wagner and his Truck called Burnn Desire, Dean had a great run and pulled the sled 30408 putting him in 2nd place at the time. Talk about nervous cat on hot tin roof he was pacing back and forth at he end of the track as each truck ran. The Next truck to run was Billy Buck Kirschner and Fast Forward the last true Mod truck to run tonight. Billy laid down a good run and was stopped at 30311. So Im up next and then Mike Kauss and Jack Peters for his repull.
The tracks seem to be going away for the guys that where holding to the left so I though I might try heading center to just right of center track this time. As I left the line I played it just like I did in Super Stock ease it out hold it at 5000 till it hooks to the track then give ShaZam her head and mash the throttle and let her run. Well when I hit the light pole I matted it and ShaZam zoomed up to 7800 Rpms once again and I was running for the most part the way I thought I should be. But when the last stage hit me there I stopped at 30002 well I did better then last year here 291.96 but not good enough to beat Dean so hes up Two on me now so I have to get working on ShaZam. I did finish 8th for the night so it put fuel in the truck to get home.
Oh Ya we still have Mike and Jack to pull yet.
Mike had a really good run with a 30305 pull, Mike is getting really good at this now and I know hes going to be right here from now on.
As for Jack, Well I dont know if he changed gears or not and the track was going away thru most of the night, But on Jack re-pull he mustered a 30108 for the night and lost 15 feet from his first pull. Was it track or gear only Jack knows for sure?

So ok Recap
Super Stock class 1st place truck 31908 10th place truck 312 even = 78 Spread
Modified class 1st place Truck 30911 10th place truck 29405 = 156 Spread


Next week Im at Iron River Friday night and then Mackville on Sat. See ya there .

Dan and ShaZam

Alright I have a question to ask all my friends here and even the guys who don't like me on here for your honest opinion.
I've been writing these stories for 4 years now and have 43 of them saved on disk now. If I was to make a short story book out of them do you think they'd sell. Or is this one of those things that only if there free people will read.

Dan

Dan,

You never know, people will buy anything. Actually might not be too bad of an idea. I'm sure someone would get hooked on reading them in some book store somewhere.

Geez: What I wouldn't do to be able to pull 300+ feet!!! I sure like reading your stories. Maybe throw in some pictures between stories.

do you need a cold shower now?

Well:::: maybe,not anything?

Hey Dan,
I am sure anyone interested in truck pulling would read it. I think your stories are very detailed and also with some funny parts. I have fun reading them. Hey, I finally got my hopping issue fixed with my truck in Oconto and turned out a 212ft pull in 5000lb stock. Motor is a little tired and I might have got on the gas a little late but not bad for my third pull ever and didn't break anything this time. Thats always a plus

Phil

Hey Dan,

I bet some of your competition and maybe some beginners might be interested for the track and gear selection data.

Travis

As I told you in Oconto, I always look forward to reading you postings about your pulling. Since starting pulling a few years ago, you guys are always willing to lend some insight to us new-be pullers, and I always look forward to having a beer with you guys after. I think this past Oconto pull was my favorite to date. Didn't take first, but learned alot, and had fun pulling against you big boys in super-stock too. I think your postings create a fun way for people who just dont understand, ALL, that goes into that short 15 second run down the track. As for publishing, why the hell not. I would pick up a copy !!!
If your heading to Rosholt, WI.....will see ya there. Think thats my next pull with THUNDERSTRUCK.

Kyle

As long as you included how you started pulling and storys with when your dad pulling was pulling with you. I would buy one too...

Hey Dan I think your stories are writtin very well.i enjoy reading them u do a very good job of including detail...even the misses likes to read them!!! see ya tomorrow if it dont rain

Reflections of my Dad

Thursday May 3rd 2007
Mom called with news that daddy has a tumor on his liver. Told me they where going to be heading the Ann Arbor MI, to the hospital there to see what can be done.

Looking back at my life with Daddy.

Thru out my growing up my dad and I where busy with life and pretty much went our own ways. I thought But now looking back I see we took the same railroad tracks in life just at different times.

As a Kid my Dad was always trying to put this big Packard motor he had into whatever car he had at the time. Back then you couldnt just go to the Ford motor company and order a go fast car. As daddy said you had to make it or you just had an old jalopy.
Thru out his life he was always trying to make something go faster then it was intended to go. Like his 1939 Case tractor (15 Mph) original to it with a 455 Oldsmobile Rocket with Dyno Glide 3 speed tranny (65 Mph).

I couldnt see it then but I was mirroring my Dad thru my teen years and my younger adult life, When I had one car with a smashed front-end and a blown motor and I bought another one that had a Good front-end and motor but a bad tranny.
I took the two and made one good car out of them.
Then my 1967 Camero, 1980 Chevy Monza with a V8, my first Datsun 280 Z, then the red Datsun 280 ZX, then my Porsche 944.


Father and Son bonding time. Was something neither one of us knew anything about. Until I took my dad to the Gillett truck pull for his Birthday and Fathers day present from me one year. We both had a great time and I knew this was something we could do for years to come. So on the ride home I told my dad that from now on Ill take him to the Gillett Pulls for his birthday. That was back in 1986.

SO every year wed head to Gillett WI for the July 4th Truck pulls and we get the best seats in the house down by the end of the track where the trucks would end up stopping under the heavy load of the eliminator. As the pulls would get under way Id lean over and tell Daddy Yap one of these years Im going to build me one of those Pulling Trucks. Well after about 10 years of me saying that, Daddy leaned back over to me and say, you been telling me this for years, when you going to get up off you dead ass and do something about it. That was during the summer of 1996 and I was going thru a divorce with my first wife of 19 years. Told Daddy I cant do it this year but I will soon. After the divorce was final and I got my life in order, I got off my dead ass during the 1998 Pulling season and bought my first pulling truck from a guy that was retiring from pulling.

Jump ahead to 2002, Dads now retired and playing catch up on his Honey dos list. ShaZam had the 435 Stroker 351m/400 Motor in her and wed found a New place to pull where We are one of the top dogs.

Making a New Friend:

Frannie Metz and I met at one of the WUMPA pulls in the 2001-pulling Season. Frannie told me about this club he pulls in down by Two Rivers, and I should think about coming down to a pull or two with him. I told him to give me their schedule and Ill see what looks promising with me. Well that club turned out to be STPA and Ive been a member ever since with them.

Well from here you can follow the stories I posted from the beginning when Daddy was my track spotter to the day he picked himself up his own truck and we made it into pulling history as a Father and Son pulling team till Daddy passed away in the summer of 2007.

that was great! awesome story