By Woodrow Polston
The Second Annual Tom Culwell Memorial Truck and Tractor Pull was held Friday night at the Vandalia Area Fairgrounds. The event was being presented by the Eastern Missouri Truck Pullers LLC., and the Missouri Farm Pullers. After the national Anthem, emcee for the evening, Bill Allen, welcomed the crowd.
“Welcome everyone to the Second Annual Tom Culwell Truck and Tractor Pull,” said Allen. “We are going to run on both sides of the track tonight. We have the Missouri Farm Pullers on the east side and the Eastern Missouri Truck Pullers on this side of the track. Be sure to thank all the volunteers who help make this possible. We want to thank all those here at the Vandalia Area Fairgrounds for providing a place for events like this throughout the year,” he added.
Highlights from the tractor pull results are: 12.5 MPH 11,500- No. 1 was Tim Heitman of Elsberry, Mo. He was pulling with his International Harvester 1466 and his pull distance was 316.00. 18 MPH 11,000- No. 1 was Bill Lispcomb of Sturgeon, Mo. He was pulling with his International Harvester 1066 and his distance was 289.76. 8 MPH 6500- No. 1 was Rick James of Paris, Mo. He was pulling with his John Deere 4000 and his pulling distance was 267.48.
Highlights from the truck pull results are as follows: Street stock diesel- No. 1 was Storm Campbell with a distance of 349.60 feet. Work stock deisel- No. 1 was Josh Gibson with a distance of 386.40. Small block- No. 1 was Trey Gibson with a distance of 342.59. Pro-street gas- No.1 was Phillip Culwell with a distance of 347.86. Street stock gas- No.1 was Bruce Nordwald with a distance of 305.99. Hot stock- No.1 was Dale Oberlag with a distance of 321.81.
It was estimated that there were more than 400 people in attendance for the truck and tractor pull. The event began at 7 p.m. and continued through the evening ending around midnight. Sponsors for the event included Sparks Maintenance Contracting, Central Bank, Boland Chevrolet, Jump-A-Roo Bounce Houses, Pearl Motor Company, Trophy Properties, Ramsey Dickerman State Farm Insurance, La Crosse Lumber Company, Bowling Green tractooer Nnrcision Eye care, Community State Bank, employees of Harbison Walker International, Cole Chiropractic, Midwest Heating and Cooling, Ol’ Country Store, Kuda’s Auto repair and others.