SLEDDIN’ INDY

FLEECE PERFORMANCE DIESEL SHOWDOWN

Earning a motorsports win at Indy has to be among the most coveted win there is and the crew at Fleece Performance Engineering gave sled pullers another chance to take one home. On June 25, 2016, around 2,000 diesel enthusiasts came to the famous Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis to cheer on their favorite diesel truck sled pullers as three Pro Pulling League classes did battle against the sled to see who could drag it the farthest down the track. The three PPL professional classes were joined by Work Stock and 2.5 classes to close out the night, allowing five drivers to celebrate an Indy win.

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While last year’s event had diesel drag racing, a shown- shine competition and dyno testing in addition to the sled pull to close out the full day of diesel fun, a scheduling mishap at the track this year only afforded the Fleece team the sled pull grounds while another event was taking place on the dragstrip. There was a large vendor area/manufacturer’s midway for enthusiasts to peruse throughout the afternoon and allow them to check out the latest and greatest performance parts from some of the biggest names in the performance diesel world. Temporary grandstands filled quickly and remained full through most of the night, but there was plenty of overflow seating in the grass area along the track for people to enjoy seating on their own chairs with canopies to protect them from the sun through the afternoon.

THE ACTION BEGINS

Pulling action got underway at around six o’clock in the afternoon, starting with the Limited Pro Stock PPL class followed by the Pro Stock and Super Stock PPL classes. Once the big boys of sled pulling finished their night at around 11:00, the Fleece team started with the Work Stock class and wrapped up with the 2.5 class to close out the night of pulling just before one a.m. Forty-two trucks hooked in the three PPL Pro classes while twenty-seven trucks hooked in the Fleece classes for a total of sixty-nine trucks hooking to the Lowry sled throughout the night. The largest class of the night was the Super Stock class followed by the Limited Pro Stock and Work Stock classes.

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CW Cartmell took the final spot on the Limited Pro Stock podium with an impressive, dirt-churning pull in his “Most Hated” Dodge.
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Adam White had another great performance in his awesome looking First Gen Dodge, taking second place in the Limited Pro Stock class and falling just about three feet short of the top spot.
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Evan Smoot’s “Barnyard Bandit” put the power to the ground with his cut tires to pull his way to second place in the Pro Stock class.
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Jared Cox changed up the look of his pull truck, going from last year’s blue “Old Skool” theme to the bright white “Boosted Outlaw” for 2016. While the looks changed, the performance hasn’t, with the strong truck turning in a third-place finish in the stacked Pro Stock class.
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Rodney Tarr’s “Twisted Metal” Dodge never fails to turn heads with its striking looks and custom paint. He fell short of the podium at Indy though with a 305-foot pull that was less than five feet off the third-place truck.
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Andrew Sauer takes the green flag in the beautiful “Justified” truck.
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Cody Hastings used his “Against The Grain” Dodge to drag the sled over 320 feet to finish third in the Super Stock class.
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Van Haisley delivered one of the longest pulls of the night in the “Rock Hard Ram” but fell a little short of the win, finishing second in the Super Stock class.

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Matt Klemons puts the power down in the fan favorite “Alter Ego” pulling truck with the big green muscley guy on the side. Look at the sidewall of the rear tire wrinkling under the stress it is put through during the pull.
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After the three PPL classes finished their pulls, the Fleece team ran a Work Stock class to give everyday guys and their daily driver trucks a chance to hook to the sled.
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Ben Shadday took the 2.5 class win in his Dodge with a 312-foot hook.
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Adam Hallien took home the Limited Pro Stock class win with his bright blue truck he calls “Wrecker,” making a pull of nearly 315 feet.
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Matt Penn had the longest pull of the night to take the win in the Pro Stock class with his “Penn Farms” Dodge, dragging the sled along for a 326-foot ride.
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Austin White fell about five feet short of the 2.5 class win, taking second place with his bright green Dodge.

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Follow along over the next few pages to check out the action we were able to catch from the sidelines of the pull and browse through the results to see how your favorite truck finished. The crew at Fleece Performance is planning the Indy event for the summer of 2017 with the whole gamut of diesel performance represented again including drag racing, dyno competition, show-n-shine and sled pulls. Check out their website at FleecePerformance.com for the latest info and plan to be there; we’re sure that you’ll be glad you did. After all Indy is a special place and whether you’re a spectator or a competitor you can have fun—and maybe even bring home new bragging rights. We’ll see you there! DW

SOURCES

FLEECE PERFORMANCE ENGINEERING
855.839.5040
FleecePerformance.com

LOWRY SLED RENTAL
219.984.5333
LowrySledRental.com

LUCAS OIL RACEWAY AT INDIANAPOLIS
LucasOilRaceway.com

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