Zaring ripping up the track.
GREENCASTLE, Ind. --- Jake Zaring may have come up just two inches short of repeating as a Putnam County Fair Truck Pull champion July 22 but he emerged a winner nonetheless.
Zaring, whose Dixie Chopper Dodge is the reigning 4WD truck national champion, finished second to fellow Hoosier Leann Tormoehlen during his hometown Putnam County Fair competition in the Pro Modified 4-Wheel-Drive Truck class on the Putnam County Fairgrounds in Greencastle.
However, his runner-up finish earned Zaring enough points to capture the 2007 Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Slick Mist Series points title.
Zaring had jumped to the head of the class in that series with back-to-back wins in Crossville, Tenn., last month.
It certainly didn’t faze Zaring to lose such a close pull to Tormoehlen, who will be a senior this fall at Brownstown Central High School in southern Indiana. In fact, Zaring actually helped the Vallonia, Ind., teenager earn the victory in her aptly-named “Charmed” Chevrolet.
“Jake loaned her a clutch last night (Sunday) and then she goes out and beats him,” revealed Jim Hilburn, who is Dixie Chopper's national service manager by day and Zaring crew chief by night. “But that’s what pulling is all about.”
It was a busy pulling weekend for Zaring and the Dixie Chopper truck, who competed on the Champions Tour Friday and Saturday in Owensboro, Ky. He was 11th out of 26 pullers on Friday and 10th among 25 on Saturday before coming home for the annual Putnam County Fair event.
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