Rankings Reviewed! Pullers Pick Premier Performers.
Rankings Reviewed! Pullers Pick Premier Performers.
Click here for the full podcast on Modified Four Wheel Drive Driver Rankings!
This Week In Pulling: EP 4 - Four Wheel Drive Driver Rankings Reveal!
Full Pull is on a firestorm to revolutionize the sport of pulling. Slingshotting it to the forefront of a media driven age, and engaging newer and younger audiences at all points, while simultaneously paying homage to our legends and legacy, you can’t ignore what they are up to. Among the many new ways they are assisting in fan experience of the sport is the newly unveiled Driver Rankings system. Drivers across the three professional associations, as well as the top state and regional level divisions, were polled. They were asked to denote the top five current drivers in their class. It is worth noting, they were not asked to vote for vehicles, nor were their decisions to be based on entire careers of work. They must have driven within the last year to be eligible for a vote. It is also worth reiterating that this list is 100% peer generated. Unlike in other sports, broadcasters, announcers and sportswriters were not asked to weigh in. You have to be a fellow competitor, a person who has spent time in the seat.
I love everything about this concept. Pulling has long appealed to the mechanical crowd, as it should, and will continue to do. The untapped market here are the sports enthusiasts. Much like college sports where there is a weekly ranking of basketball and football teams, we now have a similar platform. This is also a quick and easy way for beginner fans to follow and find out who they need to pay attention to. Who the All-Stars are.
As of this point, two classes’ driver lists have been revealed. The drivers have spoken and the fans now have access to the top five Super Modified Two Wheel Drive Truck class, as well as the Modified Four Wheel Drive truck class. Remember, this list really applies the age old moniker, “What have you done for me lately.” Let’s take a look at it, shall we?
Super Modified Two Wheel Drive Trucks:
5. Chase Richardson
4. Michael White
3. Jared Nelson
2. Donnie Sullivan
1. Jessie Petro
Modified Four Wheel Drive Trucks:
5. Rob Foster
4. Jim Bosch
3. Paul Holman
2. Mark Mangan
1. Jake Zaring
Beyond giving drivers their much due credit in the spotlight, and allowing new fans a springboard to place their bets, or engage in the sport, what is the biggest thing these lists produce for us? Discussion! Lists and rankings are begging to be broken down and analyzed. 99% of the point is to disagree, or debate with your buddies. Kind of like, the whole there is no such thing as bad press concept, we WANT folks to be talking about our sport, and that is exactly what this list allows us to do.
What do you think of the list? What does your best friend think? Who got left off? Who should have been higher? Who was spot on? Let’s throw the starter on this high octane topic. Here are my thoughts:
In the Super Modified Two Wheel Drive Truck class the item that jumps out to me, as a knee jerk reaction is Chase Richardson. In the world of sports where these rankings are well established and exceedingly common, the here and now is all that matters. Chase is fresh off an NTPA Grand National points championship, an Enderle Pull Off win, and a National Farm Machinery Show first place finish. That has never been done before. A clean sweep in the same “season.” He is my number one based on the data. I think the pullers took a much more true to heart interpretation, of which I do not entirely disagree. Which driver makes you hold your breath the most while you are in the lead? Jessie Petro. No lead is safe if he is in the pack. That makes sense. I am cool with that. The rest also make a lot of sense to me. Donnie Sullivan is one year removed from a points championship, and Jared Nelson falls in a very similar mindset as Jessie Petro. No lead is safe. My eyebrows raise a little that both the Outlaw and Pro Pulling League 2024 champs were left off the list. I think a case could be made for both Jason Sullivan and Richard Morris. Richard is a guy who wins championships quietly, grabbing two of the last three with the Outlaws. I don’t think anyone would have raised eyebrows to see Donald Nelson on this list either.
The Modified Four Wheel Drive Truck class was ALMOST… almost spot on with what I would have anticipated. And yet, entirely shocking! Jake Zaring is an absolute animal behind the wheel. His drive-it-like-you-stole-it approach and lively personality might make him the closest thing, outside of Jeff Hirt, to Dale Earnhardt in the sport of pulling. Seriously no lead is safe if he has yet to drop the hook. Mark Mangan is the perfect example of “What have you done for me lately?” Back to back NTPA Grand National titles. Smooth as silk on the track. He just gets the job done. Paul (and everyone knows it, Jim) Holman. Enough said. The Holman Brothers are to truck pulling what the Duke Blue Devils are to college basketball. They have dominated since day one, and will continue to do so for a long time. I have no real qualms with Jim Bosch and Rob Foster in the top five, either. Both are absolute wheel men, who can read a track as good as anyone in the game. But my reaction is the same as pretty much all the hosts on the This Week in Pulling Podcast (your source for Full Pull takes and Driver Rankings Lists): Where is High Gear Hag?! Terry Hagedorn. Mr. Mountain Motor himself. Defending Pro Pulling League Champion. Only puller to win a national level title in four separate associations. Not only would he have been ON my list, he would have been number ONE on my list.
I was quite surprised to see him not included, but the more I thought, the more names I came up with that also surprised me. How about Layne or Murray Thornton, champs for the past two years from the Outlaws. Jamie Bush perennial power. Steve Clem was another big one who could have easily been on here, grabbing a silver spot with PPL and winning in his final go-around at Freedom Hall. This is a list I would have loved to have seen the bubble drivers. Who were the six through ten finishers, and how close was it? I imagine, very.
Congratulations to each and every driver who is currently in the top five for these lists. All of them are entirely deserving of their spots. The reactions and discussion are what make this fun. They are what could serve to fuel the fire of passion that comes with this sport. I encourage my readers to have their own opinions, while keeping in mind, far be it from us to assume we know what the drivers know. They spend the time in the seat, they work side by side with their comrades and competitors.
There is never a bad way to talk about pulling.
Pullin’ is fun.
Green Flags and Tight Chains.
Mike Eitel
Beer Money Pulling Team
Engagement Specialist.
michael.eitel.bevier@gmail.com
660.342.0206
