Zaring heads to top competetion

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Fillmore resident Jake Zaring continues to fulfill his dreams.

On Wednesday, Zaring will compete in the National Farm Machinery Show Tractor Pull, an event that only 15 participants from around the United States and Canada get invited to once a year, and Zaring is ecstatic about it.

"It's a big honor. This has been a dream of mine and (Dixie Chopper National Service Manager) Jim Hilburn, and we talked about how cool it would be to go and compete in the pull, but we never thought it would be in our first year," Zaring said.

Zaring should feel happy about getting invited since it is unheard for a first-year driver and truck getting invited to this pull.

"There have been guys that have been pulling for years and have never been invited to this pull, so it is a big accomplishment," Hilburn said.

Zaring finished fifth in the points standings in his first year in the American Tractor Pull Association, something else he is proud of.

"We had a spectacular year. We would have liked to win a few more pulls, but we were consistent," Zaring said.

With this big event coming up, Zaring and Hilburn changed some things with the "It's the Horsepower Stupid" truck, but nothing major.

"We were considerate with the motor this season since it was our first year, but we re-dynoded it and refreshed the bearings and added some more fuel to it for a little more horsepower" he said. "We have gone through and grinded the tires some and changed the axles out.

"This is a shorter track that we will be running on, the shortest we have run all year. So we have gone through and regeared it a little to compensate for the track length," Zaring said.

"There are some drivers that will go through and make some big changes before a big pull like this, but since we have never raced on the track before, we don't know what to expect so it wouldn't be wise to go through and make big changes," Hilburn added.

Zaring admits that racing on this track is going to be different than anything that he and Hilburn have ran this season.

"For us, this is like racing at Putnamville on Saturdays for the season then going to Daytona in February," Hilburn said.

Zaring and Hilburn aren't the only ones excited about going to Louisville. The duo's sponsor, Dixie Chopper, is very happy.

"It's a great opportunity for us here at Dixie Chopper and it's more exposure for us," Dixie Chopper Public Relations Director Eric Bernsee said. "We think that it will do nothing but help us with everybody seeing the truck and Jake driving it."

Zaring's family has been excited about him going to the pull for a while now and he is making sure that he has enough tickets for everybody.

"I have bought like 30 tickets for everyone who wants to go," Zaring said. "The family and the whole neighborhood is excited."

Zaring said that he has even been down to Dixie Chopper trying to help out with picking a new scheme for shirts for the pull.

Zaring isn't going to do what a lot of racers do, however, and put a whole new paint and graphic scheme on his truck for this special pull, but he said there will be some small changes.

"There will be some small graphic changes on the truck, but nothing major," Zaring said.

"The only real changes that are being made are to the trailer. We are changing it around some so we can do an engine change if we have to we are putting live quarters in it."

Zaring will compete in the pull beginning Wednesday and ending on Saturday.

"This is the pull that ends the season and ushers in the new one," Zaring said.

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