MOUNT VERNON – In what has been, perhaps, the biggest event of the Knox County Fair for several years, the rough truck competition drew fans and drivers on Wednesday from Knox County and beyond.
Mount Vernon’s Andy Dice, the announcer for rough truck racing throughout the area, has plenty to say about his hometown.
“I've said it on the PA system,” Dice said. “Mount Vernon has the Super Bowl of rough trucks. That's the rough truck drivers that say that. That's not me. That's those guys. The Knox County Fair is their Super Bowl, and they are the ones that gave me that term. It's not Lima, where they have a big two- or three-day weekend truck show. It's not Croton, where they get 130 or 140 vehicles. It's Knox County. I think that speaks very highly about what Mount Vernon puts together and the caliber of driver and equipment that it brings.”
Gerald Weikle from Mount Vernon has watched rough trucking for a few years and decided to try it for the first time this year.
“When I landed (from the big jump), my driver's side seat landed in the back seat,” Weikle said. “My pole frame snapped in half. She's not roadworthy right now, but we're going to Croton on the 13th of August.”
Like some drivers, he finally tried rough trucking when the right vehicle – a Jeep Cherokee – came along.
“I got this truck off my buddy,” Weikle said. “If this was in good condition, it would be $1,000, but I got this for $300. That was my plan, to drive this in rough trucks. I'm feeling a little sore right now. I landed hard. I was trying to pull myself up because my driver seat fell into the backseat. After I landed, I hit the brake and pulled the e-brake. After that, I went sideways and she started smoking, but I'm still alive.”
For second-year driver Cody Starmar of Mount Vernon, the landing is the only hard part.
“It was rough,” Starmar said. “Just brace yourself and take it. It's going to hurt. I'll probably feel it the next day.”
Starmar, who drove a Ford Ranger, had pretty simple approach.
“I didn't do anything to this truck,” he said. “I got it from my buddy; he let me use it. You just get in there and drive it. Just figure out how to get around the curves and the bumps. That's it.”
Hunter Freeman was a first-timer from North Liberty, driving a red and white Chevy Blazer.
“Actually was a buddy’s truck, and he was done using it," Freeman said. “He said, ‘If you want that thing, you can have it.’ So, I picked it up and I said, ‘We can use it for rough trucks.' We put in a 5-point harness, that didn't really work, in it. I let some air out of the tires. Other than that, it's pretty much all stock.”
He jumped his vehicle off the big ramp at the end of the course the only way he could.
It was pretty tough, but it wasn't bad. It was fun,” Freeman said. “I hit the ramp and I had my (accelerator) foot to the floor.”
Brad Talbot drove the A+ Auto Brokers truck from Mount Vernon. He's in his 16th year of rough trucking.
“I run all over Ohio,” Talbot said. “I like this course best because they have bigger jumps than most. With the other ones, it's all about speed. This one is more about how you actually drive the vehicle."
Talbot strengthened his truck underneath before taking to the course.
“I reinforced all the suspension on it,” Talbot said.
