Over 25 persons were in attendance on Sunday March 15, 2009 for the 4th annual tech school held by USA-EAST Sled Pulling, Inc.  The school was held at the St. Petersburg Fire Hall in St. Petersburg, Pennsylvania and was moderated by R.J. Feicht, the Director of Operations for Full Pull Productions, Inc. of Jamestown, Pennsylvania.  Full Pull is the parent company of the USA-EAST Sanctioning body and is the largest producer of sanctioned pulling events in the Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and New York combined region.

The school served as a preview of the 2009 USA-EAST rulebook and highlighted the changes that have occurred subsequent to the end of the highly successful third year of operation of the new sanctioning body. 

Mike Gum and Dan Perry, both senior officials for the USA-East Sanctioning body, went over the rules and what to look for in the “Smoker” Series tractor division which pits the multiple turbo Super Stock tractors against the single turbo equipped Prostock tractors.

Jack Snyder and Justin Martin were on hand discussing the various rules for the ever popular Limited Pro Stock and Super Farm tractor class. Additionally Jim and Brenda Riensel who own the Limited Pro Stock tractor “Wholley Terror”, were in attendance offering their insight to the class as well.

The father and son team of Dan and Troy Perry as well as Rob Bryan who deal extensively in the Modified “RWYB”, Pro Street Diesel and other 4x4 truck classes were on hand once again to go over the major rules for those classes. Eddie and Crystal Zedreck from the “RWYB” Modified Truck class were also in attendance to offer up their expertise in the multitude of truck classes that compete under the USA-East Sled Pulling series. Both have worked for Full Pull on an as needed basis for the past several years in various capacities.

Mike Williams who hails from the Redbank Valley area and a veteran official was in attendance as well. Mike works in heavy equipment and the OTR industry and continue offer a valuable insight to the changes that occur in the new semi trucks that can affect the class rules for those classes. Jim Goodhart, a long time mini-tractor puller from Ohio has recently sold his mini-tractor and decided to become more involved as an official with USA-East.  Jim has worked a limited schedule for Full Pull Productions in the past but with several new pulls booked already in the Buckeye state for 2009 Jim decided that it was time to become more active as an official.

The father and sons team of Jamie, Cory and Cody Clawson will once again share many of the duties as officials on the track and will be assigned to work directly with the diesel and gas 4x4 truck classes as well as the tractor and semi classes that will be conducted extensively by Full Pull Productions this summer.  Diesel and gas fueled truck pulling have become very popular classes with a total over 35 event hooks scheduled for either the Pro Stock Diesel 4x4 class or the Street Licensed Diesel or Street Licensed Gas trucks under the USA-EAST banner in 2009. 

Cindi and Howie Heltman were in attendance as well. They have been a fixture in the Full Pull Productions staff for many years continue to bring a wealth of experience to the USA-Sled Pulling sanctioning body. Cindi campaigned a successful FWD truck in the mid-eighties and will again bring her expertise both to the pits and on the track.  Howie will serve as the assistant announcer at selected events and will work in the pit area at others.

The addition of the Pennsylvania Posse to the USA-East classes proved to be very successful during its inaugural year.  This class will have over twenty events this summer.  The measuring and application of the hitching device as well as the conduct of the class will be monitored by the father and son team of Mark and Hunter Strittmatter in 2009 – both were present at the meeting to explain what the plans are for this process.

The Dave Powell Laser team, consisting of Dave & Marie Powell from the Oliveburg, Pennsylvania area were in attendance as well. The Powell’s along with their daughter Peggy and son-in-law Chuck handle the electronic laser measuring device at most of the major events on the USA-EAST schedule and are in charge of track set-up and lining during the pre-event preparations.

The father and son team of Jim & Brian Seely and Keith Moiser all hailing from the Cochranton, Pennsylvania area were in attendance. Brian & Jim have been involved with USA-East Sled Pulling for many years performing pit and track duties. While newcomer Keith will bring with him a wealth of diesel truck knowledge gleaned from his experience in the diesel truck repair industry.

The complete schedule of events for 2009 can be found on the website at either www.fullpullproductions.com or www.usa-east.com.   The ambitious schedule will showcase at least a dozen hooks for each of seven major pulling divisions this summer.  Action gets underway at the All-American Spring Nationals at Mercer Raceway Park in Mercer, Pennsylvania on Saturday May 23rd – the Saturday of Memorial Day week-end.