PPL pulling comes to Lincoln County, Missouri—and brings the Super Stock and Limited Pro Stock Diesel Trucks with it.
July in the Midwest represents peak truck and tractor pulling season. The Hot Shot’s SecretPro Pulling League schedule alone boasts 21 events for the month—including a stop at the Lincoln County Fair in Troy, Missouri. It’s a rural community located in the eastern portion of the Show Me State, but the stands are jam-packed any time a truck and tractor pull comes to town. On Friday, July 11th, locals were treated to some of the finest pulling competition PPL has to offer. Not only were the Super Stock and Limited Pro Stock diesel trucks on the docket, but 18 9,500-pound Limited Pro Stock tractors (and four other classes) went head-to-head in the dirt. This is our recount of an event that brings elite competition—and thousands of fans—to small-town Missouri.
Fresh off a big Fourth of July win at the Junction Town Showdown in Osceola, Iowa, Warrenton, Missouri native, Keith Witt, brought “American Pride”—one of two Super Stock trucks in his stable—out to Troy to compete. The late-model Ram, which packs a triple-turbo, Scheid-built Cummins power plant, did not disappoint. Drawing the highest number in the pits afforded Keith the luxury of being the last hook in the class, and American Pride moved the sled 359.66 feet. It’s a distance that put more than nine feet on Second Place. Earlier in the night, Keith turned in a 344-foot effort behind the wheel of his other Super Stock Dodge (“Crosswired”).Despite his early hook in the Super Stock class, Kent Crowder and the Scheid Diesel third-gen powered their way out to an impressive 350.52-foot finish. It’s a distance that would lead the field until Keith Witt hooked to the sled in the aforementioned “American Pride” for the final pull in the class. With multiple PPL championship titles under his belt (including 2024), Kent is always in the thick of things in the Super Stock category. This year is no different, with Kent sitting third in points heading into the final five events of 2025.In the Limited Pro Stock (3.0-inch smooth bore turbo) truck class, James Deverman’s “Chain Smoker” turned in the winning distance. Moving the cone to the far left paid off in the form of putting more than three feet on Skyler Leeper, the front-runner up to that point. Ultimately, James’ hook withstood a hard-charging effort from Bryan Banghart’s “Powertrip” first-gen. James trekked out from Glen Elder, Kansas to collect his Champion Seed Western Series points and, although he sits fourth in the overall standings after Troy, he remains well within striking distance of First Place. An Apex Diesel-built Cummins with an old-school P-pump from Columbus Diesel Supply separates this mechanical monster from the common-rail competition.With Van Haisley handling driving duties in the “One Nation” fourth-gen Ram, grandson Tripp got the call to pilot “Rock Hard Ram.” When the iconic, triple-turbo Haisley Machine-built beast finally spun out, Tripp had traveled 344.56 feet—enough to slip past Keith Witt’s 344.28-foot distance in “Crosswired,” as well as Brady Ingram’s 343.84-foot effort. While the Haisley’s have yet to grab a PPL win with Rock Hard Ram thus far in 2025, it did snag a victory at the 300 Raceway pull in Farley, Iowa back in June.It would be our luck that after stopping by Justin Gearhart’s trailer and introducing ourselves in the pits (and telling him “Good luck”) his hitch breaks, he’s sling-shotted into the berm at the end of the track, and gets his overall distance cut short. But despite the mishap at the Lincoln County Fair, Justin tells us most of the pesky, minor problems that plagued “Cream of the Crop” last year are now in his rear-view mirror. Expect this Haisley-powered, Wimer turbo’d and Sigma pumped second-gen to get back into the winner’s circle soon.Bryan Banghart has been pulling this first-gen an incredible 21 years. Granted, a lot has changed on the truck since the early 2000’s, but the original frame (albeit heavily reinforced now) and body remain. Under the hood, you’ll find a common-rail Cummins from Freedom Racing Engines with Dynomite Diesel Products injectors humming away and, on this Friday night in Troy, Missouri, it propelled the “Powertrip” Dodge to a Second Place finish in the Limited Pro Stock class. After a rough spot near the end of the track upset the truck’s chassis, Bryan’s momentum ceased and he ended up 2.5 feet behind winner, James Deverman. With seven PPL classes on the docket, we stayed on the track for the 8,500-pound Limited Pro Stock tractors. The sixth hook in a field of 14, Jay Shafer drove his IH 1066 coined “The Second Time Around” out to 336 feet and change. It’s a distance that put two feet on Second Place finisher, Bryan Arnold (333.92 ft) and gave Jay the hometown win. Just like every other pulling category, 8,500-pound Limited Pro Stock is restricted by engine size, turbo, and chassis rules. However, that doesn’t make the class any less entertaining. First Place through seventh were separated by less than 7 feet.Tread choice is always an interesting topic in DOT tire classes, and the first thing we spotted on Jason Wayman’s high-profile Limited Pro Stock “Megatron” was the new rubber under his late-model Mega Cab. With a tread pattern that vaguely resembles the cuts you find on Pro Stock and Super Stock diesel trucks, Jason is giving the Kenda Klever M/T2 a try for 2025. After winning on them late last year, a trend was born and (wouldn’t you know it) several other pullers are now running them. What hasn’t changed is the Perkins Diesel-built common-rail Cummins under the hood. Thanks to stand-alone control and a set of DDP injectors, it continues to produce more than 1,600 hp.On the track, Jason Wayman drove “Megatron” out to a 319.16-foot distance—good enough for Fourth Place on the evening. But despite the respectable showing, Jason seemed anything but content. You’ll have that when you’re the reigning PPL Limited Pro Stock diesel truck champion for three years running. When you win as often as Jason does, a mid-pack finish can be maddening. Look for Jason to regroup and lock things in for the remaining 10 hooks on the Champion Seed Western Series schedule. And when the smoke finally clears in September, don’t be surprised to find that Jason and Megatron have earned a fourth consecutive title.You don’t always find both of Scheid Diesel’s cut-tire trucks competing at the same venue, but the weekend of July 11-12 was just that. Following Kent Crowder’s strong, 350-foot showing was a tall order for Brady Ingram, but he still managed to get the big single, billet-aluminum Cummins to go 343.84 feet. At the end of the night, his distance earned him a spot in the top five. The next day, Brady and the rest of the Super Stock pullers were due in Joliet, Illinois for the Red, White and Boom event at Dirt Oval Route 66 Raceway. There, he would give team Scheid a Third Place finish.Skyler Leeper’s second-gen Cummins was practically unstoppable a year ago, winning seven (7) consecutive pulls at one point. At the Lincoln County Fair, his “Legal Limits” Dodge would end up third, and less than one inch behind Second Place finisher, Bryan Banghart. Following the event in Troy, Skyler sat second in PPL Champion Seed Western Series points (behind Bryan). His potent, 3.0-inch smooth bore common-rail engine was built by O’Bryant Diesel Service and sports DDP injectors—a combination of companies that’ve become front-of-the-pack forces in truck pulling in recent years.Terry Biggs has been lighting up the win column in Super Stock this season. Not only did his triple-turbo’d, O’Bryant Cummins-powered Super Duty get the W at the PPL season opener in Macon, Missouri on June 27th, but one week later the “Deadpull” Ford stormed to another victory on night number 2 of the Junction Town Showdown. At the Lincoln County Fair, Terry’s third win eluded him thanks to a Sixth Place, 340.48-foot effort. But the slump didn’t last long. Just 24 hours later, Terry and Deadpull pulled off a big win in Joliet, Illinois.The last time we saw Keith Myers’ “Weezer” John Deere in action, it won the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza. Surprise surprise, Keith won this pull, too. Playing the role of hometown hero, the Troy resident covered 337.02 feet behind the wheel of his 9,500-pound Limited Pro Stock 8310R (Second Place finisher, Adrian Cox in the “Hickory Hooker” IH machine, would go 335.66 feet). Always impressive, these tractors adhere to a 640 ci displacement cap, an ag chassis, and squeeze more than 2,600 hp through a 4.1-inch smooth bore turbo.Second in points in the PPL’s AP1 Midwest Region (and known for terrorizing the ranks of Battle of the Bluegrass Pulling), Corey Baker’s “Gambler” was hauled west to compete against the likes of Jason Wayman and Skyler Leeper. Austin White was behind the wheel, was the first to hook in the class, and things were looking good until a rough spot unsettled the truck around the 300-foot mark. He would come to a stop at 312.50 feet (Fifth Place). The rest of the class might’ve gotten lucky here, as we watched this O-Bryant-built (and DDP-fueled), Cummins-powered Ford dominate the dirt at Hoosier State Showdown XV and the 2024 Scheid Diesel Extravaganza.
