Speed Demons: Attendees battle each other, the clock for ‘Creeper Pull’ victory

Records were falling left and right on Saturday afternoon at the inaugural Creeper Pull race, held during OOIDA’s Heart of America Truck Show.

You may be saying to yourself, “Just what, pray tell, is a Creeper Pull race?” Probably best to just explain with a photo: 

Joey Cowick, a permits and licensing agent with OOIDA, demonstrates proper form and technique in
the Creeper Pull race on Saturday at the Heart of America Truck Show. (Photo by Greg Grisolano)

Basically what you have here is a competitor on a mechanic’s creeper, whose only means of forward propulsion is a plunger. Competitors lined up side-by-side and raced about 10 yards to the finish line.

Hunter Briggs, 12 and Austin Briggs, 11, sorted out some
sibling rivalry on the creeper race course. They are the
sons of Randy and Heather Briggs of Macomb, Ill.
(Photo by Jami Jones)

OOIDA employees served as time keepers, logging the fastest times of the participants and setting up heats for the top finishers. About 50 people had tried their hands at creeper racing by Saturday afternoon.

One of those speed demons on Saturday was Ryan Davidson, the son of OOIDA member Randall Davidson, of Savannah, Mo.

While some competitors favored a high-mounted style, sitting on their knees and propelling the creeper forward with a kayaking or canoe-paddling motion, Ryan Davidson used a head-first approach. By lying on his belly and driving the plunger directly in front of him, he was able to scorch his competition and finish the race in a little over six seconds.

“I’d never mounted a creeper that direction before,” the younger Davidson said of his head-first approach to the race.

Believe me, it was even more impressive in person.

“I just wanted to go as fast as I could,” the humble Davidson said when asked if he had any thought he might set a record when he started his race. “The hardest part is keeping it straight on those dolly wheels.”

In addition to the creeper pull, OOIDA members were treated to other games of skill, including Lugnut Toss, Conventional Concentration (a close-up photo contest) and Trucking Trivia.