MOUNT VERNON — Rough truck racers across Ohio circled July 23 on their calendars long ago.
Why? Because that’s when the Knox County Fair hosted the so-called “Super Bowl” of rough truck races.
From Senior Fair Board President Jim Ruhl to excited drivers in pit row, everyone held this race in high regard, and for good reason.
“This is my second year racing, and what makes this [race] really stand out from all the others is the big jump,” driver Evan Hogg said. “Not a whole lot of other county fairs have the big jump at the end. Whereas Knox, you have two trailers stacked up against each other to really send the truck far and hit the ground hard.”
There aren’t many races out there where you can see a wide variety of vehicles do a lap on a loose dirt track. For the Hogg brothers, old “beaters” were their rides for the evening.
Types of rough truck
“I just picked this up out of Indiana and it was an old plow truck,” Evan Hogg said. “It’s a ’96 F-250, so it’s gonna be a rough ride, but I’m here for it.”
“Mine’s a ’94 Ranger. I initially bought it because I was going to resell it,” driver Peyton Hogg said. “And then when I got into it, put a transmission kit in it, this kid swore it was good when I bought it. It wouldn’t go past third gear.
“So, it made it where it’s at now into rough truck.”
For the Talbott family, driving classic cars turned roll-cage-welded off-road machines in their hometown is what made this the “Super Bowl.”
“It’s our hometown, and it’s the only place that they actually use the semi-trailer for the long jump,” driver Brad Talbott said. “For the people watching, it makes it so much better to see the trucks fly off of those trailers.
“Last time I drove it [his Ford Bronco], well, other than last weekend, was eight years ago,” driver Kyle Talbott said. “Not afraid to drive, you just gotta get out there and go.”
At the end of the day, the race wasn’t about who won or lost. The point of the race was to put on a show for the community while keeping all the drivers safe.
“Everybody helps everybody out, anybody needs anything, whether it’s family or not, or a competitor, we’ll help anybody,” Brad Talbott said.
(Photos from rough truck night by Jack Slemenda and Malaki Stanfield.)
