“Accelerated Learning” is truckin' on down to Berks County this Saturday for a national competition.
The 1959 B-61 Model Mack drag truck operated by the Diesel Performance Club of Pennsylvania College of Technology is competing in the Keystone Truckin’ Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, 15 miles southeast of Reading.
"This Keystone Truckin' Nationals is a huge event, with over 1,000 trucks and 10,000 spectators anticipated to attend," said Mark E. Sones, a club adviser and diesel equipment technology instructor. "This will be our greatest exposure!"
The team captured a second-place finish overall at the East Coast Truck Nationals, held in June at Numidia Dragway in Columbia County. That was the truck’s first sanctioned, competitive event in its storied 26 years at Penn College.
The Diesel Performance Club welcomes all supporters to cheer them on at Maple Grove Raceway, 30 Stauffer Lane, Mohnton. Gates open at 8 a.m., and the event runs until 6 p.m. The club is entering its student-built truck in this competition with the support of Bergey’s Truck Centers.
"This event will be a wonderful showcase of the skill, passion and teamwork of our student org and the college in general," said Giovanni A. Barbarossa, club president. The Bridgeville resident is a building automation engineering technology student and graduate of electric power generation technology: diesel emphasis.
For more information on diesel truck, heavy equipment and power generation degrees and other majors offered by Penn College’s School of Engineering Technologies, call 570-327-4520.