Coleman found out that this was
the truck he had remembered
in San Felipe, and was originally
raced by the Vessels/Gordon
team back in the '90's. Yeoman
had purchased it from Marty
Coyne, owner of the Coyne
Powersports Motorplex in
Imperial Valley, California.
Coleman then found it after
Yeoman had passed away,
purchasing it from his widow.
"The very first time I saw the
truck race was in the early
'90s in San Felipe, flying by
me by the Zoo Road crossing,"
said Coleman. "I remember
seeing the truck several feet
in the air, and that picture had
stayed in my head forever."
According to Coleman, the
truck was originally built by Dave
Shopp in 1990 before Vessels
got a hold of it and made some
changes to run it in Class 8,
where it was painted all black.
Vessels and Gordon co-drove
the truck changing the colors
to red, white, and blue for their
major sponsor Valvoline. Gordon
then purchased Roseanne and
changed the rear suspension
from elliptical springs to coil-
overs, and raced it in the Trophy
Truck division until the mid-'90s.
By the time Coleman had
purchased the truck, it had been
sitting for about seven years. "It
seems like it must have been
sitting outside for that period of
time," said Coleman. "The motor
was in the machine shop and
THE FRONT SUSPENSION REMAINS WHAT
WAS USED BACK IN THE TRUCK'S CLASS
8 DAYS, WITH NEW HAND-MADE FRONT
SPINDLES AND CUSTOM I-BEAMS.
THE DRIVETRAIN CONSISTS OF A REID
TH400 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, AN
INLAND EMPIRE DRIVELINE DRIVESHAFT,
AND A NINE-INCH STYLE REAR-END.
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SCORE JOURNAL
