June 28, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact person:  Bill Dailey cell (501) 416-4657
Email: purplehull@juno.com
Web site: www.purplehull.com

 

WALLER SETS NEW WORLD RECORD IN GARDEN TILLER RACING
   There’s a new world record in the sport of garden tiller racing.

   Shane Waller of Junction City, Arkansas, defended his title and broke his own world record in the process at the Weyerhaeuser 200 World Championship Rotary Tiller Race in Emerson, Arkansas, Saturday.

   Waller tilled the 200-foot track of plowed ground in 100 degree heat in 5.59 seconds – an average speed of over 24 miles per hour.

   Waller’s previous world record was 5.72 seconds, set in 2004.  It was Waller’s sixth title in a row.

   A new world record had eluded Waller for the past four tiller racing seasons.

   “About time,” said Waller, in reaction to hearing he had set a new record.  “Been trying for a long time.”

   Waller came extremely close to breaking his previous record in an earlier heat – missing his old mark by only one one-hundredth of a second.  Waller set the new world record in the last heat of the day.

   However, near the end of his record performance, Waller suffered an apparent ham string injury.

   In the women’s division, Erica Butler of Homer, Louisiana, also defended her title, tilling the two-hundred foot track in 6.90 seconds.   It was her fifth win in row.

   There was a break in the action for a wedding.  Ashley Leach and Matt Graves, both of El Dorado, were wed in the middle of the tiller track, after which tiller racing resumed.

   The World Championship Rotary Tiller Race – a race of souped-up garden tillers - is the feature event of the Emerson PurpleHull Pea Festival.

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