Larry Coon, owner of Coon’s Excavating in Norwalk, Ohio, will be turning a few of his employee’s heads when the 71-year-old pulls into the parking lot in a customized and fully equipped Ford F-250 Super Duty he just won in ProPickup magazine’s Super Crew Sweepstakes.
Coon’s name was pulled from more than 7,500 entires ProPickup magazine had received during the nearly year-long sweepstakes program that began last April.
“I can’t believe I’ve won. I’d seen the [sweepstakes] registration form in the magazine and asked my wife to fill it out and send it in,” says Coon during a phone interview the day after he was notified. “I never win anything, so I’m still in a little bit of shock.”
When asked about the plans for his new truck – a four-wheel-drive 2011 Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab diesel valued at more than $80,000 – the Ohio contrctor, who has more than 40 years in the concrete business says, “It looks like I can finally retire my ‘02 F-350 that I drive daily for work and use the Super Crew. I’ve followed its building from the first article. The Super Crew is some truck.”
The magazine’s Ford Super Duty, with custom vinyl graphics and the bed filled with tool boxes and equipment, was customized by the editorial staff and Truck Supply & Outfitters in Tuscaloosa to be the ultimate construction contractor’s work pickup.
The truck’s transformation from a “plain Jane” white work truck to “Super Crew” was covered in every issue of the construction industry automotive magazine and on its website, propickupmag.com. That’s where Coon, a professional concrete contractor, saw the sweepstakes entry form and mailed it in.
The ProPickup staff will present Coon the keys to Project Super Crew during a special ceremony at Town & Country Ford in Bessemer, Ala., May 18. Then he’ll be driving back to Ohio where the Super Crew will take on the duties it was built for – serving as a work truck in the construction business.
“We can’t thank our sponsors enough for helping put together such a great truck,” says Stephen Abernathy, ProPickup’s associate publisher.
“Building a Ford Super Duty like Project Super Crew shows how the right aftermarket products can take function and form to an even higher level on the jobsite. We couldn’t have asked for it to go to more deserving businessman who has spent his life serving the heavy construction industry.”
ProPickup is a bi-monthly publication that reaches more than 210,000 owners and managers of construction, landscaping, aggregates, road and bridge building companies across the country through both print and electronic distribution.
The magazine builds a sweepstakes project truck each year with the help of sponsors’ product support and encourages the readers to enter the annual sweepstakes to win it when the build is finished.
Sponsors for ProPickup’s Ford Super Crew Sweepstakes: Ford Truck; www.ford.com; Vanair/www.vanair.com; Hypertech/hypertech-inc.com; Sage Oil Vac/www.sageoilvac.com; Valvoline Commercial Products/www.valvoline.com; Amp Research/www. amp-research.com; UWS Truck Accessories/www.uwsta.com; Buckstop Truckware/ www.buckstop.biz; ARB USA/www.arbusa.com; Mile Marker/www.milemarker.com; B&W Hitches/www.turnoverball.com; Mickey Thompson Tires/www. mickeythompsontires.com;Transfer Flow/www.transferflow.com; Truck Supply & Outfitters/www.trucksupplyandoutfitters.com; USFleetTracking/www.usfleettracking.com;
Other manufacturers that donated product toward the Ford Super Crew Sweepstakes truck build include: AFE; Bushwacker; BDS Suspension; Hellwig Products; Airaid; EBC Brakes; Camoclad; Advanced Signs & Graphics; BD Diesel; Marathon Seat Covers; BOLT; Dick Cepek; Oracle Lighting Technologies; Gamber-Johnson; Go Light; Holiday Raceway; Cobra Electronics; PIAA; Prolong; Weather Tec, Acari and Whelen.
Photography available on request: Contact Bruce Smith, ProPickup editor; 205-248-1709; [email protected].