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It's a sweltering, hot, summer night with no breeze, and even the light from the fireflies seems to make it hotter. Spectators wait uncomfortably in their seats, mopping their brows with wrinkled, red bandanas. There is a murmur of voices as the crowd waits in anticipation, then suddenly, the ground begins to quake and the sound of a raging motor escalates. And with angry black exhaust escaping from its pipes like a cyclone, and a swirl of dust and debris surrounding it, 7,500 pounds of brightly painted aluminum, steel and rubber thunders past the stands. The crowd jumps to its feet, cheering the competitor on. This modified tractor is just one participant in a series of truck and tractor pulls the county fair will feature tonight. Most people have probably heard of truck and tractor pulls before, but really don't know the first thing about them. First, all competitions use what is called a motorized sled, or a "mechanical weight transfer device," which is hooked to their pulling vehicle by a chain. As the competitor drives down the track, the load becomes increasingly heavier to pull. Two major components of the sled are the box and the pan. The pan slides on the ground with little resistance at the start of the pull. The pan increases friction with the track as the box, which is chain driven, moves towards the front of the sled. The inside of the box contains lead blocks weighing a ton. Once the box stops, the friction of the pan is the greatest and the pulling vehicle slows to a stop. The concept of pulling is based upon who can drag the sled the farthest on a dirt track. The dirt track is 300 feet long with two white lines on each side as boundaries. If competitors touch a line they are disqualified. In each class competitors draw numbers in the order they will hook to the sled. If competitors aren't able to travel 75 feet in their first attempt, they are given a second attempt. Once the competitor makes his or her pull, it is measured within 100th of an inch. These distances are recorded and 10 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING | www.aiec.org the results are based upon those distances. If more than one competitor travels beyond 300 feet, a "pull off" will occur. Based on the sled operator's judgment, another weight could be added or a faster gear could be selected to increase the speed of the box, making it harder to pull. According to the archives of the Illinois Tractor Pulling Association, "the sport of pulling can be traced back to the early days of draft horse pulling at county fairs in the early 20th century. The first recorded motorized pulling event, however, was recorded in 1929, in Bowling Green, Mo." Reminiscing about his early pulling days, Mike Miller, president of the Illinois Tractor Pulling Association (ITPA), says, "Originally, all the pulling vehicles were farm tractors they'd take out of the fields and soup up. They'd get them ready for a certain division, then take them right back to the fields when they were done." When Miller first started pulling, all the classes were thrown in together. Now, there are 18 pulling classes, where many types of vehicles are represented, among them garden tractors, antique vehicles, mini rods, 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive trucks, modified and stock vehicles. In the early days, because there was no continuity of rules from one pulling venue to another, pullers didn't know exactly what to expect when they would travel the pulling circuit. To create some uniformity, the ITPA was formed on January 24, 1968. Throughout the years, the association has set into place many rules and regulations that have helped to make the sport safer, more organized, more lucrative and overall, more enjoyable. According to Miller, the ITPA was one of the first pulling associations ever formed. Conducting as many as 90 pulling events in a four-state area, the ITPA's events tend to be some of the best-attended events at county and state fairs, next to the demolition derbies. With an average audience of around 2,000 at the southern pulling events and 4,000-5,000 at the northern ones, pulls create an economic boost for each event's area. When asked about how the economy could affect ITPA's truck and tractor pull circuit this year, Miller says he's seeing some reduction in pulls for the 2002 season. At some events where there are usually two days of pulls, maybe the host has reduced that number to just one day. In rare cases, a pull has been cancelled completely. Many of the pullers are either farmers or dependent upon the farm economy for their livelihoods. This year is a rough one for them. The "tractor-pulling bug" is often passed down from generation to generation. Miller entered the sport because of his dad's involvement. Born and raised in rural Greenup in Norris Electric Cooperative's territory, Miller says, "I bought my first modified tractor when I was a junior in high school. The rest of the kids were buying cars, and I was buying a puller vehicle. It was an old F30 International, and it had a 322 cubic-inch Buick motor in it. That wasn't a bad sized motor back then."
APRIL 2002 | ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 11
Steve Bollinger, from Bollinger Brothers Money Pit Racing Team says he got into pulling because his neighbors were very involved in it. Bollinger says he actually had his own bedroom at the neighbors' house, so when they'd get back late at night from pulling, he'd just stay at their house, then come back home the next morning. Located in Shelby Electric Cooperative's territory in rural Stonington, Bollinger's operation is a little different than most. Although he and his family members farm roughly 2,500 acres, for him, his brother Tom, their father Tom Senior and a small crew, their pulling operation is conducted more like a business. As one of the most respected pulling teams in Illinois, Bollinger Brothers buy and sell parts and build motors for other pullers. One of the most interesting stories Steve Bollinger tells is how their original Money Pit modified tractor pulling unit was sold to a German pulling team. The vehicle appeared on the front cover of more than one pulling publication overseas. According to Bollinger, the American pulling vehicles are far more advanced than the foreign market, especially where engines are concerned. The investment into truck and tractor pulling is not for the faint of heart. Most people who travel the pulling circuit are involved purely for the love of the sport, and they know even if they win at competitions it's unlikely they'll recoup the money they've put into the units. They usually have day jobs or farm for a living, then do the pulling on the side on nights and weekends. To build even a pulling-ready garden tractor, the outlay of cash can easily be $10,000. A motor alone for an antique tractor is roughly $10,000. If you're talking about a 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive truck, you could drop $40,000 before it would see the pulling track. Pro-stock tractors and modified tractors, such as those the Bollinger Brothers Pulling Team build and use for competition, can easily run significantly more from the ground up. Bollinger and his crew are able to save considerably when they're building units because they do most of their own labor. Pulling vehicles get wear and tear every time they compete, and even more money is dumped into them throughout the year. Motors can last 2-3 years, and tires, which can run as much as $2,800 each in the pro-stock tractor division, can last 4-8 years. Despite the money they spend on participating in the pulls, ITPA member pullers are fortunate in that Illinois is one of only a few states that subsidizes each county and state fair's pull prize money. For the past several years, Illinois has paid out expense money plus two-thirds of the prize money awarded at most pulls. The state's shaky budget could endanger the subsidy for the 2002 pulls. Bollinger says he thinks the circuit could lose as many as two-thirds of their pulls and pullers if the prize money subsidy were ever completely eliminated. Pullers in the ITPA circuit also compete for point money that's awarded at the organization's 12 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING | www.aiec.org banquet held at the end of each year. At this year's banquet, $60,000 was divided among the top point finishers in each pulling division. In 2001, Illinois' Touch-stone Energy electric cooperatives were point sponsors for the ITPA circuit, and they will be again for 2002. Touchstone Energy® is an alliance of electric cooperatives from across the country that is helping to educate the public about the unique attributes of coops. Cooperative employees interact with their members using Touchstone Energy's four core values of integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community. (Both Norris Electric and Shelby Electric Cooperatives are Touchstone Energy members.) One common thread that runs throughout the sport of truck and tractor pulling is the tremendous family bond that ties the pullers together. In asking Bollinger, Miller and other pullers what their favorite part of the pulling competitions is, they all say it's the family atmosphere. From small children to adults, everyone's involved in the pulls. Bollinger says he takes as many as 20 family members and friends to pulls, and he absolutely loves traveling the circuit. To him it's really more like a family reunion than a competitive event. He says his pulling units are what bass boats are to fishermen. This is the hobby he and the other pullers have chosen to invest in. When asked about the future of truck and tractor pulling, Bollinger replies, "We'll just take one year at a time and see what happens." One thing is certain. It would take something drastic to happen before the pulling family would split up. The sport is too exciting, there is too much history involved, and the family bond is too tight. This appears to be a sport for the ages. For more information about truck and tractor pulling, contact Mike Miller at (217) 923-3949, or log on to the ITPA's Web site, www.itpapulling.com.
APRIL 2002 | ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 13 |
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