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Dirt, power draw crowds to truck and tractor pull
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
Heavy black smoke fills the sky.
The sound of horsepower pounds spectators’ ears and shakes the ground.
And then the dirt churns and the tires come up in the air on trucks and tractors as they reach for the ultimate pull.
“Full pull!” the announcer yells over the microphone.
And the crowd of thousands erupts with cheers.
This was the scene Saturday night, the night of the Canfield Fair Truck and Tractor Pull.
Anyone who likes horsepower, noise and a fun time seemed to flock to the event at the grandstand.
“You have got to have a happening,” said Lee Kohler, fair board member. “It’s a happening. On Labor Day weekend in eastern Ohio, the happening is the Truck and Tractor Pull at the Canfield Fair.”
Since the late 1960s, the Truck and Tractor Pull has been delighting crowds with smoke, noise, maybe a little fire, and definitely fury.
The competition is for who can make it the farthest within the six divisions with the full-pull at 300 feet on a clay track. The event is put on by both Full Pull Productions and the National Tractors Pulling Association. Some of the pullers are souped up with 15,000 horsepower and will make any spectator’s skin shake.
“The first 90 percent of the track is the drag strip and then the last is the parachute to get them to all stops,” said Gregg Randall, NTPA office general manager.
At the end of each pull, a laser reads the distance each truck or tractor went.
The grandstand is known to fill up for this event, and this year was no exception. The cost to get in was $14 on the track and $12 in the stands.
“I think people like the competition,” Randall said. “You take a rural area activity and a rural sport, combine the two and you have a match made in heaven.”
Couple Chris Iverson and Les Boyd of West Virginia drove an hour to come to the fair and it just so happened to be on the pull night.
“I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid,” Boyd said. “I like anything with power.”
Boyd just rebuilt his own Chevrolet SS Nova with 500 horsepower. He wore his Nova shirt to promote the power.
“Bringing the big boys brings the people in,” Boyd said. “The people will come just to see these guys.”
Glen Stockslanger and his son, Joel, of Campbell enjoy the noise and the excitement of it all.
“One of those motors costs more than a house,” Glen said.