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At fair’s popular truck/tractor pull, winning is all about bragging rights
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
Chuck Knapp was nervous Saturday afternoon before he jumped into his unlimited modified tractor to compete for the National Tractor Pullers Association National Championship Title.
The Iowa farmer’s souped-up tractor has four Hemi engines and 1871 superchargers, or air compressors that increase the pressure of air supplied to an internal combustion engine. Basically, superchargers add power.
“It’s about getting the power to the ground,” Knapp said.
Knapp’s Screamin’ D was in the lead by just 2 points before the Truck and Tractor Pull at the Canfield Fair Grandstand on Saturday night. Behind him was Wayne Purser’s Uncle Sam unlimited modified tractor.
For these competitors, it’s not about the prize money at the end; it’s about the bragging rights.
“It’s just the idea of coming out on top in the end,” Knapp said.
Uncle Sam, which hails from Oklahoma, has five Hemi engines valued at $80,000 each and superchargers.
The engine-roaring, heart-pounding and ear-covering entertainment for the night at the grandstand brought out a crowd, as it always does. The Canfield Fair pull brings together two different pull leagues for the night, which is a rarity in the sport. Outside of the two classes in the NTPA – Unlimited Modified Tractors and Two-Wheel Drive Trucks – there are four classes in U.S.A. East Sled Pulling: Limited Pro/SF tractors; Big Rigs Semi Trucks; “Run What Ya Brung” 4x4 trucks; and “Smoker Series” Tractors.
In this motor sport, it is not about the speed, but the distance pulled. The trucks, tractors and semis pulling the metal sled are judged on how far they can pull the sled across a track the length of a football field. Inside the metal sled is a box containing a varying amount of weight that mechanically moves forward as the sled goes down the course. Pulling the increasing weight causes the truck, tractor or semi to lose forward momentum and torque and makes it more difficult to move forward. If the vehicle reaches the end of the course, it has achieved a full pull – and the crowd goes wild.
On Saturday night, U.S.A. East had about 60 different drivers competing from Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New York.
“To be here, they have to be the best of the best,” said Rick Feicht of Full Pull Productions out of Jamestown, Pa., the parent company of U.S.A. East.
At the Canfield Fair, there are two tracks set up for the drivers, so the competition keeps rolling.
The NTPA, based in Columbus, had 17 two-wheel-drive trucks and 10 unlimited modified tractors competing Saturday. The drivers are from all over the U.S.
“The most powerful will not always win,” said Gregg Randall of the NTPA.
Several factors contribute to winning, from the air to the power.
“It’s an art form,” said RJ Feights of U.S.A. East.
The six winners take home a lot of bragging rights if they win at Canfield because of the stiff competition.
“It’s addictive,” Feights said. “It’s a motor sport. A lot of this is still backyard mechanical ingenuity.”
NTPA results were not ready at press time.