“Pulltown USA,” most commonly known as Bowling Green, Ohio, hosted the 2015 National Tractor Pulling Championships this past weekend.
Competitors from all over the country come to compete; however, pullers can compete in state, grand, regional national and super national competitions, according to the National Tractor Pullers Association.
Bowling Green is considered a super national competition.
Tractor pulling or “power pulling” is a motorsport competition that finds itself popular in the United States and Europe, specifically in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. Although tractor pulling takes on many forms within these different regions, tractor pulling is known as the “world’s most powerful motorsport” due to the modified engines.
Each modified engine attached to the respective tractor or truck is categorized into a weight classes. The classes are: Two-wheel-drive truck class, super stock, pro-stock and mini-modified.
The 2WD truck class was introduced in 1983, which has strict restrictions on weight-limits and how the trucks are modified.
The National Championships are promoted by the Northwestern Ohio Pullers Association, according to the Pulltown USA website. In 1962, the first speed pull was introduced at the Wood County Fairground. In 1967, it “[was] marked the first year for the National Tractor Pull in Bowling Green…”
The goal for the owners of these modified tractors and trucks is to pull over the 300-yard line.
Jeff Hobbs, spokesman for the National Tractor Pullers Association, said the term for pulling past 320-yards is called “Full Pull.”
The top pullers who reach “Full Pull” will compete in a “pull off” for their competitive class, he said.
Even though the culture tends to be carefree and casual, Hobbs said that there could be accidents.
“A lot of these engines are running off of ethanol so when there are accidents, it can be a potentially dangerous decision,” he said. “Last year we had a guy that bought a brand new fire suit and a [tractor] blew … You know, you can only use one of those once. [It] saved his life though.”
The results of the 2015 Tractor Pull Championship are first place in the following categories: Steve Bunnage “Takes A Lickin” with 223.92 yards in the 7,500-Pound modified, Nick Skaar “Screamin Norwegian” with 247.19 yards in the 9,300-Pound super farm tractor, Joey Frasure “Runnin Block” with 242.58 yards in the 6,200-Pound 2WD Super Modified, Travis Schlback “Bone Twister” with 235.64 yards in the 8,200-Pound super stock, Neil Gettinger “Lessons Learned” with 219.16 yards in the 8,000 super stock and Nathan Babler “The Haymaker” with 242.46 in the 10,200-Pound pro-stock tractor.
