By Andy Furman
NKyTribune staff writer
Tractor pulling wasn’t in Wayne Sullivan’s blood growing up – actually, it was in his genes.
“I was born and raised on a farm in Warsaw, Ky.,” he told the Northern Kentucky Tribune, “And pulled tractors with my dad.”
He learned his lessons well – last weekend the 81-year-old Gallatin High School graduate, was one of nine new members inducted into The Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame.
“In was interested in drag racing when I was in high school,” he continued. “In fact, you can call me a gear head – I always worked on cars, trucks and tractors.”
But he says he really got the itch in the late ‘60s — that’s when V8 engines were installed in tractors.
“I built one,” he said, “my first in `69, and pulled it. I won that pulling contest.”
Kentucky hosts some of the premier truck and tractor pulling events in the country, highlighted by major indoor spectacles and regional competition.
Truck pulling is a motorsport where modified trucks drag a weighted metal sled along a dirt track. The driver who pulls the sled the farthest distance wins. The sled starts with its weight near the front, and as it moves, a mechanical box of weight shifts forward over the wheels, increasing the resistance and friction until the truck loses momentum.
Distance is measured down to the thousandth of an inch from the starting line to where the forward motion stops. If a truck pulls the sled all the way to the end of the track, it is a “full pull.” If multiple trucks get a full pull, a “pull-off” with a heavier sled setting decides the winner.
Drivers usually get one or two attempts per class.
The Championship Tractor Pull is held annually at Freedom Hall in Louisville during the National Farm Machinery Show. It features five action-packed performances, an invitation-only finals round with a $300,000 prize pool, and top-tier Pro Stocks, Super Stocks, Modified tractors, alcohol tractors and 2WD/4WD trucks.
The TNT Truck and Tractor Pull/Kentucky Invitational (Lexington) is hosted at the Alltech Arena inside the Kentucky Horse Park.
And the Regional and Fall Showdowens – popular regional events, like the Leitchfield Fall Showdown at the Grayson County Fairgrounds draw multiengine modified tractors, diesel trucks, and specialized classes under organizations like the Kentucky Truck and Tractor Pullers and KTPA Pulling Series.
Sullivan, the newest Hall Famer has seen – and been – to just about all of them.
“I’m probably just the fourth or fifth tractor puller in the Hall of Fame,” he proudly says.
Sullivan says he’s retired now – don’t believe him – but prior to full-time racing he started a trucking company back in the ‘60s. “We had 20 semis, and we hauled freight, and coal over the roads to power plants.”
The last 10 years, he’s been pulling tractors on the National Circuit. The season, he says, runs from May/June to early November.
“I pulled my last tractor for the season about two weeks ago,” he says, “now it’s time to rebuild motors.”
The Hall of Famer has pulled all over the United States, as well as every county fair in the Commonwealth. He’s won five National Championships; and in Freedom Hall he’s won the Farm Show title seven times.
How about winnings?
“Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he remembers, “we had sponsors like Tonka Toys and Rent A Wreck. We haven’t made much lately.”
And the travel?
“We have a semi-trailer; it really looks like a NASCAR deal, and we put the tractor on the trailer and we’re off,” he says. In fact, he plans to pull in Florida next March – he did last year.
And if you’re worried about injury, Sullivan says it’s probably one of the safest sports.
The motor is about 300 horsepower, some run on Methanol Alcohol.
“It’s the same motor as a dragster,” Sullivan said.
Here’s the difference – a dragster pulls a car that weighs about 1,500 pounds – a
tractor, says Sullivan, does about 6,000-7,000 in weight.
The National Racing Banquet is set for the first of December, and that’s when Team Sullivan will find the 17-18 different cities he’ll be pulling come 2027.
Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Michigan were some of the spots that rolled off Sullivan’s tongue.
The National Championship is locked in Bowling Green, Ohio, every August. As for crowds, Sullivan said his biggest was 75,000 in the Houston Astrodome.
“Indoor crowds are usually larger,” he says, “we usually see anywhere from 25-30,000 and the Fairgrounds crowds are about 4-5,000 on weekends.”
He hasn’t pulled at the Boone County Fair in some 10- years, he says, since he’s traveling on the National Circuit. His first-ever pull – he remembers like it was yesterday.
“The Carroll County Fair,” he immediately says.
And his first win.
“In 1971, Crittenden, Ky. at the Grant County Fairgrounds,” he said.
His best day – last week when he was inducted in the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of
Fame.
The Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame was established in 2008 to honor the state’s rich heritage, drivers, pioneers, and contributors across all realms of auto racing and
motorsports. It is in Central City, Kentucky.