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- About Me:
I've been a tractor pulling fans since I was about four or five years old. Some of my earliest memories are going to tractor pulls with my father and occasionally my grandfather. Back in those days the local circuit was the Western New York Tractor Puller Association (WNYTPA). The name has now changed to the Empire State Pullers (ESP), but some of the faces that I grew up admiring are still the same. In fact, I'm proud to admit that I've made some great friends in the sport, and some of those friends are the same ones I watched when I was just a little kid.
Infront of Mount St. Helens, Summer 2009 The Start of the Page: In 1997 I graduated from college and moved out to Colorado. My father and I had started going to more National events a few years earlier and my move incorporated our third trip to Bowling Green, with me abandoning the moving van in the motel parking lot for a few days, and my father and I going our separate ways after the event. Once I got settled in Colorado I had a couple of months of job searching and I found myself with a little spare time on my hands. I had tons of pictures from all the years of pulling, so I decided to start a pulling website to share those pictures.
The Evolution of the Page: I didn't know anything about websites, computers, or computer programming, but I didn't let that get in the way. I muddled (and continue to muddle) my way through the learning process with the goal of helping promote this motorsport, as well as, to give a good avenue to facilitate the sharing of information. The page simply started out with my Photos, some Links, Opinion page where I wrote small articles about everything and anything, and a Contact page with my email address.
Those small and simple Opinion articles gradually started to generate email. People started to send me their responses to my opinions and ideas. Sometimes people sent corrections, some times people would just write me to tell me they agreed. I decided to expand the page to include the opinions of viewers as well, and the Feedback page was born. The Feedback page was the thing that separated "The Pulloff Page" (as it was known at the time) from all the other tractor pulling webpages. It was the first tractor pulling page to give everyone a voice. I would manually cut and paste every email I got and put it on the page. It took a ton of time, but it worked well for my computer skills. Eventually that Feedback page grew into a monster and it became more cutting a pasting than I could handle. A couple of years after the Feedback page started a few other tractor pulling message boards popped up. I was reluctant at first because I wanted to keep “The Pulloff Page” family friendly, but after a couple of months I reluctantly made the change from my manual cut and paste Feedback page to a message board style Feedback page.
Somewhere around the birth of the Feedback page... my father had become friends with Mark Hootman, (through the years Mark always remembered us and always took time to say hello and ask how we were doing when he saw us walking around in the pits). One evening my father, an electrician, was helping Mark wire up a new machine tool and Mark asked if I would put his tractor on my page. Dick called and asked me, and I thought it was a great idea, and overnight I had the first free truck and tractor pulling Classifieds page with the Hooter's Scooter Alcohol Super Stock as the first ad. The free classifieds started just like the Feedback page with me cutting and pasting the email ads I got. It quickly grew and I eventually split the page into separate For Sale and Wanted pages. Over time it evolved into automated page it is today.
I bought the domain name PULLOFF.COM in early 1999 and quickly shortened the name of the page and the rest just evolved over the years.
Turning Wrenches Instead of Typing: I've moved back to Western New York in late 1999, and since that time I've had the opportunity to help design and build an Alcohol Light Super Stock from the ground up, as well as the opportunity to help with: multiple other Light and Heavy Super Stocks, a three-engine Mod, and a Two Wheel Drive Truck. It's been a fun experience and I've made some great friends through the sport over the years. My father and I still travel around to local and national pulls, and I couldn't think of a better guy to hangout with on summer days. It's not everyone who gets to share a sport and time with their father and it's been a huge blessing through the years. Thanks to Dick for all the help with the page through the years.
It's hard to believe it's been more than a decade since this all started, and I continue to be amazed at what this page has grown into. Thanks to all those who have helped out through the years either by: helping me monitor the page, or helping contribute to the page. It's not me who makes this page so successful; it's all the great people who add to the page day after day after day. I'm truly blessed to have a page with so many wonderful viewers. Thanks again to everyone for making PULLOFF.COM what it is today.
