ATPA Winter Nationals 2001 (originally posted on 2-9-01)

Published October 28, 2008 05:02AM, by Jake MorganViewed: 3710 times

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(originally posted on 2-9-01)

After approximately 4 months off from tractor pulling, and one weekend before the Superbowl it was about the perfect time to see some trucks and tractors go down the track. Luckily the ATPA added a pull to their schedule that rivaled the NFMS. I’ll be the first to admit that the National Farm Machinery Show is one of the premier pulls of the year and the ATPA Winter Nationals will undoubtedly be compared to the NFMS pull and I think it’s a fair comparison.

For those of you who didn’t attend the event, you missed a great show. I would encourage everyone who bought tickets this season to get them early for next year’s event. There were numerous empty seats on Sunday, and a few on Saturday, but I wouldn’t expect any empty seats or easy tickets next season.

The caliber of trucks and tractors at the event was second to none for most classes. The Unlimited Superstocks were some of the best tractors from around the country. Almost every brand was represented, but the top 3 were IH Red. Arnie Kwiatkowski had the Wild Thing running strong with the new 3-charger setup. The 2-charger setup of the past is gone, and Arnie is back behind the wheel, and he picked up right where he left off, winning. Slowride made a strong pass for second place, but it wasn’t the characteristic wheel stand pass he usually makes. Sid Broughton made his way onto the podium with a strong showing for third place, unfortunately the tractor detonated after his run. One other run of note went to Mark Clifton, the tractor ran great and hooked to the track as well as I’ve ever seen it and it was good enough for 5th place.

The Mods had the ATPA’s finest, and while there were a few strong running Mods not invited because they didn’t pull at any ATPA events, the win still went to, in my opinion, the strongest 4-engine mod in country Bill Leischner. The Dirtslinger shook the building like no other vehicle. His win came as no surprise; it was just a question of who would finish right behind him. Joe Eder’s Chevy’s were gone and Arias power got him into the number 2 position. Don Nelson made a strong pass on his new Long DT 466/2-Chevy Mod. When the bugs get worked out it should be a strong running tractor.

Perennial top diesel puller Tom Dickerson took the win in the Heavy Superstock class with a picture perfect run. Ken Hale made a great pass, but fell 6 feet short of forcing a pulloff. Tough luck went to 2 of the top New York pullers, Henry Everman, and Hans Boxler. Hans Boxler had a nice pass going until a lot of metal and a lot of oil found its way onto the track prematurely ending his strong run. Henry Everman had problems of a different sort. He had a great pass going, and was probably headed for the 300 ft line with the speed he had, but his smoke stack had different ideas and disconnected bringing out the red flag and ending his run.

No real surprises in the National 2wd truck class, Simon’s, Long’s, Walsh, and Sullivan were all at the top of the class. I’ll be the first to admit that I really enjoyed seeing 2wd trucks that actually look like trucks. This class came down to driving and track reading. Dan Walsh did it best this night and went home with the win. Roger Simon wound up 2nd and 4th and put on a great show as usual.

The 4wd Truck class had vehicles from all over the country, including California and Wyoming. I don’t get to see this class too much in my part of the country but they put on a great show. It was a great class and the competition seemed much closer than the distances indicated. Darrell Varner had a beautiful hook and had a ton of speed and was the only driver to make it to the fullpull mark. Galen Young and Jim Mootz were no surprise to see in the top 5.

The Superfarm class had its share of variety as well; in addition to the Deere and IH there was a Massey, and a Minnie Mo. But it was the IH Superfarm of Ryan Salenbien winning by the closest margin of the weekend. Salenbien won by 2/10 of a foot over the John Deere of Bob Gray. I was looking forward to seeing the Pro Pain tractor of Mark Colberg run, but unfortunately mechanical difficulties cut his run short. One tractor of note in this class is the Super Hick of David Batliner. If you get the chance to see this tractor in the pits, take a close look. In my personal opinion it is the cleanest vehicle in any class that I have ever seen. Every detail on the tractor is well though out, and the craftsmanship is second to none. It’s the little details that let this Massey stand out in a crowd. With that kind of craftsmanship, attention to detail, and commitment, it’s only a matter of time until they’re running at the top of the class.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a perfect event, and the Winter Nationals were not with out their problems. The Prostocks seemed to suffer the most from the minor problem of the weekend, the smoke tube. As usual at an indoor event the smoke tube broke. The tube was “fixed” and the pull continued. It only took one more hook by Jeff Rapp and One Bad Apple to finish off the smoke tube. After his run the tube was shredded and the rest of the class was canceled. It’s unfortunate because it’s one of the most competitive classes there is.

The pull most go on, and the Regional 2wd Trucks were up next. This class had a little bit of everything, open bodied, and truck bodied from a Packard to my favorite body style, the 68 International of Dan McDonald. The competition was great, and when it was all done 2 trucks with Sassy engines were in the 1 and 2 spots. Steve Jacks and T.J. Tatum showed the crowd that they could get the horsepower from the Brian Knox Sassy engines to the ground.

While the 2wd trucks ran the track crew worked hard to fix the smoke tube for the light Superstocks. After some work the tube was “fixed” again but it was a little shorter than before so the track was shortened up. "Variety" is the key word for the Light Superstocks, numerous makes (IH, JD, Case, Allis, and even a Cockshutt) and models, but most importantly both fuels. Unfortunately some breakage took out a few of the top running alcohol tractors however, Kevin Lynn Showed that it’s getting pretty tough for a diesel Superstock (let alone any one else) to keep up with a 500 CID alcohol motor. Brent Long showed why he’s become one of the premier Alcohol engine builders in the Superstock class, his single charger 686 screamed it’s way to a 2nd place finish. Randy Reetz mad a strong pass and pulled into 3rd place, while Ivan Carroll’s little Cockshutt squeezed past Larry Phillips making it alcohol for the top 4 places. The smoke tube reared it head one last time in this class and completely came apart. The 2 remaining diesel tractors, Allen Moore and Randy Payne, were moved to the end of the class. They finished the alcohol tractors and let the 2 diesels run without the smoke stacks. The air quality got pretty bad, and it got pretty hazy, but there’s just something about the diesel smoke blowing into the rafters that put a perfect end to a great tractor pull. (I’m sure the fire marshal was glad it was over too). I bolted for the door and fresh air as Payne's Guesswork tires came to rest.

Unfortunately the Semi class was also canceled because there was little left of the smoke tube.

I applaud the ATPA for inviting the pullers who have supported them over the past few seasons. All the pullers that were invited were either strong supporters of the ATPA or one of its member states last season, or in the previous seasons.

This pull is the perfect venue to encourage other pullers to attend ATPA events next summer. The ATPA could use this pull as a “recruiting event.” Pullers who have previously not been ATPA supporters may attend numerous ATPA events in the summer with the hopes of receiving an invite to a premier winter event. I talked with a few pullers who weren’t invited, and they mentioned that they are going to try and make a few Grand American events next season.

With the facility reserved for the next few winters the ATPA has started a great new winter pulling tradition, and I would expect tickets to go fast next winter, if there are any left by winter that is.

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Jake Morgan
Owner, PULLOFF.COM
Independent Pulling News

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