(Photos by David Whealon) – We’re back with our second and final batch of NTPA pulling action photos from the North Carolina State Fair from our talented contributor David Whealon. In this load of photos you’ll see everything from turbine powered tractors, to machines with hemi engines stacked up like cord wood, to 2WD competitors smashing back to Earth and turning their front end components into expensive scrap. The violence at a pull isn’t simply limited to the engine explosion stuff as evidenced by the photo below. Especially in the 2WD classes, where it is imperative to get all the weight of the vehicle on the rear tires for maximum traction, the front ends are pretty far up in the air. If something happens to drastically reduce the forward progress of the pulling vehicle in a short amount of time, BAM….tires meet the ground hard and the impact is rough stuff on the driver and the parts. The old C-cab truck below is eating it big time. Note how the driver has been thrown forward and all.

We love the photos of the turbine tractors as well. Here in the US pulling scene, we don’t see the wild aircraft and tank engines that guys use over in Europe as much (or at all?) but we do still see some turbine tractors out there. We love the fact that there’s a tractor with one and another tractor with a pair of turbines trying to get it done here. It shows that there’s still the drive to build a better mouse trap out there and as long as that drive resides among competitors, the motorsports world, pulling and all, will continue to advance.

This was one heck of a night at the pulls. If you liked yesterday’s action photos, wait until you see these!