David Whealon, our resident drag race, road race, and tractor pull photographer was at it again for his annual pilgrimage to the North Carolina State Fair, where the National Tractor Pullers Association puts on their final show of the season. Below is his write-up and his photos, and we’ll have even more as we go through the week!

(Words and Photos by David Whealon) Well, we’re back on our yearly stop at the NC State Fair with some of the best NTPA pullers in the country showing up for their final exhibition of the 2022 season. The four-session, three-day event was packed slam full with competitors pulling in nine classes with two chances at the hook of go or blow nonstop action.

For some it’s probably a good thing that they have all winter to pick up the busted parts and pieces and do what every racer is committed to do in the long offseason……get stronger for the next upcoming season. This show did not fail to disappoint any of the diehard pullin’ fans that took a break from all the excessive revelry that they experience while attending “The Fair”. One cool point of this type of show at the fairgrounds is the diversity of the crowd in attendance. You got your folks that avidly follow the sport and call the drivers by their first names. And the ones that root for the brand name tractors which probably cheer the loudest when that Green or Red tractor gets the call from announcer Bert Forbes of “FULL PULL!!!!!”

One side note to this, I’ve never heard the crowd response as deafening as when female Mini-Rod puller, Strykersville, New York’s Mary Kehl took her Saturday night hook for the weekend sweep in the Mini Modified Class.

And then there are the curious ones that heard all that racket and smelled that smoke from all over the fairgrounds and just wanted to see what the heck was going on over there. Most of all I didn’t see many leaving without a big grin. The State Fair is the perfect venue to attract new fans and give public recognition to an awesome form of motorsport that it so legitimately deserves.