(Words and photos by David Whealon) – It’s the middle of October and here in North Carolina it’s NC State Fair time!! So what do we do? Load up the wife and kids and stop by the ATM and partially drain your life savings then and head over to the NC State Fairgrounds and try to find yourself a place to park within a mile of the biggest festival of year. And when you get tired of the kids dragging you all over the place from one ride to the next and when you had your fill of all of the gastrointestinal nightmares such as Deep Fried Jalapeño Pimento Cheese and Bacon Hushpuppies with Sriracha Bang Bang Dipping Sauce or Deep-Fried Peanut Butter Pickles it’s time to take a break. The best place at the fair for this, if you can find a seat, is the Sam Rand Grandstand for the best show on the midway.
For the first weekend of fair week the UPOC / NTPA puts on The Southern Showdown Truck and Tractor Pull which is one of the best tractor pulls in the southeast and the last hook of the season for the respective organizations. While the NTPA Grand National Champions have been crowned earlier in the season the UPOC champs have still yet to settle their championships. By invitation only the Grand National pullers show up to spar it out with our Region 4 regulars. You have a choice of four sessions in three days featuring eight different classes and every session is well worth the extra 10 bucks for the few hours of sanctuary from the tens of thousands of folks that attend the fair on a daily basis.
The kick butt action is non-stop with the Mini Rods on Friday night and multi engine Modifieds on Sunday afternoon bookending the Super Farms, Two Wheel Drive Trucks, Lt Pro Stock Tractors, Four Wheel Drive Trucks, Super Stock Tractors, and Lt Four Wheel Drive Trucks. All classes had a chance at two sessions each to claim the hardware.
With John Strickland from Galot Motorsports taking the win in both sessions of Super Stock and Ron Beasley doing the same in Lt Pro Stock our regular Region 4 pullers proudly kept those trophies here in their home state. As well for Ken McDonald in claiming the hardware for one Super Farm win. Other winning Region 4 regulars were Stephen Walker in Lt Four Wheel Drive, Michael Simmons in Mini Rod and Allen Brown Sr. in Two Wheel Drive. For the complete results you can check it out at www.ntpapull.com
So if you are in the mood for an October road trip this is one pull you don’t want to miss. Oh yeah and by the way the fair is in town as well.
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