Holy Cow Tractor Pulling Team

Friday, July 30, 2004

Hamilton, OH
Our first venture into the Buckeye State was the Butler Co fair just north of Cincinnati. Wow! What a fantastic pull. 8SS, TWD, and Mod classes, all with at least 13 vehicles. The grandstand is huge and was packed. The pits were a little cramped and getting in and out of fairgrounds in big cities is a challenge with a large vehicle, but the fair definitly puts on a nice pull. The fans definitely got their moneys worth.

The pull was run the oposite direction from last year. I was told that there was a big wet spot on what would be the starting line, so they changed the direction to allow for better hole shots. I didn't really see what they were talking about, but I will take their word for it. As usual, OSTPA track maintence is susperb and the track seemed to stay consistance for all drivers.

Right out of the gate, Chad Shultheis showed everyone what you needed to make the pulloff by blowing it out to 327' (OSTPA follows the RN 310' rule for pulloffs). A lot of tractors seemed to have problems stayed hooked and staying straight. Ed Stahl had to get out of it to stay inbounds, which was too bad because he had a nice run going. The Barga family gets the reward for the best save I have seen this year. The ran hard up against the right side line, got out of the throttle and back in staying just inches inbounds and still past the full pull mark. Brian Diekman also made a fantastic pass for a full pull, but couldn't come back in the pull off. We finsihed just shy of 300' with a textbook perfect pass. Since we changed gearing to set up for the different weight in Indiana, we didn't know how the tractor would run in Ohio, but we were quite pleased with the results. We finshed a close 4th and beat the other HSTPA tractors, so we incease our points lead to 2 in HSTPA. Between Deane, Stahl and Myself, the championship is going to be really close this year.

Barga came back in the pulloff and put 4' on Shultheis' 315 for the win. Congratulations to them on some skillfull driving. In this case the difference between 1st and last place was only a few inches.

Marion Co
Pretty poor show as far as numbers go. I think the fact that there was a huge Grand National pull in Canada pulled away quite a few vehicles. Anyway, the excitement for us started well before we got the the fairgrounds. About 5 miles north of I-465 on US 421 we tried to stop for a red light and ended passing a car on the shoulder because we lost trailer brakes. I took it easy to get to a better place to see what was wrong. Then I noticed all the smoke, so I pulled off and smoke was just rolling our from behind the right rear tire on the trailer. I look underneath and saw liquid dripping out and smokeing. I assume it was brake fluid and knew I had a spare line. So, again, cautiously, I headed down the road to find a better place to work. We stopped at a shopping center and discovered that the pistons on the brake caliper had seized and wore our the brake lining, making the rotor hot, and melting the rear oil seal on the hubs. I had a set of brake shoes with me, but no seal. So I ran off to Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of grease and greased it best I could and installed the new shoes. The process took about 2 hours. So, we show up just as the show was supposed to start, but that still gave us enought time to get ready.

I felt the track was much better this year. Last year I think was a learning year for the fairgrounds, but this year the track was pretty well prepared. The dirt was maybe not the best, but I think they did a good job given what they had to work with. Deane and I both full pulled with Stahl a close 3rd at 296. In the pulloff, I lost a blower belt at about 275, and squeeked it out to 306 on 2 motors. Deane also had bad luck and had one of his turbines overspeed and shut off about 150' and he managed a 309' finish on 2 motors as well. Not exactally the best pulloff, but pretty evenly matched.

Hopefully they will have us back next year. We really like the pull because it is close to home and they have a really nice facility, plus it is on the way to Hamilton the next day.

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Allen Co, IN (Ft Wayne)
Allen Co was voted HSTPAs pull of the year for 2003 and they expanded the show this year to 2 tracks. All of the HSTPA classes were present except Pro Stock, plus some local pickup trucks. Our class followed the FWD trucks and you just can't tell as much about the track since they don't carry the front ends. Watching the Lt Super Stocks on the other track, it looked like this might be a drivers track.

We drew test hook and choose the right side of the track where the FWD trucks had built a road. The far left side of the track was a soft spot, so it was important to ride the right line the whole way. We came out of the hole with another fantastic hole shot and just kept picking up speed. The front end bounced a couple of times, but overall a great run down to 291. Next up was Don Deane who also had a great hole shot, but just drifted a little left and got sucked into the hole at 252. Schoenemann is still on 1 motor and only managed 134. Wayne Krider was way light on the nose and went from riding the wheelie bars to slamming the nose down repeatedly. He stopped at 265. Ryan Stahl was driving Triple Trouble and had a heck of a pass going, probably the best looking one of the night, but again drifted left and got into the hole at 277. Last up was Scott Tedder. He obviously worked very hard during the day and the tractor ran much better than the night before, enough to get to 240.

This marked our first back to back wins with this tractor, and exciting day in Holy Cow history. We hope to keep the streak alive at Marion Co on Wednesday. This win also put us into the lead in HSTPA points. However, only 2 points sepperate the top 3 tractors and with only 4 competitors running four points, it is very difficult to build a lead, especially since each tractor is capable of, and has already this year, won an event.

Saturday, July 24, 2004

Noblesville, IN
Finally, our first win in a year and a half. Only 5 mods showed up, but they were all strong and capable of winning. First up was Scott Tedder in his first HSTPA apprearance with his new triple hemi powered "Triple Twister." We was very nose heavy and was having problems with the front motor. The tractor never really hooked up. Despite having problems, they lightened the sled, making me the test puller. I choose the left side of the track and had a great hole shot, accelerating hard off the line. Since I got off to a nice start, I thought I would take the scenic route and went from the left side to the right side and back, bouncing the front end all the while. I was a rough ride, but I stayed hooked to the track. Right at the end, I broke a blower belt, but it didn't matter at the point. Next was Ed Stahl. He had a much better looking run as far as straightness and bouncing, but never got the hole shot. Ditto for Wayne Krider and Don Deane. Finally, Scott Tedder came back and still seemed to be having fueling problems only making it 1/2 track or so. It will take a few more runs to sort things out, but he will be a respectable force in short time.

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Frankfort, IN
Great weather for a HSTPA pull for a change. This pull would be mark the first time that the new modified rules would be tested and the Barga's Judge showed up. They drew test hook and didn't make it past the 250' mark. The tractor was nose heavy and the sled was probably a little heavy. The class was reset, sled lightened up a little and Barga dropped to the end. Ed Stahl made a good looking pass. Next was Don Deane who was all over the track but ended up out of bounds at the 318' mark. Tractor pulling is like Football in that you can't cross the sidelines, until you cross the 300' mark. We didn't know where he ended up at that point. We pulled next and were a little nose heavy but made a nice straight pass and only missed a full pull by 1' 2". Wayne Krider made the first pass on his new tractor and made the best looking pass I have seen in a long time out of him. At first glance, the new chassis seems to have fixed his bouncing problem from last season. He finished just a bit behind Stahl. Schoenemann was still waiting on motors and finished way back with his single engine. Finally Barga made another pass. This pass was very good looking and they just squeeked it out for a full pull, but hurt a battery starting it, and we unable to come back in the pull off. We learned that Don Deane did cross the sideline after the 300' mark, so he bumped the sled for a win, followed by Barga, Piekarski, Stahl, and Krider.

At first glance, it looks like rule changes in the mod class implemented by HSTPA are pretty close. Both Barga and I were working with a new combination of drawbar and weight and can still dial it better. Deane was out in front, but not unreachable. Obviously, you can't tell how the season will go based on a single pull, but it looks like a step in the right direction.

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