Tractor races

[Branch]

The Great Temecula Tractor Race was held this last weekend. More information and pictures are available at www.tractorrace.com. This was the 26th year for the races and maybe the last time they'll be held. The yuppies are moving into this area and don't support the heritage. But if you like tractors and mud I can't imagine having more fun than these races.
This first picture is of Bob Morris's 1919 Dodge Brothers car, converteted to a tractor during the depression. It's being towed behind a Dodge Brothers fire truck.

These pictures were taken with my video camera and a Snappy picture grabber. The quality ain't great but hopefully you enjoy them.

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This is a better shot of his race tractor. Very high tech. He announced in the news paper that he was flying out specialists to work on the fuel injection system. Part of the fun for these races are the wild statements bantered back and forth among the contestants.

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There aren't any brakes so it was modified to use the same setup as the coasters we built as kids. I hope you can see the big lever on the side that you push forward, which pushes pads against both rear tires to drag it to a stop.

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These markings are on the side of the firewall cowling. they show the race date, and name of the person who broke their arm stopping this thing. He drives and a person sits behind him to work the brakes.

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Here are a couple of the regular tactors and some women drivers. The airfoil on top says "HOW'S MY DRIVING- CALL 1-800-TOPFUEL"

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I don't know if you want to see more of this stuff, but here's a good one of an old timer.

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And hitting the water.

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[cstocks]

Never been to tractor races before. How fast do you reckon those souped up tractors go?

 

[Thomas]

Now that looks like fun /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif also New Hampshire dirt roads in early spring time. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Branch]

It's all really a joke. The course is probably 1/4 mile in total and it has 2 water pits they pass thru during 2 laps of racing. Speeds range from the tractors at maybe 6-7 miles an hour to the modifieds that might hit 45 or so. Here's a picture of "Nut'n under the Hood". A special built "tractor" with a big block chevy mid frame. He's one of the fastest. They purposely make the course so you can't get going too fast. Plus the water is 1-2 feet deep with some 2-3 foot ruts, that brings everybody to a crawl. In fact a 7 mph tractor will quite often beat a 45mph competitor because the tractor will catch and then pass the faster vehicle when it gets stuck. The tow vehicles stay very busy pulling people out of the water.

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[Branch]

Here's what happens when they hit the water. The truck to the left is the 454 Chevy racing a Model A to the right. Notice who's winning. In a 2 lap race quite often a tractor can be a lap down and still win because the lead vehicle couldn't get thru the water in a reasonable time. Every imaginable kind of tractor is raced from lawn tractors to purpose built stuff. Everyone wants to win but more importantly it's just for fun. You will be dripping with mud at the end of the race no matter what and no one cleans up. Your supposed to stay muddy for the days events. If you go to the www.tractorrace.com web site and read the rules you'll see that you could race your tractor, your pickup, or any peice of junk you throw together. In fact there are a lot of old pickups with a hay bales tied on in back that run the course. I think the rules just say it has to be some kind of farm vehicle and thats a real loose description.

Branch