GREENVILLE — Smoke filled the air, and engines thundered across two tracks Tuesday night as the National Tractor Pullers Association brought its Regional National Tractor Pull to the Great Darke County Fair before one of the event’s largest crowds.
The grandstands were well filled, while every available bleacher seat in the infield was filled as truck and tractor pulling fans turned out for a night of national-level competition.
A total of 85 hooks competed across eight classes, an increase from the six classes traditionally featured at the fair’s NTPA event.
Longtime NTPA trackside announcer Alan Washburn said Darke County has become one of his favorite stops on the late-summer pulling schedule.
“Darke County is probably one of my favorite spots for late-summer competition,” Washburn said. “There’s always a lot going on here, and some of the best food you’ll find at any county fair in the country is here in Darke County.”
The turnout of competitors was apparent well before the first tractor or truck hooked to the sled.
“It’s wall to wall,” Washburn said while looking over the staging area. “The track is parked full of competitors. It was quite an evening.”
Just days earlier, heavy rain had created difficult conditions around the Great Darke County Fairgrounds. By Tuesday, sunshine had helped turn conditions around, allowing the pulling crew to prepare the two tracks for competition.
“We’ve been blessed with good weather,” Washburn said. “This is one of those things that has to be right. It needs to be sunshine and a little bit of a breeze. We didn’t get any breeze today, but that’s OK. We had the sunshine.”
Washburn praised the Darke County Tractor Pullers Association and its track crew for preparing the pulling surface.
“This track is in great, great shape,” Washburn said. “It took everything that they brought tonight. I told a couple of them, ‘Bring your A game. You’re going to need it.’”
Washburn said successful track preparation involves more than simply wetting the surface.
“This group that I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the years, they know what they’re doing,” he said. “They understand the dirt, and they understand that you don’t build a track by putting water on it. You build a track by putting water in it, and that’s the difference.”
Darke County Tractor Pullers trackside announcer Keith Hurst also called the night a success.
“Excellent pull tonight,” Hurst said. “I think it’s probably one of the largest number of entries we’ve had. This year we went to eight classes from what we always did with six.”
Hurst credited the combination of competitors, spectators and volunteers for making the event successful.
“Good crowd, good track, good participation from everybody and, as always, good help from the Darke County Tractor Pullers,” Hurst said.
The size of the crowd matched the strong turnout of competitors. Every infield bleacher seat was occupied, while spectators filled the grandstands overlooking the two pulling tracks.
“It’s probably one of the biggest shows that I think I have ever seen in my 27 years of living here in Darke County,” Hurst said.
Local competitors also gave Darke County fans something to cheer about.
The Laux family delivered one of the night’s highlights by finishing first and second in the Light Pro Stock class, putting two family entries at the top of the class.
The Regional National event followed Monday night’s Darke County Tractor Pullers Association program, which featured 178 hooks and helped set the stage for Tuesday’s national-level competition.
With 85 NTPA hooks, eight classes, packed grandstands and a full infield, the Tuesday night pull capped two consecutive nights of tractor and truck pulling action at the Great Darke County Fair.
