The fairgrounds in Quyon were packed with hundreds of spectators on Saturday afternoon for the Quyon Truck and Tractor Pull.
Kerry Lynn O’Connell, one of the organizers, said that she was pleased with the turnout, noting they were expecting around 1,500 attendees.
“This looks like a great crowd, the weather’s fantastic, we pushed the time back hoping the weather would cooperate with us, and the heat not be so bad with this heat wave,” she said.
O’Connell added that the committee of around 10 works to organize the event, but they also rely on a small army of volunteers that help keep the day running.
She said that historically there had been a pull in Quyon back in the ‘80s and ‘90s that was very popular, and their committee worked to revive the event for the benefit of the community.
“A lot of us have connections in the pulling world and we wanted to bring it back to our town because it brings people to the town, it helps the local business and puts the town on the map again,” she said.
Jeff Cochrane of Great Lakes Premier Pulling, which helped put on the event, explained that they had connections with some of the organizers of the Quyon pull, who have attended their events in central Ontario in the past. He said he was proud to help out with the event.
“The guys just decided to come down and support them in their event. Just bring some new iron down here and hope for the future.”
Barbara Cochrane was racing her Super Modified two-wheel-drive truck ‘Walk the Line’, an enormous grey machine with a monstrous supercharged engine. An accomplished puller, Cochrane said she had travelled down to Louisville, Kentucky for the National Farm Machinery Show, where she placed fifth last year and second the year before.
“It was quite an accomplishment for someone from Canada to go down,” she said. “It’s the World Series of pulls, it’s the best of the best.”
Cochrane ended up winning the Quyon pull’s Super Modified 2WD division. She said that she got into pulling because of her husband.
“You can only go around for so long before you go, ‘Hey, I want to try that,’” she said, adding that there’s a lot more to learn than just jamming your foot on the gas. She said what keeps her coming back is the incredible pulling community.
“We all go around and do cookouts and stuff like that, it’s a big family really,” she said. “We’re competitors on the track but it’s’ our way of life, this is what we do.”
The day’s winners were Mel Smallman in the Street Gas Trucks (7,000 lbs) division, Ian Legault in the Street Diesel (8,500 lbs) division, Nicholas Ladouceur in the Modified Diesel Trucks (8,200 lbs) division, Curtis Shea with “The Mistress” in the 2WD Modified Trucks (6,200 lbs) division, Jeff Hannaberry with “Wiskey bent and Hell bound” in the Single Engine Modified division, Dwayne Newans with “Wild Thing” Modified 4X4 Trucks division, Jody Langton with “Bits and Pieces” in the Modified Light Tractors (8,500 lbs) division, Jody Langton with “Binder Bait” in the Modified Heavy Tractors (10,500 lbs) division, and Barb Cochrane with “Walk the Line” in the Super Modified 2WD division.
