By Dakota Locker | The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN — The Jackson County Fairgrounds grandstands were packed on Wednesday evening for the fifth annual Phil Teipen Memorial Truck and Tractor Pull during the Jackson County Fair.
The event is part of the Battle of the Bluegrass Pulling Series.
Spots of rain showed throughout the area, but that didn’t stop fair workers from getting the track ready to go. The sun eventually came out to provide a wonderful evening in Brownstown.
“It was a normal turnout. We had a good event, and it was just another normal tractor pull night for us,” said Mark Norman, chairman of the fair’s grandstand committee. “It was a great night on the track thanks to a great turnout for the Battle of the Bluegrass Pulling Series.”
Goose Graves of Switz City driving Wild Goose Chase won the farm class, which was the first of the evening. The other classes were Light Limited Super Stock Tractors, Limited Pro Diesel 3.0 Trucks and the 9500 Hot Farm Tractors.
Darryl Whalen took first in the light limited series with his Oliver tractor named Dirty Business. He blew away the competition, winning by 22 inches.
Austin White secured the top spot in the diesel truck class with a winning pull of 315 feet. Second-place Adam Kincaid kept it close, though, falling to White by just 0.95th of an inch.
Brian Carrington took the 9500 Hot Farm Tractor Class in his Case with a pull of 321.94, edging second place by a mere 1.32 inches to claim the title. Tyler Hamilton finished second with a pull of 320.62 feet.
“The pull itself was great to be a part of,” Norman said. “The overall shape of the track got better as the night progressed. The inch of rain we received didn’t help much, but the boys were able to work the dirt and get it ready to go for us. I can’t thank them enough for the hours they put in.”
The Battle of the Bluegrass Pulling Series had around 32 tractors and trucks compete in the fair pull.
Norman, a longtime member of the Jackson County Fair Association, also spoke about Phil Alan Tiepen, who died July 14, 2018, at the age of 66 at his home in Tampico.
“Phil was a longtime supporter of our tractor and truck pulls, helping us out when needed on many occasions,” Norman said. “We decided we would continue to have the pulls in his honor.”
Teipen was a self-employed farmer and a longtime member of the Grassy Fork Township Volunteer Fire Department, which has held a tractor and truck pull and fish fry on the third weekend of June for 57 years. That event serves as a fundraising event for the fire department. Members of the fire department also come out each year and help with the pull at the fairgrounds, which is held on Wednesday night of the fair.
There are other events going on at the Jackson County Fairgrounds all week, including tonight. For the first time, monster trucks will be taking over Brownstown Speedway.
“We’re really excited to have this going on this year,” Norman said. “We’ve been really pushing it to people trying to get them to come out. We think it’s going to be a really good event, and we need to pack the house.”