Carroll County News: Outdoors: Smoke 'em if you've got 'em (10/02/12)

Berryville's Marty Nies takes Takin' Chances to the limits Saturday night at the Carroll County Fairgrounds as Randy Drake peeks out from the sled and Nicki High observes from the pull-back tractor.
(Trevor Tegley / CCN Contributing Photographer) [Order this photo]

BERRYVILLE -- With the rumble of the souped-up trucks and tractors at Carroll County Fairgrounds Saturday afternoon, even the adults had to have felt like kids.

The next to last stop of the year for the Spring River Pulling Association was held in Berryville with monster engines and ear-ringing decibles delighting fans of all ages. SRPA's Randy Drake, who operates the 32,000-pound sled, said the event was a success with 77 total hooks in 22 different classes.

"We had a good night," Drake said. "We have some of the best pullers in the world. They are very supportive and really try yo put on a good show for the fans."

Pulling for distance brought fans to their feet on several occasion and applause filled the air as the sounds of the engines waned after lengthy attempts. But failure was also something that got the crowd on it's feet, as entries such as Takin' Chances, driven by Berryville's Marty Nies, created both sights and sounds. Nies threw two rods during his pull but located all the pieces necessary to rebuild and reload, except one.

"He threw a couple of rods through the block," Drake said. "But you can weld those blocks back together. We looked for everything after the thing was over and he foiund all but one piece. I hate to see somebody tear up. It's a lot of money to tear something up. We have all the safety stuff out there and it's my job to make sure it's all proper and working."

SRPA continues in Freistatt, MO, this Saturday in the final event of the year.