Mike Wilhite was a contestant in the recent Championship Tractor Pull during the 2014 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. He drives Blue Blazes and visited with Chuck prior to the event.
Mike worked for Ford for 30 years. The the tradition didn’t start with him, his dad also worked for the company along with his two brothers. So, naturally they were drawn to New Holland’s blue. Mike is considered a local, living just 32 miles from Louisville.
“Outdoors we run a 300 foot track. In this indoor track we are confined to 240 feet. It’s an experience. You better have everything right. Your weight and gear selections right. There is a lot to it.”
A blockade of sand sits at the end of the short track incase any tractors have a little too much gas in them. Mike shared that they buried their tractor the first year they competed in the event.
Mike and his pulling team competed in about 18 hooks over the course of the season. They traveled as far as Wisconsin, down into Missouri, Tennessee and Alabama. He also expressed how great the fans were at pulls and how committed they were to the competitions.
“We’ve been messing with tractors all our lives. We always had hot rod cars and stuff like that. When my brother and I first started we bought a tractor out of New York, I guess that would have been about 20 years ago. And it has evolved into this here.”
You could tell that all the pullers were great friends and shared a family type atmosphere. But when they get to the track, it’s all business.
You can listen to the interview with Mike here: Interview with Mike Wilhite
