Woman finds respect in world of competitive tractor pulls

TANEYTOWN, Md. (AP)--Big-block engines, turbo chargers, and plain-old raw horsepower used to be exclusively under a man's domain, but not anymore.

Nancy Weller of Taneytown has been competing against--and beating--her male counterparts in tractor-pull competitions for more than a decade.

During the Carroll County Agriculture Center Tractor and Truck Pull May 5, Weller once again challenged the men and finished third in her modified tractor competition. Like other competitors, Weller's mission was to pull a sled carrying about 35,000 pounds more than 300 feet on a packed mud surface.

With about 5,000 horsepower at her disposal, Weller said driving her modified tractor down the track is an amazing feeling but, like anyone, she still gets nervous when she competes.

"It's a rush, with the sound and the speed; the adrenaline starts flowing," Weller said. "But if I lose the butterflies and I don't respect it enough, I should get off."

All of Weller's seven-person team is from Taneytown and, even though it takes hours of work and thousands of dollars to compete, she said it's worth it to her crew.

"It's for the love of the sport and the competition that makes it worth it," Weller said. "If you win, you might break even and I won't even try to quantify the man hours involved."

She said she has come a long way since she first broke into the sport. When she started, Weller said, she felt an enormous amount of pressure.

"When my dad stopped pulling, our competitors thought they could take advantage and the only place to learn is out on the track, so I was stressed," Weller said.

Weller said the whole reason she started in tractor pulls was because of her father, Earl Howard. Howard said he was always into racing and working on engines and, little did he know, his love of horsepower would rub off onto his daughter.

"One day she just asked me if she could start driving, too," he said. "Now, she can drive as good as any male out there."

Howard said the biggest hurdle for women to conquer is getting started. "It can be hard for a woman to break into tractor pulling but, once you prove yourself, it's all the same," Howard said.

Fifteen years, several wins and two championships later, Weller said she's proven the naysayers wrong.

"I've heard lots of comments about me being a woman, but it motivates me and pushes me harder," Weller said. "I don't consider it a man's sport."

Bill Davis of Sykesville has been attending the event since it got started in the '70s, and he said with women competing, it makes the sport even better.

"It adds more interest to the sport," Davis said. "Like Danica Patrick in Indy car racing, it gives you something to holler about. It adds to the atmosphere."

8/4/08
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Date: 7/25/08

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