They went far into the night, but they gave the 2021 edition of the Knox County Fair a great sendoff last Saturday. The OSTPA truck and tractor pull closed out fair week’s final night with a packed grandstand area on both sides of the track. They came to watch and cheer for the pullers, who came from near and far.
Dustin Beheler, the Knox County Fair board president, won the modified four-wheel drive truck class, with a 346.990-foot pull in his truck, which he named "Digging Deep." It's his fourth win of the year, and he maintains his No. 1 spot in his class in the OSTPA points standings with 201.
“It's great to win at your hometown fair,” Beheler said. “It doesn't happen every day.”
Between pulling and his duties with the fair board, Beheler doesn’t get much sleep, but it’s worth it.
“I like to see the crowd,” Beheler said. “That's what we're here for: to bring a crowd in and provide entertainment for the community and the county and to try to put on the best fair we can.”
He even shared the secret to making a good pull.
“You've just got to be smooth,” Beheler said. “You've got to take your time and water right. It takes a while.”
Austin Berry, from nearby Warsaw, was first in the racing modifieds class. His winning pull of 394.076 feet in his "International Salvation" almost didn’t happen.
“I got out there and I got 50 feet,” Berry said. “Then my throttle cable broke. Fortunately, they let me fix it here on the track. Then I was able to make a pass. It was the answer to a prayer. Amen.”
His dragster-looking tractor, powered with a pair of hemis, made the longest pull of any class and maintained his lead in the OSTPA standings with 101 points.
“The track was still a little hard, tonight, and a little dry, but we were still able to put a little power down,” Berry said.
He has been using his current tractor for three years. Before that, he was using a truck. He has been pulling since 2006.
“I really like to come here,” Berry said. “I always like this fair, since I was a kid. We only live about 30 minutes from here. Coshocton is technically my hometown fair, but this is my second hometown.”
Richard McPherson from Circleville was first in the two-wheel drive truck class, driving his "Midwest Raider." At 82 years old, McPherson was thinking that he may have made his final pull and it was a good one – 346.202 feet.
“Well, I've done this for 65 years,” McPherson said. “Really, the only reason I'm here is I got a guy who wants to buy my semi, trailer, truck and everything. He called me and said that he'd be here tonight. I hope he has cash in his hands.”
The sale, however, is still pending and McPherson, who looks like he could keep on pulling for another 10 years, placed third in Tiffin on Sunday night. Still, he is ready to call it a career.
“My wife and I farm about 2,000 acres down in Pickaway County,” McPherson said. “It's just the two of us. It's time to retire. It's time to slow down. We haven't been sick. We just want to enjoy ourselves and just have a good time.”
Other winners were Ed Johnson of Alliance in the super stock tractor class (350.578 feet); Dean Ortner of Wakeman (374.952) in pro stock tractors; Jay Ruff of Garrettsville in the light limited pro-stock tractor class (376.554); and Rob Wright of McArthur (365.554) in limited pro diesel trucks.
