High-Gear Hag’s History. Terry Terrorizes other Trucks from the Start.
High-Gear Hag’s History. Terry Terrorizes other Trucks from the Start.
Between the 1994 and 1995 seasons, up and coming mid-Missouri Modified Four Wheel Drive Truck puller Terry Hagedorn was at a crossroads in his career. He had felt most of the success there was to feel at the regional level. His ambitions, horsepower expenses, and first place purses were in a bit of a disagreement with each other. The choice became clear. It was time to chase national level compensation.
Continuing to weigh his options for where the 1995 season would take him, Terry saw that the National Tractor Pullers Association had roughly ten Modified Four Wheel Drive Trucks registered in a pre-committed role, which left them about two shy of their desired dozen. This seemed like a self-explanatory match made in heaven. They needed a truck. He needed to play in a bigger sandbox. Plane tickets were booked, and it was off to the winter meetings.
Now, if there is one thing any good story, and all great competitors need, it is just the right amount of motivation. The proper catalyst to propel our main character to accomplish great feats. It was at his first off season NTPA gathering that Terry found just such a push. While filing his paperwork, and setting everything in order Terry was met with a little screening. They didn’t know who he was, and informed him that they don’t just let any ol’ truck pull. Afterall, this is the NTPA Grand National Circuit. The forefather of all modern pulling. In that moment Mr. Hagedorn resolved to bridge this gap in the simplest way possible. I’ll just go out there and win the whole thing, he thought to himself.
Four hooks into his rookie campaign on the national level circuit, Terry found himself with four wins, including a sweep at the Budweiser Dairyland Super Nationals in Tomah, Wisconsin. At this point, people were recognizing who Terry Hagedorn was. By season’s end, they resoundingly knew who he was. At the awards banquet before him Terry found himself holding a points title for his class, a Rookie of the Year Award, and a Puller of the Year Award.
For those who have followed “High-Gear Hag” as he came to be known, are much familiar that this was just phase one of the story, fast forward twenty pulling seasons later and let’s take assessment of just how much Terry has terrorized all the other trucks over the years. He has won eleven national level points championships, including the most recent to the claim, his 2024 campaign with Pro Pulling League. He is believed to be the only competitor to have won a points championship in all four “modern” national level leagues of pulling (NTPA, Outlaw, ATPA, and PPL). He has taken multiple trips to the National Farm Machinery Show. He has lost count of his total victories, but estimates them to be in the triple digits.
As much as anything, Terry prides himself on his engine building skills. That is the heart of where all motorsports perform after-all. One thing Mr. Mountain Motor himself likes to do in this labor of love is to bestow a name to each of his new creations and prototypes. As we try to wrap our minds around everything that has happened with Terry in his illustrious career, I can’t help but think of the names of his two most recent power plants: “Game Changer” and “Game Over.” What’s happened between 1995, and 2024 in the world of modified four wheel drive truck pulling? Folks, I think it’s pretty obvious we have been in the presence of a game changer.
Which leaves us with only one question? What do fans and competitors have to look forward to from Terry’s stable next season? What will we be treated to seeing, and what are we up against? I don’t anticipate High-Gear Hag to back down. He will let the truck do the talking.
Game Over.
