New Iron from Familiar Faces Debuts at the Last Dance.

New Iron from Familiar Faces Debuts at the Last Dance.

New Iron. Familiar Faces. Debuting at the Last Dance. 


This past weekend the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pulling Association wrapped up its national level points series. This concluded all three major sanctioning bodies’ points races for the 2024 season. It was the last dance, and the boys of summer put them back on the trailers for the final time. It was a bittersweet feeling. Congratulations go out to all the winners from Lufkin, Texas. I would especially like to tip my cap to Cameron Neaves, Skyler Leeper, Cody Yarick, and Richard Morris for wrapping up the points titles in their separate classes this weekend. Tie a bow on it. Seal it with a stamp. The season is over. 


And yet, even on the last day of the pulling year, there was something new. Something fresh. A sense of beginning and optimism to light our fires and give us the hope we need to get us through a long pulling-less winter. We were treated to not one, but two brand new vehicles. A pair of modifieds rolled to the starting line on the back to back nights of pulling, and we as fans were treated to an absolute spectacle. The discussion forums and internet chat boards will be alight for months to come debating the what-ifs and what-will-bes of these two new modified Outlaw machines. Their unveilings were as different as the machines themselves. Let’s talk about it. 


 Doug Voth and Don Nelson, both of the great state of Texas, decided their home Lone-Star locale would be the proper province to pull back the curtains on their new vehicles. However, the two went about it in very different ways, and showed us two very different pieces of iron. Doug Voth, the pilot of the Rolls-Royce V-12 powered machine he calls Griffon Growl has been very public with his rebuild via social media throughout the whole year. His goal was simple in theory, and lofty in practice. It was his mission to remove the factory, gear-driven supercharger off his monster power plant, and replace it with twin turbochargers. He posted pictures. He commented on podcasts. We had an up to the hour parts count on how close this machine was to being ready. At approximately 5:30 AM, the day of the pull, Doug and crew tightened the last bolt, and polished the last nut. 


Folks, I’ll admit something to you. Sometimes in pulling I truly couldn't care less about performance. Sometimes I just look at a vehicle in awe. The picture hit the internet and the world may have a new favorite mod. You see, while Mr. Voth was very public that he was redoing his mod, he didn’t inform us it would be a whole-scale remodel. Blacked out fenders. Blacked out wheels. Mean fighter pilot shark-tooth graphics. But let’s talk about the turbos. Let’s talk about the headers! Multiple exhausts per side snake and slither to a single gathering point (it does have to spin some fins after all), in a combination that evokes likenings to Ken Veney’s Funny Little Farmall. Exception. They pipe into two massive turbos returning droves of air on the intake side. All solid black. All mean. All awesome. He hooked to the sled and made two perfect A to B passes on back to back nights. He’s got the data. He’s got the looks. Next year, he’ll have the wins to go with it. The Griffon Growl lives again. 


Texas Bullwhip Motorsports. You sneaky, sneaky folks. Unlike Doug Voth who, as mentioned earlier, was very public with his new iron, legendary Don Nelson took a different path. Now, the rumors and hints were there. Modern Machine posted a picture of a purple-framed vehicle that would be hitting the circuit sometime. People surmised, but not one knew. Last Friday night all things were made official. Don Nelson has a third modified. Reread that sentence and let it sink in. With a bit of a smoke and mirrors trick, Don Kept us all waiting on the return of his tried and true tractor, the Texas Bullwhip machine. Which did in fact return to the circuit toward the latter parts of this season. However, it was a full eye-brow raising moment when he showed the world that he will now have three modifieds. Let’s talk about it. He opted to take the route of his Twisted Whip mod, as this one is a twin 14-71 supercharged hemi driven machine. No DT-466 on alcohol or other such unique approach. The message is clear on this one. We are here to win. No graphics on the side yet. No name bestowed. Just a plain work clothes machine with a pair of brand new full blown engines on the front. Right out of the gate, this mod let its performance do the talking. It grabbed a 6th place finish on Friday night and a 3rd place finish on Saturday. Each night, Don drove this brand new machine to a higher finishing position than either of his other two. My exact words after his Saturday night pass, “That thing is going to be a hotrod.” Modified world, you have officially been warned. 


The very astute online have also been quick to point out, this machine is set up to be able to run more than just twin power plants out front. Is there something to be inferred here? Do we now have the potential to see more Outlaw mods at the National Farm Machinery Show? Is Don taking a page out of Cameron Neave’s playbook? 


Time will tell. Two new modifieds hit the circuit from Texas as all eyes in pulling were on the Lone Star State this weekend. I tip my hat to you gentleman. We can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring to the table. 


Green Flags and Tight Chains. 

Pullin’ is fun.

 

Michael Eitel 

Social Media Engagement Specialist

Beer Money Pulling Team 

660.342.0206\

michael.eitel.bevier@gmail.com


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