Popham Pops up as Past Points Powerhouse
Popham Pops up as Past Points Powerhouse
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EDDIE HOLLON
Legend. It’s a term that gets utilized in pulling frequently. Fans and enthusiasts don’t need to define it. We simply hear it and names come to mind. Art Arfons. Gardner Stone. Tim Engler. Ken Veney. In all honesty there are too many to count. But we know who they are. Pulling heroes who have impacted the sport and captivated our inspiration from the time we were children to the fans we have become today. For the die-hards, rarely is there a name we won’t recognize. Regardless of association, or time period, almost all drivers, past or present, will at the very least ring a distant bell of familiarity. These are our idols, afterall.
Maybe it was out of boredom. Perhaps I have spring fever and am ready to attend a pull. I’d like to tell myself it’s because of a passion for the sport. Mostly it came from a desire to have better notes in my announcer binder. Regardless of the reason, at some point over this winter, I found myself entrenched in the self-appointed project of digitizing the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pulling points championship records and history. For all I know this is already on file somewhere. A simple phone call could have saved me hours of labor. But, I was having fun, and it was good to see things from a macro perspective. The agenda eventually became two fold: Record the points champions for every class, for each year my records dated to. And, figure out who the all-time points champion leader was. (It’s Robert Zajicek for anyone who is curious, with 14 titles to his credit.)
Even though I did not necessarily grow up with the Outlaws, the vast majority of the names I was coming across were very familiar to me. They were either great folks, and pulling friends I had met over the past three years, or, to circle back to our word of the day: legends. The top of the list was smattered with names like Robert Zajicek, Glen Frese, Matt Goodwin, SEVERAL Ulmers, and Donald Nelson. Like I said: Legends. These are names that essentially all pulling fans, regardless of age or region, have at least heard of. Here the story takes a turn. There is more to it, afterall. There was one name I did not recognize, and I truly don’t know if I should be red-faced embarrassed that he has slipped through my fingers, or if I somehow uncovered a hidden giant. Kenneth Popham checked in on the list as the third most successful Outlaw puller of all time. The man had 9 points championships with this professional level association. His career deserved my full attention.
Here is what I found out. Folks, Kenneth Popham was good. Really good. As a matter of fact, the numbers alone from the stat book almost put him at dynasty status in the early 1990’s. One of the most impressive things a pulling team can do is to win multiple points championships in the same season. Essentially there are two ways to do this. A single vehicle can cross weight classes and grab champs in multiple divisions (sans Tim Engler or Banter Brothers in the mod classes of the 80’s). Or, a team can own multiple purpose built machines, campaigning each of them simultaneously across points races in a single season. To this, Brandon and RJ Simon should come to mind, grabbing victories in multiple divisions, not limited to, but including Modified and Super Semi in 2024. The latter route is the path Kenneth Popham took. Competing in the Super Modified Two Wheel Drive class, the Modified class, and the Modified Four Wheel Drive class at most, if not all times, Kennth grabbed multiple points championships with the Outlaws between 1991 and 1996. 1991 and 1995 were great seasons where he grabbed two titles apiece (mod and two wheeler in ‘91 and two wheeler and four wheeler in ‘95). However it appears 1992 was his cornerstone year, winning the triple crown, a clean sweep, grabbing points championships in all three classes. Keep in mind, these would have been the only V8 classes campaigned by the Outlaws at the time, making this a true hat trick.
This was the story that was simply told by the data. One can deduce the man was a stud, just by looking at a couple sheets of paper. But I still had no idea who he was. What were his vehicles called? Where was he from? What was his story? Some quick internet searches gave me very little in the way of photographs, but, then again, I didn’t entirely know what I was looking for. I was able to finally track down some videos of him pulling in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My gut told me this was a man from the Southwest. Time to make some phone calls.
Two calls later from some very credible sources, nobody likes a name dropper, but I assure you my colleagues from west Texas and Oklohama know a LOT about pulling, and I was able to begin putting the pieces together. Kenneth Popham was a notable dairy farmer, from Floresville, Texas. He campaigned not three, but actually four pulling vehicles. A twin engine Modified called Outlaw; a Modified Four Wheel Drive truck called Milky Way; a Super Modified Two Wheel Drive dubbed Fast Forward, as well as an Economod named Moo Juice. My ears really perked up when I heard the name “Janke” come across the phone waves. These vehicles were some of those absolute monsters out of the Jerry Janke motor builder stable in the early 1990’s. Unintentionally I immediately had childhood flashbacks to my boyhood favorite truck The Yellow Rose of Texas campaigned by Manuel Moreno. Same motor builder. Same area. Same level of awesome. Yup, Kenneth Popham was a stud.
It was told to me that he preferred the best of the best when it came to power plants on his equipment, and that he wasn’t afraid to drive them as a champion should. Now that I knew more precisely what I was after I was able to track down further video evidence, where I watched a very young Kenneth Popham win in the Houston Astrodome on his Outlaw Modified in 1987. He drove it fast, and his horsepower superiority was evident. Mashing the right brake, for the majority of the run as his tractor drifted left, those Janke motors never broke a sweat, and simply carried the Decision Maker sled out the back door.
I am not an expert, nor am I vain enough to think that Kenneth Popham somehow slipped through the cracks of pulling lore. I did not discover a diamond in the rough. He is, and always has been a legend in the sport. Of that I am now certain, and I feel bad that I was woefully ignorant of his prowess. But, in all honesty, that’s half the romance in this sport I love. You can never know it all. There is always a new story to tell, or a new lesson to learn. Or better yet, a reason to call your pal from McAdoo just to discuss his opinion on things. Pulling, be it the seasons yet to come, or the drivers of yesterday, brings folks together. It engages an audience in a way unlike any other past time I have found.
Kenneth Popham with his dairy inspired monicred monsters and his Janke horsepower had the Outlaws, and probably all of pulling, in a stronghold in the early 1990’s. What a fun trip to the golden era.
ADDENDUM:
Orange Machine Part II
You all thought I forgot, didn’t you? The search for the Orange Machine is coming to a bit of a melancholy conclusion. For those of you looking for the answers from last week’s article, I have some. I think we have essentially reached the end of the line, though I am not entirely closing the case just yet. The answer lies with Arlin, was our previous hypothesis. Arlin Jensen did give me a phone call last week. We got straight to it, and discussed the tractor in question. He informed me he in fact did NOT buy the rolling chassis or Orange Machine, but rather purchased the transmission. Knowing this along with the fact that two to three other pullers out of Iowa purchased parts off the tractor has led me to pretty much conclude that the machine was quite simply parted out. I imagine, in all honesty, this is probably the most common fate for tractors of years past. At what point does the “original” tractor no longer exist, and how many parts have to be left intact to label it as such? My last ditch effort will be to attempt to track down the identifiable features of it. If the guts were all gone, do the side shields or additional tinwork still exist somewhere? Much lies in a name, so we will shift our focus to finding the pieces that had the name painted on it.
Green Flags and Tight Chains
Pullin’ is Fun
Mike Eitel
Engagement Specialist
Beer Money Pulling Team
660.342.0206
michael.eitel.bevier@gmail.com
