Pigs And Fords

One of our long time friends and readers sent me this interesting piece:

"TILLAMOOK, Ore.—Driving in circles while holding a pig properly is something that demands hewing to the rules.

The Pig-N-Ford Race has long been the premier event at the Tillamook County Fair in this town of about 5,000. Each racer grabs a young pig from a pen with one arm, crank starts a Model T Ford with the other and drives around a dirt track clutching the porker.

 

As the pigs join their racers this weekend for the 2014 Pig-N-Ford finals, they will face some of the sorts of rules, rivalries and whiff of controversy that often consume motor sports.

 

The contest was once a freewheeling, low-key affair, says 77-year-old George Hurliman, who stopped racing in the 1980s after building a dynasty of nine career championships. "It used to be—it was more like buddy-buddy."

 

That was long before the Great Camshaft Controversy of 2010. Marty Walker, a UPS driver from nearby Sherwood, that year tied Mr. Hurliman's record with a ninth win and solidified his own porcine/automotive dynasty.

 

Mr. Walker's rivals suspected he cheated. So they exercised their rights under Article 7 of the Tillamook County Model T Pig and Ford Association Racing Rules, which lets members pay $100 to challenge the vehicle's legality."

 

We have visited this area but never found this race!  I have several email friends within short driving distance of Tillamook so I wonder if they've watched this race and what they think?

 

It sounds like an exciting, crowd drawing competition to me!

 

I ran the stock Oliver 88 side panels on my Oliver 88 pulling tractor so people would be less tempted to see what was "under the hood!"  I remember taking them off after awhile because the side panels drew more curiosity than they prevented!

 

Combine demolition derbies had their day in the sun in Ohio but I don't see many of them anymore.  This sounds like an old tradition that has stuck.

 

What does your county fair do to draw crowds that is unique?

 

Ed Winkle