When tractor pulling began in the western
New York area it was virtually unorganized.
With different rules at each pull and no
Board of Directors to see that things went
as planned and scheduled, unorganized was
the only thing it could be. If pulling
competition was to exist and progress in
western New York, then something had to be
done.
In the winter of 1974-75, a group of pullers united one
evening and decided that a set of uniform
rules were needed if the tractor pulling
events were to continue. As the night
progressed, things began to gel with Joe
Telaak voted as president and other people
for the other offices, the "Western New York
Tractor Pullers Association" was organized.
The first year the organized club had scheduled six
sanctioned pulls, with a total purse of
$2,500 and a mere membership of 25 members.
From 1975 to 1978 the membership, number of
tractors and sanctioned pulls increased to a
point that WNYTPA became incorporated.
As the interest grew among spectator and puller, so did
the membership. In 1980 expansion branched
in the direction of 4-wheel drive trucks; in
1981 semi-super stock tractors were added
and in 1982 the econo-modified tractors were
added. 2-wheel drive trucks were next to be
sanctioned in 1983.
In 1984 the truck pullers decided to break away and
form their own organization. They called
themselves the Empire State Pullers (ESP).
The two clubs ran seperate for 4 years
before merging back together in the winter
of 1987-88. The club voted to retain the ESP
name. Since that time classes have come and
gone. The 4-wheel drive truck division was
dropped after the 1994 season due to low
numbers. The super farm class was added to
the lineup in 1998. 2001 saw the final
season for the econo-modified class. Today
ESP sanctions five classes of competition-
light and heavy super stock tractors,
modified tractors, two-wheel drive trucks
and super farm tractors.
Over the years the club has been sanctioned by many
different organizations including the
National Tractor Pullers Association (NTPA),
TNT Motorsports, the American Tractor
Pullers Association (ATPA), and USA Pulling.
Since 2007 ESP has been affiliated with the
Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League out of
Brownstown, IN.
In 2013 ESP will sanction events throughout western
and central New York, northern Pennsylvania,
and southern Ontario with a total purse of
nearly $250,000. |
|
|
