All hands on dirt at Budweiser Dairyland Super National Truck and Tractor Pull

The Budweiser Dairyland Super National Truck and Tractor Pull finished up on Saturday, June 22nd, with only a single session on Friday evening being canceled. Intermittent downpours and sporadic wind gusts throughout the weekend created an unfavorable scene for many weekend happenings, but especially events that have to be held outdoors, and where dry-dirt surfaces are necessary for high-end and powerful machines to pull heavy weighted trailers behind them, for a competitive advantage in national standings.

When the Herald arrived on Saturday morning, grounds crews were feverishly working to ready the track for competition, with no guarantee that more bands of rain would not wreak havoc on their high hopes of simply competing. The possibility of another canceled session did little to stop attendees from showing up, and by noon the grandstands had a solid showing of spectators and fans. Bands of rain continued to roll through the area, with the elevated grandstands roof putting forth a futile attempt at keeping the crowd from getting misted.

But at 12:14, everyone in attendance rose, and caps were removed, as Mary Besser’s incredible singing of the National Anthem brought expectations even higher that tractors and trucks would soon reach decibel levels that would send attendees frantically searching through their bags for their ear protections.

Generational Fans Continue Love of Tractor and Truck Pulls

Nate and Whitney Sorenson arrived with enough time before the start of the event to buy their son, Price Sorenson, a couple of souvenirs and some tasty food from the 4-H food stand. The three Sorenson’s originally haled from Tomah, but currently live on Wausau, Wisconsin. “He has been coming here every year since he was born,” Whitney said of her husband, Nate.

“When we were growing up, we played hockey here, so we worked the grandstands, selling concessions. It has been a solid 30-years of memories,” Nate Sorenson informed the Herald. Nate said that their daughter was not a huge fan of the tractor pull, but their son, Price, is all in.

Nate also informed the Herald that his father, Brede (pronounced Bray – dee) had worked in the Hot Pits, which is the hustle and bustle area of the event, where tractors and trucks are coming in hot off the track, while others are readying their machines for competition. “He worked right at the gates, counting people going in and going out,” Nate told the Herald.

“He did that for years … decades,” Whitney stated.

Price had already attended the Thursday night event, relishing the adventure of the loud, competitive, plumes-of-smoke-inducing machines. He showed the Herald his new Hot Wheel vehicle, the Allis Chalmer’s “Old Flame,” which will more than likely be among the boldest and most brightly colored in his collection, with top accolades coming from classmates, at show and tell.

In God We Truck — Daniel and The Goose

As the Herald wandered around the event grounds, outside of the grandstands, they came across Daniel Snow, from Harrison, Arkansas. Snow was quite cordial, as he stood in front of his semi and trailer, “The Goose.” On the side of the trailer, in foot-high lettering, was the phrase, “IN GOD WE TRUCK – HOME OF THE GOOSE.”

While Snow is not directly associated with the truck and tractor pull, he was there supporting a team that was sponsored by the same company he works under, Bennett. Early in the interview, Daniel had expressed his love for working with Bennett trucking, out of McDonough, Georgia. “I am here with my wife, Phyllis, trying to recruit some drivers, but this rain is really beating us up,” Snow said.

Snow went on to say that he and his wife were the cheering section for a team that is sponsored by Bennett Trucking, Playin’ with Fire, a Kenworth run by Ryan DeBroux, out of New Franken, Wisconsin. Snow explained, “They are sponsored by Bennett, and they (DeBroux) own all their own stuff. My wife and I own this truck and trailer (The Goose) and are leased to Bennett. We ran across the owners of Bennett last year, and they offered us a job doing this. They say you never work a day when you enjoy what you do, so really, this isn’t work for us.”

Daniel Snow said that he and his wife are only home 30 to 40 days a year. “We do a lot of shows, so we show The Goose, and recruit drivers. But they do not rain out or snow out, so once you are there, you are there.”

The Herald pressed Snow on what his few days in Tomah were like, with the constant barrage of rain and wind. “It rained so much last night [Friday, June 21] we didn’t think anyone would show up. They predicted the storm was going to rip through at 4:30 p.m. last night, and they made everyone take their tents down. At 4:39 p.m. it came through hard … they were pretty accurate with that warning.”

Husband and Wife Team

Phyllis has been on the road with Daniel, for over 20 years. She has had her CDL for as many years. “When our youngest graduated, she was not seeing eye to eye with the company she was managing for. I came home and she was upset, and I asked her what she wanted to do. She said, ‘I would like to just go trucking.’ I did not know she was going to make a career out of it. After a couple weeks I asked, ‘Don’t you need to get home … for work?’ and she replied, ‘Nope. I’m gonna be a trucker. Now you need to teach me to drive.’ I had to pray a lot during that time.”

Highway Missionary Work

As stated earlier, on the side of The Goose, the Snow’s have the words “In God We Truck.” Daniel explained that top priority for their trucking is to perform their ministry work. “When we hired on with them [Bennett] we told them that we needed to spread the word of God. They are a very Godly company, and they even help us out with whatever we need, and never fuss about our time we take for our work. We are very blessed to be associated with Bennett.”