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when he tried to measure its horsepower.
Mr. Nicholson’s modified tractor more closely resembles a dragster with tractor tires. The “rail” design sports a chromed, blown fuel-injected 528-cubic-inch engine which bums four gallons of specially formulated alcohol racing fuel to drag the 40,000-pound skid 300 feet in a whirlwind of dust and noise.
He estimates the engine develops “around 1,800 to 2,000 horsepower. The dynamometer only went up to 1,200.”
Mr. Nicholson, who owns Nick’s Body Shop in Culpeper, has been competing on the National Tractor Pullers Association circuit for five years.
“I started going and watching and I had to have one,” he said, explaining what got him hooked. Last year he was the national points champion in all classes — with 13 national championships in the last two years.
The road to a national championship is not cheap, however. Mr. Nicholson estimated that “Little Bit” is worth more than $35,000 . . . “$20,000 plus for the engine,’’-which was built by Lee Edwards, of Midland. The rest of Mr. Nicholson’s “tractor” was hand-built by Johnny Shifflett.
Rappahannock native Lee Hitt competed in the Modified FourWheel-Drive Class, driving the “Salty Dog.”
Mr. Hitt, who lives in Culpeper, has been competing for nine years. His first machine was an old farm truck. Now the “Salty Dog” sports a fuel-injected engine hand-built by Charlie Cary, of Smithfield. The truck body is only a shell, much like a “funny car” at a dragstrip.
The real story is underneath. Much of the power train is salvaged from military sales and salvage yards. Mr. Hitt explained that military truck parts are the only ones which will stand up to the awesome torque generated by the powerful engines.
“We do the impossible — we take
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