There's no water in the motors, it's a regular tractor motor, ‘hot-block' they call it. They are pretty strict, you have to buy their fuel and water and they test it after you pull. They have four big hemi-motors - they don't even look like a tractor, they look more like a dragster car. Without plugging your ears you couldn't stand it - it would just blow your ears out. "The big class that runs on alcohol is really loud. This was our first year in this class we went up last year with a bigger motor," added Jason. "We try different turbos, it's constantly on the dyno, with new parts making more power, we ran about 4,600 rpms using one turbo. We also had someone use a hot-knife tire technique to sharpen the grooves for better traction," said Frans. "We are continually trying to make modifications to our tractor to make it better. If you don't win anything at home, you won't get invited," said Jason who did win the 2017 United Pullers of Minnesota State Championship. "You have to fill out a whole resume just to get there, but it helps when you win your state pull, region hooks and state championship. Jason said there were about 800 applicants this year in all classes to get into the nationals. The event is by invitation only and much of the criteria to get on the list depends on a point system the drivers accumulate during the tractor pulling season. Getting to the Nationals, even after placing there the previous year, doesn't guarantee you a spot for the following year. This national invitation-only high-octane event stars the nation's best drivers and their machines - Pro Stocks, Super Stocks, Modified, and Alcohol Tractors as well as two-wheel and four-wheel drive trucks. Prior to this competition the Rosenquist's competed in 18 pulls in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The always-popular National Championship Tractor Pull drew cheering crowds of more than 64,702 fans that year for the four-day event. The numbers are not yet in for 2018, but in 2017, the event hosted 300,000 attendees from across the world while nearly 850 exhibitors filled all 1.2 million square feet of the Kentucky Exposition Center, making it the largest indoor farm show in the country. When a tractor spins out at the end of the run, the distance is computed down to micro-inches to determine the winner. The sled also has grousers, fin like apparatuses, which drop at some point and dig in under it. and as the tractor pulls it the weight box transfers forward putting more pressure on your hitch making it much heavier and harder to pull. The sled they pull operates much like the sleds that kids use in the pedal pull competition, but on a much larger basis. I don't have a clue how much prize money we will get they'll mail a check to us.," said Jason. This years prize money purse of more than $250,000 will be divided amongst the top runners in close to 20 different divisions all capable of pulling a weighted sled. He was selected to pull 10th and held first place until the last tractor in his class edged him out by inches to win. Jason waits patiently in line along with other pullers in his class for his turn to pull at the national championships. Many athletes can attest to that as can the Rosenquists who narrowly missed a national championship trophy run, coming in a very close six inches behind winner Brad Boldry of Rochester, Indiana to place second, and 12 inches ahead of third place winner, Justin Wagler, of Morgantown, Indiana. In tractor pulling, like many other sports, victory is many times measured by a matter of inches. Gold Rush was the only Minnesota tractor in all of the competition this year. Limited Pro Stock class against 12 other pullers from across the United States. "I like to call it the "Super Bowl" of tractor pulls, said Jason who was at the helm of their custom souped-up diesel pulling tractor called "Gold Rush." The Case IH 305 Magnum tractor with over 2,500 horsepower competed in the 9,500 lb. 13-16th competing for the first time against premier tractor pullers from around the world in the National Championship Tractor Pull. While Winter Olympians were trying to make their mark on their specific sports in South Korea, Frans Rosenquist and his son, Jason, of Atwater, Minn., along with Pit Boss, Bill Daluge, of Buffalo, were in Louisville, Kentucky Feb. It was their first time earning a spot to compete at nationals they missed capturing first place by just six inches. Jason Rosenquist holds the second place trophy he and his dad, Frans, earned at the 2018 National Farm Machinery Show Championship Tractor Pull held in Louisville, Kentucky.
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