“Driving a ‘Super Stock’ tractor is not for the faint-hearted. The front end is six feet in the air, we’re at nearly 100mph wheel speeds, sat behind a methanol-fueled engine, whilst pulling 22 tons of sledge. It’s like driving a bomb, there’s an element of risk, you have to respect it.”
Says David Jones, partner at farming business JH & MM Jones and multiple tractor pulling champion. On certain weekends, David swaps his standard tractor for something a little more tuned. ‘Just Smoky’ is a 10 litre, triple-turbo, 4,500hp methanol-fueled component tractor, designed for tractor pulling, a sport which can only be described as drag racing on steroids. Although growing in popularity, tractor pulling is not a widely-known sport. So, what exactly is it all about? David explains…
“The aim of the game is to pull a weight transfer, known as a sledge, along a track 100 metres long. A sledge team sets the weight for the initial qualifying run. The sledge weight changes for different classes, I run in the heavyweight ‘Super Stock’ class. The track is around 12 meters wide, made up of a mixture of clay and sand with white tramlines down each side. If you go over a line, you're automatically disqualified.
“The furthest distance pulled, is the winner. If two or more drivers go past 100m, the track is regraded and rerolled, then a ‘pull-off’ takes place. Extra weight is added to the sledge to make it very difficult for finalists to reach the 100m mark. Again, the furthest distance pulled wins. It comes down to balancing the power, finding the right track position and understanding what the track is doing, which comes with experience.”
The early days
The Jones family are no strangers to tractor pulling. John and Bill Jones (David's Father and Uncle) were instrumental in bringing the sport to the UK in 1978 with a tractor called ‘Smoky Joe’, a modified Fordson Major. The second Jones pulling tractor, ‘Smoky Jones II’, a Ford 8600 diesel Super Stock is currently being rebuilt as Pro Stock class (there are currently 12 weight classes run by the British Tractor Pulling Association).
Being in and around tractor pulling from an early age, it was almost inevitable that David would find his way into the sport: David’s family were heavily involved both in competing and growing the sport along with John Bowen-Jones, a family friend and tractor dealer at the time. Wherever the Jones team went David followed, earning the nickname ‘Little Smoky’, which, as far as some are concerned, is a name that’s never left him.
“I must have been around 5 or 6 when we first started racing. As I got older, I became very interested in the engineering side of things. I’d get back from school and after tea would be found in the workshop, generally asking the same question: ‘Why are you doing that?’. As soon as I was legally able to drive a tractor I was helping out on the farm. I must have been 17 when I first competed in a tractor pulling event. It was in Bristol and if I remember correctly, I won my class on the day driving ‘Smoky Jones II’.”
Dream becomes reality
Between the late 1970’s to the mid 1990’s, the name of Jones was synonymous with UK and European tractor pulling events. However, expansion of the family’s farming business meant that for over ten years the sport had to do without the Jones’s. A trip to the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam during 2003 as a spectator was to prove the catalyst in propelling David back into the sport…
“I’d reached a point where my role on the farm had become more managerial. I started to think about the pulling tractor that I would like to build. A team from America had been invited to Rotterdam, they raced their ‘Slow Ride’ tractor, a methanol component machine. I was blown away by it! Built by Terry Blackbourn, one of America’s best-known drivers, it had three turbo-chargers, around 3,000 horsepower and was built like a freight train.
“In the 10 years since we’d last raced, the rules had changed allowing for larger, more powerful machines. Willem Veldhuizen from Holland built the first methanol-fueled tractor in Europe, then everyone wanted one, myself included. I got in touch with a fellow competitor Peter Clarke of Red Alert who put me in touch with Ron Bultemeier. Ron was a big name in the sport Stateside, we got on well from the outset and before I knew it, I was in Ron’s workshop in Indiana planning a tractor build.
“It was a big step for us. We were used to working with standard tractor components and diesel engines. All of a sudden, we’re building a tractor with five times the horsepower and burning around 25 litres of methanol in an 8 second pass. There’s no margin for error, safety is paramount. We were supplied with a rule book written in America and developed for European racing. If we didn’t follow this to the letter, we wouldn’t be considered.
“I bought the chassis rails, rear axle and the major components from Bultemeier Motorsports. The tractor hood was supplied by Case IH and support was received from Vaderstad. In total, the build took around two years. There were 2 of us on the build, plus a CNC machinist and a local blacksmith, all working under the close guidance of Ron Bultemeier, who was only a phone call away. I wanted the very best tractor which would last for years.
“This created all manner of challenges; we were making components that none of us had prior experience of producing. We found ourselves making an oil sump in stainless steel and building three turbo chargers which we then had to somehow join together. We were fitting the same type of fuel pumps found on American drag racing cars. It was scary stuff, but I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.
“The first event we took the tractor to was a guest invitation at Vitesse Arnhem’s Football Stadium in Holland. That was pretty nerve-wracking because we'd only got it running a couple of weeks beforehand. However, we needn’t have worried, ‘Just Smoky’ performed really well.”
On the podium
Beneath David’s modest, quietly spoken demeanour lies a fiercely competitive streak, allied to a pathological eye for detail. These are the traits of winners. The collection of silverware and accolades garnered by David at the wheel of ‘Just Smoky’ is testament to his drive for excellence at every turn. Typically, David likes to downplay his successes to date…
“Well, our success started with Dad and Uncle Bill. They did really well with ‘Smoky Joe’ in Britain and across Europe. Their continued success and my first wins with ‘Smoky Jones II’ still mean a lot to me. I think I've won 10 British Super Stock Championships with ‘Just Smoky’. The Eurocup wins were very special, when I got amongst the best in Europe in the Super Stock category. Then you're knocking on the door of the Eurocup Series, on the podium most weeks and mixing with the top guys. That was very special.
“If I had to choose one win it would be my victory at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam in 2007. I was invited to compete against the best of Europe. We were two years into running ‘Just Smoky’ and in a good place competitively. It just so happened to be my 20th year of attending the event. News got around and suddenly 40 people were travelling to watch me, including my mentor, Ron Bultemeier. So, no pressure then.
“I really wanted to win and the tractor was running like a dream. My first qualifying pass was smooth and I booked my place in the final with ease. We all got pretty excited. However, I had to reproduce the same standards in the final. We came back out for the final run; I took a deep breath and in front of 40 British followers and a packed stadium took first place and the trophy. I think we sank a ‘few’ that night.”
Letter from America
Success builds reputations. The list of invitations for the ‘Just Smoky’ team grew longer. However, in one case just the driver was enough. David was asked to join Kevin Campbell’s Chaos Fabrications team, an American tractor pulling outfit. Behind the wheel of ‘Controlled Chaos’ a V8 Super Stock tractor David found himself competing against the very people who had inspired him in the first place…
“It was a new discipline to learn, the tractors are slightly heavier and the sledges are a different configuration. Logistically it was tricky too. I didn't want to just turn up and drive, I wanted to be part of the team, which meant carrying out routine maintenance and generally mucking in. In one week, I travelled three times to Pittsburgh. I had almighty trouble in US customs: ‘You’ve been here twice, you’re back again, what do you think you’re doing?’
“The biggest tractor pulling event in America is the ‘Grand National Series’. I had some success including a few wins. However, the most memorable win was the inaugural event at a drag racing track in Benson, North Carolina. The venue owners had built a brand-new track for tractor pulling, alongside their drag racing track. Kevin drove on the Friday night and won, I drove Saturday night and also won. We wrote ourselves into the Benson history books. That won't be forgotten.”
A delicate balance
To stay ahead in any sport requires a certain mindset. Step into David’s workshop, it’s clean and ordered, there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place. ‘Just Smoky’ takes centre stage looking like it was built yesterday and not in 2005. You get the sense there’s maintenance and polishing going on here that would rival the King’s garage. How does David balance his racing ambitions today alongside running a successful agricultural business?...
“Unfortunately, with the nature of work on the farms, plus other commitments, I have to choose and plan my events very carefully. I would love to compete at every event and still be pushing. Tractor pulling events in the UK run through the summer months, if the tractor's ready and we're all set I’ll attend these events and maybe some invitations. I haven't run in Europe for a few years and invitations to return to America still come in. The demands of cropping, harvesting and all kinds of other projects keeps my feet planted firmly in Warwickshire.
“I’m also helping to develop a new ‘Limited Super Stock’ category. It's still based on a tractor-branded hood, but with more limitations – smaller engine, single turbo and less horsepower. Our aim is to make the sport more accessible, more appealing.
“I've been helping a couple of teams in this new category. I actually drove a tractor for one of the owners at European level, we took it to France a couple of years ago and won. That was probably just as enjoyable as running my own tractor. It’s all very new to these teams, they're desperate for some inside knowledge, I’m happy to help, it's nice to be able to put something back.”
David looks ahead
So, how does David see his future in tractor pulling and what of the sport’s future?
“My aim is to try and stay in the top five. I will keep ‘Just Smoky’ as a full-blown Super Stock tractor, it's well-known within the sport and I still get a lot of enjoyment running it. Moving forwards, we're rebuilding Dad's ‘Smoky Jones’ tractor engine, we'd like to run it back in the category it used to compete in. There’s life in the old tractor yet.
“The new limited category is growing; I think it’s going to become the entry level for Super Stock methanol machines. UK tractor pulling events are attracting up to 10,000 people, it's a proper promotional exercise, they're quite big now. The engineering and general standard of machines has improved as well, which draws new people in. We've got another generation, who probably haven’t seen it, they come along and think, ‘Wow! This is different’. I just want tractor pulling to keep going, it means a lot to me and my family.”
With that a call comes in, David has to check a nutrient mixture before application on a neighboring farm. As the shutter comes down on the workshop, David pauses, turns around and takes a glance at the gleaming red tractor. It might be nutrient mixing now, but it won’t be long before ‘Just Smoky’ is back in the mix and David on the podium again…
For more information on tractor pulling in the UK: tractorpulling.co.uk
Follow Smoky Jones on Instagram at @smokyjones75 ››
We first met David whilst producing a film for Bateman Sprayers. You can watch the film here ››
