Friends Dan Ludwig, Nick Rosenberg and T.R. Edlund (from left to right) stand in front of the truck they drove at the Winter Show’s Truck Pull. The three are from Brantford, N.D. Photo by Ruth Nicolaus

By Ruth Nicolaus

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – T.R. Edlund, Dan Ludwig and Nick Rosenberg love their shared hobby.

And at the Truck Pull at the 84th annual N.D. Winter Show in Valley City, the three joined forces to win two titles, driving the same truck.

Ludwig won the 2—Wheel Drive Heavy class and Rosenberg won the Stock Mod Light, both driving the same truck, and Edlund placed in the Stock Mod Heavy, also with the same truck.

The three men, all from Brantford and life-long friends, have been pulling together for the past four years. For Rosenberg, it was his first pull, even though he’s helped Ludwig and Edlund for several years.

Their truck is a 1988 Chevrolet Crew Cab one ton, with a $600 motor, that Edlund noted was “real cheap.” But it’s not the cost of the parts that make a good truck, Ludwig noted. “It’s all in the setup. As long as everything works together, the weight is right, the wheel base, the traction, the tire pressure, it all comes into play.”

There’s some technique to winning a truck pull, Edlund said, but part of it is putting the “pedal to the metal,” he said. “Once you hook up the truck, you can’t let up.”

“We’re not worried about bringing it home broken,” Rosenberg said.

The Winter Show’s Truck Pull is the first for the season, and it’s a good reason to get together, Edlund said. “It breaks up the winter time.”

The guys will go home and strategize for the next pull, which won’t be till the spring.

“We’ll go home and watch the pulls we recorded today,” Ludwig said. “We’ll watch them a hundred times in the next week and see what can be done different.”

They talk to the other pullers and get ideas, too, they said. “We talk to the other guys who pull, see what they different. They’re not going to tell you the top secret stuff, but if you get a hint you might figure out what they’re doing,” Edlund said.

They’re thankful to their sponsor, Savre’s Heavy Truck Repair in Fargo, for their financial help.

Most pullers don’t share trucks, but it works for the three. “It takes three of our brains to make one,” Edlund laughed.

For Bob Wegner, of Jamestown, the camaraderie among pullers is what keeps him pulling, like for the Brantford men.

“This is a way to come and see the guys,” he said. “It’s another set of relatives that you can pick.”

Wegner, who is 61, won the Street Mod Heavy class. After ten years of pulling at the Winter Show, it’s his first first-place win.

His truck is a 1979 GMC Suburban three-quarter ton with a 454 motor and automatic transmission. “Nothing special, just a street truck,” he said.

He used to sit in the audience and watch, but a friend talked him into pulling one time, “and I blame him for all the money I spend on it now,” he laughed.

It’s not a lucrative hobby, but Wegner pointed out that most hobbies aren’t money makers. Truck pulling “keeps you broke,” he joked. “You can’t afford to do anything else.”

But winning money isn’t the point, he said. “It gives me something to do, and at the end of the night, if the truck loads on the trailer by itself, it’s a good day.”

“I have fun at it. That’s why I do it. It gets me out of the house.”

Unofficial results from the Pickup Pull on March 10 follow.

The 84th annual North Dakota Winter Show runs through March 14 with a ranch rodeo (March 11), PRCA rodeo (March 12-13), NDRA rodeo (March 14) and more.

For a complete schedule, visit the website at www.NorthDakotaWinterShow.com or call 701.845.1401.

Unofficial Results, Pickup Pull – March 10, 2021 –N.D. Winter Show

4200 V-8 Mod Tractor
1. Travis Goltz, Leonard, N.D. 127.46 feet;

2. Dale Mathern, Englevale, N.D. 102.71;

3. Billy Lacina, Mandan, N.D. 112.74.

Stock Light
1. Dale Mathern, Englevale, N.D. 165.08 feet;

2. Lane Perleberg, Bynum, Mont. 142.38;

3. Hale Berntson, Buffalo, N.D. 127.92.

Street Mod Light
1. Nick Rosenberg, New Rockford, N.D. 137.73 feet;

2. Wayne Johnson, Cooperstown, N.D. 136.68;

3. Bob Wegner, Jamestown, N.D. 127.79.

4-Wheel Light
1. Ron Haase, Fullerton, N.D. 134.20 feet;

2. Dana Spitzer, Kensal, N.D. 133.22;

3. Brian Roheich, Steele, N.D. 129.09.

2-Wheel Heavy
1. Dan Ludwig, New Rockford, N.D. 170.51 feet.

4700 V-8 Mod Tractor
1. Billy Lacina, Mandan, N.D. 154.02 feet;

2. Travis Gotz, Leonard, N.D. 142.44;

3. Dale Mathern, Englevale, N.D. 116.01.

Stock Heavy
1. Dale Mathern, Englevale, N.D. 122.09 feet;

2. Hale Berntson, Buffalo, N.D. 100.89.

4-Wheel Heavy
1. Brian Rohrich, Steele, N.D. 188.83 feet;

2. Ron Haase, Fullerton, N.D. 164.36;

3. Preston Peterson, Fullerton, N.D. 164.03.

Street Mod Heavy
1. Bob Wegner, Jamestown, N.D. 186.80 feet;

2. Micky Doll, New Salem, N.D. 170.71;

3. Lance Inscore, Oriska, N.D. 56.99.