Tractor racing was basically invented in the 1930s to promote the introduction of inflatable rubber tractor tires instead of continuing to use the standard steel tractor "tires" of the day.? The racing was probably more of an exhibition and it wasn't open to everyone.? But the speeds they attained and the attention it attracted for several years were very real.
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The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company and Allis-Chalmers teamed up to promote tractor racing and speed runs in the 1930s.? And they hired race drivers Barney Oldfield, Frank Brisko, and even 500 Mile Race winner Louis Meyer at times to race tractors on dirt tracks at state and county fairs across the country; apparently often as a preliminary event to regular auto races.? Land Speed racer Ab Jenkins was also a star performer.
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Apparently, it was popular entertainment in the middle of the Great Depression.? Somewhere I had seen a photo of Jenkins on a tractor at Bonneville but until now I had no idea that his runs were part of a much larger racing program.? Maybe some of you here know more about this than did I.
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Here's a very well done video about a short period of motor racing history that has largely been forgotten until now.
Don Stauffer