Four days at the largest indoor farm show in America. Four nights of the finest wintertime sled pulling in the world.
Globally acclaimed, sprawling and expansive, and rich in history, the National Farm Machinery Show continues to own the title of America’s largest—and we would argue, best—indoor farm show. For 2025, we took in the 59th annual affair—along with the 57th consecutive Championship Tractor Pull. When you’re here at the pulls in Louisville, you’re a part of history. There are 18,000 seats, 190 competitors, and four straight nights of watching Pro Stock tractors tear through the Kentucky Exposition Center’s Freedom Hall. It’s also the only place you can find the Super Stock Diesel Trucks hooking to the sled in the dead of winter.
As has been the case since 2011, the 7,500-pound Super Stock Diesel Trucks were part of Saturday’s matinee session. For the 15th running of the class, 10 top-caliber invitees made the call. Among them was truck-pulling legend, Van Haisley, and longtime veterans (and former NFMS champions) Kent Crowder, Calvin Miller, and Keith Witt. But there were also a host of young guns and first timers competing this go-round—and it made for one heck of a show. The race to the sand pile would be won by Tennessee’s Caroline Counce Armistead, a first for women at this prestigious event.
Beyond the action in Freedom Hall, and because diesel trucks are so intertwined with agriculture, the National Farm Machinery Show presents a convenient way for aftermarket companies to connect with current and future customers. It’s the place where many late-model Ford, Ram and GM owners become acquainted with solutions for their fuel system, turbo, or electrical problems. It’s also where you’ll find the hottest-selling parts, the latest turbo technology, and even select guest appearances of both vehicles and celebrities. By night, we took in the truck and tractor pulling sessions. Each day, we roamed the halls of the Kentucky Exposition Center to visit with industry leaders. This is what we found.
Turning in one of the smoother hooks in the Super Stock Diesel Truck class, Caroline Counce Armistead’s “Dixie Ram” Dodge moved the sled 238.074 feet and was the only driver to put the front weight box in the sand. Caroline’s win marks the first time a woman has ever won in the class’s 15-year history in Louisville. The Dixie Ram packs a Scheid Diesel Cummins under the hood, and this was the third year in a row that a Scheid power plant brought home the trophy. If you recognize Caroline’s truck from years past, you’re not alone. It was formerly known as “Super Ram,” owned by Rod Tarr, and spent its days running at the front of the pack in the Pro Stock category.After Calvin Miller’s attempt on the right side of the track left his “Runnin’ In The Red” second-gen roughly 11-feet behind Dixie Ram, 2023 OSTPA champion, JJ Brumby, moved the cone back to the middle of the road. His decision paid off, with “The Rumor” traveling 236 feet and change and coming within two feet of Caroline’s leading distance. This was JJ’s first trip to Louisville, and without question his Second Place finish made it a very memorable experience.Back-to-back wins have always eluded Super Stock Diesel Truck competitors in Louisville and, at least until 2026, that will remain the case. Last year’s winner, Keith Witt, turned in a strong, 232.191-foot effort behind the wheel of the Scheid-powered “American Pride” Ram, which earned him Third Place overall. Prior to the high noon hook time, Keith told us he hadn’t changed much on the truck since the end of the season. His reason? The truck had performed great all year.It was Dustin Beheler’s first time competing at the Championship Tractor Pull and we’re told he was the only driver running a 24-valve Cummins. The Attitude Diesel-built engine allowed Dustin’s “Diggin’ Deep” third-gen to claw its way out to a 226.387-foot, Fifth Place distance. Some of you may recall Dustin’s impressive Fourth Place finish at Diesels In Dark Corners back in the fall, where a field of 18 Super Stock diesel trucks were in attendance.You’re looking at the power plant that propelled Scheid Diesel’s ’96 Dodge to the winner’s circle here in 2022. Saddled with a 16mm P8600 on this side and a big set of compounds on the other, it’s a Cummins that driver Brady Ingram says lives at 5,200 to 5,400 rpm during the course of a pull. Among the changes that are required to pull in Louisville, Brady tells us a faster gear must be run due to the short track. “The sled’s weight box is already up on you at 100 feet,” he said. Over the years, Brad Ingram, his wife Susie, oldest son Brady, and youngest son Trenton, have all driven Scheid’s iconic black second-gen Ram down the track.Before Saturday’s Super Stock pull commenced, we had a nice conversation with Jeremy Yeager in Broadbent Arena, the staging area for all competitors. Not only did Jeremy show us that his “Pipe Dream” Chevy Silverado is Cummins-powered, but that he’s campaigning a cast-iron block. Most (if not all) Super Stock trucks are sporting billet-aluminum blocks these days, but for whatever reason Jeremy’s engine—which was built by the high-end tractor experts at Chaos Fabrication—keeps defying the odds. However, like a lot of other Super Stock trucks, Jeremy’s is graced with a Wimer injection pump, as well as a two-stage, triple-turbo arrangement.Pro Stock tractors don’t come much nicer than the machines built by the folks at Chaos Fabrication. Rhett Parish piloted the “El Nino” Magnum to a win on Friday night and finished seventh during Saturday night’s final session. We spotted the crew working on the DT466-based (672 cubic inch!) engine in Broadbent Arena Saturday morning. Polished, billet components and top-shelf attention to detail are common on Chaos builds. Here, the intercooler straps are being reattached to the turbo, a massive Wimer unit that forces triple-digit boost through an air-to-water intercooler.The 8,500-pound Light Pro Stock class is an interesting one to watch, and seeing a blue tractor get within four feet of taking the win made it even more special. Matt Smith’s “Fast Forward” Ford 9700 model hails from Pennsylvania and, along with his brother Mark (who drives a 9600), is no stranger to the winner’s circle. During Saturday afternoon’s running of the 8,500-pound Light Pro Stocks, Matt finished fourth on a 241.22-foot hook. It’s rumored that the tractors competing in this category belt out as much as 3,000 hp.Of the more than 900 booths present at the National Farm Machinery Show, S&S Diesel Motorsport arguably makes the best use of its space. They do it with well-executed visual displays, hands-on demonstrations, and by parking a captivating vehicle front and center. Last year, it was a 4,000hp Caterpillar-equipped hot-rod semi. In 2025, it was extreme meteorologist, storm chaser, and social media sensation Reed Timmer’s Dominator 3 Tornado Tank. After sharp eyes at S&S realized the truck underneath all this armor was powered by a 6.7L Power Stroke (it’s a ‘12 F-350), a DCR conversion was supplied to get rid of the failure-prone CP4.2. After all, a truck that’s built to withstand an EF5 tornado needs to be reliable, too, right?Speaking of the S&S DCR conversion for the 6.7L power Stroke, in stopping by the Scheid Diesel booth they informed us it (along with S&S’s Disaster Prevention Kit, shown) was one of their hottest-selling products at the show. Believe us when we tell you, the folks navigating the halls at the National Farm Machinery Show aren’t just there to grab a couple T-shirts, they mean business. They’re serious about work and getting the job done—and a Super Duty workhorse with a $15,000 fuel system repair isn’t something they have time for.You may have noticed Wehrli Custom Fabrication’s recent interest in developing products for the 6.7L Power Stroke. Well, much of that stems from their attendance as a National Farm Machinery Show vendor a couple years ago, when more than half of all the folks stopping by the booth asked if they made any 6.7L Ford parts. Fast forward to February 2025 and WC Fab offers hot and cold-side intercooler pipe kits, 4-inch air intakes, coolant tank and pipe kits, and even has a rear diff cover on the way for the 10.5-inch Sterling and Dana M275—all of which come with the same great fit and finish and high-quality the company built its name on.Educating one customer at a time, the lubrication specialists in the Hot Shot’s Secret booth were busy fielding fuel additive and engine oil questions all weekend. And with a winter storm moving in at the end of the National Farm Machinery Show weekend there was no better time for diesel owners to prepare their trucks for the cold. Hot Shot’sEDT+ Winter Defense, one of the best anti-gel diesel additives on the market, was a topic of discussion, along with the 6.0L-saving Stiction Eliminator and the company’s emergency-use Diesel Winter Rescue.The Pro Stock Diesel Truck category will be growing this year, and it’ll be gaining some common-rail company. Fleece Performance Engineering is putting the final touches on an engine program it believes will allow Paul Ritchardson’s “Fancy Hooker” to keep pace with the hardest-running trucks in the 3.6-inch smooth bore class. And that’s not all. After inquiring as to why the aluminum block and Wagler head Cummins on display in Louisville was graced with a massive 4.8-inch Hart’s turbo, our suspicions (and hopes) were confirmed. When the rules of Pro Stock no longer apply, the engine’s true potential will be uncorked in Open or Run What Ya Brung type classes thanks to this 122mm monstrosity.When some of your customers make it into Saturday night’s final session of the Championship Tractor Pull, it tends to bring some attention back to the booth. Apex Turbo was more than ready to explain how and why their turbochargers perform the way they do. The unit on the left, an APX 4.1, is what you would find on a Limited Pro Stock tractor. The charger on the right boasts a 4.9-inch compressor inducer (along with a healthy map groove) and showcases the company’s compressor containment shield, which we’re told doesn’t hinder its performance in any way. With turbo safety rules becoming more stringent in recent years, this is great news.On the OEM end of the spectrum, we found AGCO Power’s CORE75 engine interesting. Released in late 2022 for use in Massey Ferguson, Fendt, and Valtra tractor applications, it’s a 7.5L (458 ci) inline-six, common-rail diesel that produces 335 hp and 1,070 lb-ft of torque. Interestingly, the CORE75 is 100-percent HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) compatible and completely free of an EGR system. AGCO Power engineers found a way to meet U.S. Tier 4 Final (T4F) and EU Stage V emission standards without it. The engine still comes equipped with a DOC, DPF, and SCR aftertreatment system, but without EGR in the mix we’re inclined to believe them when they say the CORE75 is more reliable than its competition.
