Tractor-Pull Phenom Muscles Her Way to the Top

Sept. 3, 2007 — -- Giant tractors built to pull up to 62,000 pounds steer the latest muscle sport sweeping the nation.

It draws thousands of spectators and one 17-year-old girl is a tractor-pull phenom.

Nicole Snyder, who is entering her senior year of high school, is one of just eight women in the sport, which has about 1,100 competitors.

"It makes your heart throb," Snyder said. "It makes your heartbeat go. It's like an adrenaline rush. It's really fast."

And in this competition, competitors can go as fast as a 7,000-horsepower engine because that is what it takes to complete a full pull of 300 feet.

Already Snyder has managed to place third nationally. Plus, she regularly beats the guy who taught her everything she knows: her dad.

"Pretty much all summer she's beat me," Dave Snyder said. "I feel she can handle the tractor really well and I'll get her. I'll beat her sooner or later."

Snyder said she enjoys beating her dad, but added it's not just about winning.

"I'm a competitive person, but if I don't get first place, it doesn't bother me," she said.

She wants to set an example for other girls.

"It proves to these girls that you don't have to be a guy to do this kind of stuff," she said.

She has become such a hit at events that young girls come out just to see her.

But for the so-called teen queen of tractor pulling, there's a life beyond the track. She has a boyfriend, and she's looking to do something decidedly less risky when she graduates.

"It's more of a hobby for me," Snyder said. "I want to do something big with my life. Go into the dental field. Do something different."