The Lions Super Pull of the South is one of the rites of summer in Chapel Hill as the town readies for the 43rd running of one of the most popular and successful Tractor Pulls in the country.

It is a time when the Lions Club Field and the surrounding area adjacent to Forrest School is transformed into Lions Club Motorsports Park as a bevy of volunteers execute a perfectly orchestrated plan in preparation for the arrival of pullers from all over the country on Wednesday to the dropping of the green flag on Friday night at 7 p.m.

After 43 years, the trials of error have mostly been worked out and the puzzle comes together piece by piece until the transformation is complete and the fans are in their seats.

“We could not do this without the support of the community and all these people out here helping,” Lions Club president Jill Smelser said. “It’s amazing, everybody does their job, everybody knows what they are doing, and we will have everything ready for Friday night.”

“Last year’s Pull was fantastic, we had a lot of excitement and this year I expect just as much excitement if not more, so it’s going to be a great weekend.”

It’s a concerted effort that is pulled off by over 300 volunteers that make every aspect of the event a reality.

Even after the last Pull is complete, the unseen efforts of the retransformation to normal is carried out to an over four-decade blueprint.

Many of the same Pulling fans have been travelling to Chapel Hill for decades and much has changed in the over 40 year period, except for that one moment when the fans roar in anticipation of the initial machine making its way to the starting line to re-stoke the mind and senses to the beautiful sounds and smells as it fires up before roaring down the track for the first run of the event.

The competition is of the friendly variety, but the intensity of the drivers and the will to win is no different than any Saturday night or Sunday afternoon on the NASCAR circuit.

The National Tractor Pull Association event features classes of Super Stock Diesel and Pro Stock Tractors, Four-Wheel-Drive Trucks, and Mini and Unlimited Multi-Engine Modifieds that vie for over a $100,000 total purse in the Friday/Saturday two-session event.

Expected in Chapel Hill to defend their 2018 Grand National titles are champions Stan and Steve Blagrave of Ackerly, Texas ("Red Horse" SSD), Ben Ellis of Champlain, Virginia ("Benjammin" FWD), Adam Bauer of Paton, Iowa ("Iron Toy" MINI), and Chuck Knapp of Charles City, Iowa ("Screamin' D" UNL).

Class winners from the 2018 Lions Super Pull of the South were Steve Blagrave, Colin Ross of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania ("Triple Bypass" SSD), Darrin Hunt of Herndon, Kentucky ("D2 Pro Stock Edition" PS), Donald LaBonte of Stanstead, Quebec ("The Rock" FWD), Paul Holman of Wauseon, Ohio ("4 Play" FWD), Chase Richardson of Leitchfield, Kentucky (MINI), Camille Shelton of New London, North Carolina ("Splinter" MINI), and Steve Boyd of Washington, Indiana ("Green Streak" UNL).

“They enjoy coming here and we are proud of that,” Smelser said. “They are treated almost like family because we have pullers that come back here year after year and they look forward to our Pull and we look forward to them coming.”

Many of the pullers regard the track at Lions Club Motorsports Park as one of the best on the circuit and those accolades are due to the expertise of track guru Ken Lamb and his crew that have years of experience in the preparation prior to the event and during the two-night pull as they drive the weave in a perfectly orchestrated tractor dance after every run down the 320 foot track.

“Ken does a phenomenal job getting the track ready and keeping it ready throughout the Pull and even at the end, getting things back to where they need to be for the rest of the year,” Smelser said. “There is a lot of work that goes into things after the Pull weekend.”

The Lions Club is expecting a big turnout once again as Smelser said, “Right now we are looking pretty good, I was looking at the reserve ticket sales for the weekend and Saturday night is selling out pretty quick with Friday night right behind it.”

While the event has returned millions of dollars to the community in revenues, over the course of the 43-year period, the Chapel Hill Lions Club has been vigilant in its support of various charitable causes, supporting and donating millions more to the local charities, schools, libraries, The 4-H Club, senior citizens, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, plus all the emergency responders.

The International Lions Club eyesight program has been the recipient of more than $ 500,000 in a fight to combat sight conservation and blindness while The Monroe Carrell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has also been a keystone for the Lions Club charitable efforts.

“The Tractor Pull is the Lions Club biggest fundraiser, in fact even in the whole state of Tennessee we are known across the state for the amount of people it brings into the community and the amount of funds every year we donate back to the community in tens of thousands of dollars, and just for people who need help,” Smelser said. “All the people in the community pull together for this one week in July, so we just couldn’t do it without the support of all the people in this community.”

Both nights will feature exciting opening ceremonies prior to the more than five-hour program at Chapel Hill.

After a period of some rainy days, the weather looks good for the weekend with temperatures in the mid 90’s and just a minimum chance of some summer thunderstorms.

“It looks like we are going to have a wonderful weekend, we just hope and pray,” Smelser said. “We have the tarp that covers the Tractor Pull field that in case it starts raining they can have that tarp on in a matter of minutes, so as long as we don’t lose the track to rain, we are going to have the Pull.”

More information on ticket purchases can be found at www.lionssuperpull.com or by calling 931-364-2236.