Jaynes shines in first tractor pull outing at Phillips County Fair

It's no secret that the Jaynes family has a deep love for auto sports, and after knowing Chinook's Bill Mangold was bringing both his 6,000 pound and 14,000 pound sleds to the 2014 Phillips County Fair August 3, Russell Jaynes wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Competing in the stock class, Jaynes' run with the 3 ton sled in the stock class was impressive as it seemed he could have pulled the sled all the way to Malta. He seemed to effortlessly pull the sled the length of the course (around 300 feet), though the conditions were rainy, windy and muddy on the track.

His 1972 GMC 3/4 ton four wheel drive has a 383 small block Chevy engine, and it performed.

"It was pretty close to the furthest run. I think I did pretty awesome and I don't think that I could've done better," he proudly told the PCN on that rainy day.

His response to his run isn't surprising considering that run was his very first run in a tractor pull. Ever.

The idea to run was triggered when Jaynes added a motor to his friend's pickup.

Jaynes fell in love with the sport, seeing it year after year.

"I've been going to these things as long as I remember," he said. "It was awesome and I'm definitely doing it again."

He admitted he had butterflies but after a run like that, he plans on doing it again.

Scott Skoyen of Chinook didn't have the same luck.

He participated in the stock 4x4, sportsman 4x4 and 2 wheel drive class.

"There's a lot more horsepower here than what I'm running today," he told the PCN.

He raced two separate trucks, a 1976 Ford F-250, with a 390 and 1978 Ford 2 wheel drive with a 351 Windsor.

He has been participating in tractor pulls for the last decade, with one reason.

"I just like power," Skoyen told the PCN.

In his daytime job, he is an automotive mechanic at Top Dog Performance, based out of Chinook.

Even though he wasn't able to do a full pull in Dodson, last week, he has done it in the past.

One reason may have been the rain, which made the track harder for those who ran earlier in the event.

"It makes it tougher and makes the sled a little tougher to pull," he said. "You need to try and find the best line you can take with less mud and more dry dirt to get that sled to slide and your tires to grab.

Like many racing families, Skoyen had a few members present at the event.

"My whole family pretty much does it," he said. "We brought a semi and loaded three on it and a big trailer with two more."

The family participates yearly at the Fort Benton, Chinook and Phillips County tractor pull events.

One cousin even goes to Idaho in his Ford truck nicknamed "Blackout."

Skoyen affectionately named his truck "Money Pit."

"Most of our vehicles around this part of the year, we pull them out of the weeds. They sit and we don't use them for anything else anymore," Skoyen said.

It helps that everyone in his family and extended family knows, or is related to a mechanic.

"Everybody works together to get them done," he said.

Though it may seem as only a hobby, Skoyen hopes to see more of a crowd in future pulls.

"We spend a lot of time of these things and there's a lot of money spent to get these guys here," he said. "People want to see us, but they want to see the big stuff, it gets people all giddy."

He also admitted that it could've been the weather keeping people home.