Located just north of Springfield city limits, Jay Fuqua, his wife Cindy, daughter Jayda and son Jacob live on a 3 rd generation farm.

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Angelina Sherman
6 years ago
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2 Located just north of Springfield city limits, Jay Fuqua, his wife Cindy, daughter Jayda and son Jacob live on a 3 rd generation farm. Like most farmers that are serious about Truck and Tractor pulling, this doesn t mean tending a few head of cattle and raising a garden. Jays approach to farming is similar to his approach to Pulling, its serious business and if you want to come out ahead, you have to make it happen. With about 90 acres of tobacco, 3800 acres of grain, 100 head of cattle, things can get very busy during the growing season. If that wasn t enough, add 50 acres of vegetables and a family Farmers Market and you can see how serious things can get. Everyone has a job to do and it takes a family effort to make it happen. With Jacob in college at WKU and Jayda pursuing a career in nursing, they still manage to get their fair share of chores done. Farming is a way of life just like pulling and their approach is work hard during the week so they can pull on the weekends. Nobody understands this lifestyle better than Jay. Many times, if you stopped by the shop on a Thursday afternoon you would have seen a DT466 and all its plumbing spread out on the shop floor. By noon Friday, somehow it would all be stuffed back under the hood of Tn Tracks and loaded on the trailer behind one really sharp looking Peterbilt, complete with chrome stacks and gangster visor. Restoring old Peterbilts happens to be another hobby Jay loves.

Around Springfield, everyone remembers the Fuqua name at the County fair, tires roaring, black smoke rising out of site above the lights around

3 Beginning in about 1975, Jesse Fuqua took a 1066 off the farm and turned it into a Prostock pulling tractor. Can you imagine pulling a Pro Stock now with a narrow front end? Around Springfield, everyone remembers the Fuqua name at the County fair, tires roaring, black smoke rising out of site above the lights around the track and a loud cheer from the crowds. He didn t stay in the seat long before Jay jumped in and took over the ride at age 16. Daddy preferred walking the sidelines with his wrench. By 1977 the tractor had 2 turbos and was converted to a Super Stock, competing

4 at the National Farm Machinery show in Louisville Ky. Determination to win caused a 3 rd turbo to be added in 79. The following year in 1980 at the age of about 21, Jay Fuqua wins the Super Stock class in Louisville.

In 1985, Tn Tracks got new sheetmetal and became a 3688 and lost 2000 lbs.

5 Every Super Stock Diesel pullers dream, is the Winners Circle at the NFMS but 1 st is the ultimate reward. In 1985, Tn Tracks got new sheetmetal and became a 3688 and lost 2000 lbs. The fierce competitive nature took control again and in 1987 Tn. Tracks got a 4 th turbo. By 2003 a Full Pull Motorsports component chassis was in place.

In 2008, after years of working long nights and replacing parts that just couldn t handle the pressure of being on top all the time, Jay converted to Alcohol.

6 In 2008, after years of working long nights and replacing parts that just couldn t handle the pressure of being on top all the time, Jay converted to Alcohol. Jay continues to push hard and have fun at the same time. His win at Murfreesboro in January of 09 proved that if you push hard enough, and the mechanical parts can handle it, the winners circle is only a pull away. Diesel smoke, (or not), a hooking track and Cindy on the sidelines, cheering like a teenager is a scene often repeated here in the south from southern Kentucky to

7 Northern Alabama, but Cindy isn t always cheering only for Jay. Jacob made his first hook in Camden TN at age 14. By age 16 he was a regular, and judging from his skills you can tell the apple doesn t fall far from the tree. Jayda on the other hand hasn t taken her ride yet. Rumor is that Riverside Motorsports may have another vehicle soon and little brother might be willing to let his sister find out for herself what it s like guiding huge amounts of horsepower toward the full pull mark. Thanks to Jacob s close friend, Will Teasley (Winner NFMS 2 WD) he experienced another class of pulling. With two 1st place finishes and two 3rd place finishes out of 6 hooks, Jacob seems to have a feel for driving

8 trucks on two wheels. In 2008, Jay Fuqua was inducted into the MidSouth Pullers Hall of Fame. This is an award given to the best of the best. Determination, perseverance, grit and a winning spirit have pushed Jay and the entire Fuqua family to be one of the best at the sport. It was told once that after a busted hand caused by an uncooperative piece of farm equipment, Jay walked out of the field, looked around the shop for a few minutes, finally to return with a sledge hammer and promptly explained to the cold hard steel who was boss. If this is true, you can understand why second place is just the first loser to Jay. This is a family operation and it takes everyone pulling together to get the job done. Cindy and Jay were dating when the first pass down the track was made. Since then, very few pulls have been missed. Even the kids attended their first pulls as babies, and haven t missed the Farm show since they were born until now. At the awards banquet in January, the true affection for pulling and the family type organization we have showed, when a tough, determined and competitive man stood up and addressed the crowd and said, It wasn t the amount of horse power we made or how far we pulled, it was getting to see you, my pulling family, that got me out of the field when there was still too much work to be done Jay Fuqua.. after receiving the MSPA Puller Hall of Fame Award.

9 Jay is long time friends with pulling greats like Brett Berg, Esdon Lehn and Rob Russell. Although the farming operation prevented running the Grand National circuit, Jay always made a point to keep up with other power makers in the sport while at Louisville and Chapel Hill. At that time there were also pulls in Ocala, Florida and Eustis, Florida where motors were pitted against motors and drivers against drivers. Ideas were still shared and somewhere, at a tractor pull one of these guys convinced Jay he needed the 4th turbo. Tractor pullers are family, friends and competitors pitting their skills against each other. Competition is tough, first place only has room for 1, but even at that, Jay still gets calls from competitors asking for help. Jay spent part of the 08 season helping a young man, Paul White get grounded in the art of tuning and running a diesel tractor named The Rattler. The lessons learned are being passed down, and a new generation of tractor puller is backing up to the sled, but never, ever forget what a handful of men, with nothing but instinct and perseverance have done for this sport. The days are gone when a farmer would hose off the old work horse and drag a sled down a dusty track, (without any safety equipment other than a helmet, maybe) but the memories live on. Tennessee Tracks lives on with a new motor now. Jay runs an Alcohol Light Super Stock in the Mid-South

10 Pullers association. A second tractor out of the Riverside Farms was a Light Super Stock named Tenacious. The tractor was co-owned by Jay Fuqua and Wayne Leding. It was originally started with the hand me down parts from Tennessee Tracks. It sported MX sheet metal as seen in the pictures in the following page and was driven by Jay. With the amount of work required maintaining Tracks, and Wayne's business and family commitments increasing, the Tenacious tractor was divested. As organizations make changes to better accommodate the crowds, and pullers request a level playing field, the diesel tractors again moves into a new era. Diesels need and want a heavy load on the motor. Alcohol tractors may have an advantage by having more options in the area of RPMs. To bring some smoke back into the class it has been discussed making some changes that would help the diesel environment and also give the crowd a Battle Royale of Diesel verses Alcohol. What isn t seen, is the little tremor, a nervous twitch that comes out of no where when that thought crosses the mind of the Alky pullers in the Mid-South Pullers Association. In middle Tennessee, on a farm is a shop, and in the corner is a diesel motor still waiting for another chance to blow some smoke. Be sure to keep up with the progress of Tennessee Tracks as Jay meets this new challenge of running an alcohol tractor by checking the Mid-South Pullers Association web site. There will be photo s and videos available to give you a front row seat in case you can t see for yourself, at a pull near you.

11 Bits & Peices Born 1958 Spouse Cindy Children Jayda Jacob Occupation Farmer Location Springfield, Tennessee Hobbies SuperStock Tractor Pulling Restoring old Peterbilts Accomplishments NFMS 1st 1985, 2002 Winners Circle at NFMS approx 12 times. Tracks Facts, Cubic Inches 436 Boost Weakest Parts, as a diesel 250 to 260 PSI average As much as 300 PSI but reliability drops 60 to 70 percent when 260 is exceeded. Rod bearings and turbos. Rod bearings had to be replaced every 10 passes. Everything possible was tried to save bearings but nothing helped. The Head After years of requesting more airflow, Jay received the first, serial number 1 in a new series of Hypermax head. Originally about 25 were manufactured. The alloys used in the first 5 or 6 were perfect. It is thought that Tn Tracks might have as many as 500 passes on the head. Edson Lehn got serial number 2. The later heads in the series would not withstand the heat and stress and subsequently have suffered failures.

12 Pictures

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