Calgary (Rural Roots Canada) – An Olds, Alberta resident, follows in the tread-marks of his Dad and Grandfather by competing in the Calgary Stampede‘s Vintage Tractor Pull.

Clayton Whiteside is the third generation in his family to compete in the event.

He had a front-row seat watching his Dad, Scott Whiteside, and Grandpa, Gord Farr, compete in the event grow up.

“Gord has been pulling here for quite a while, I think he hadn’t missed one til 2019 or whenever the last one was. Dad, he just did a few in the 90s, but Grandpa did the majority of it,” Whiteside said.

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He thinks it means a lot to them.

“Just carrying it on and keeping it going and keeping the younger generation into it a little bit.”

He said they passed along a bit of advice.

“The biggest thing they always told me is just to have fun; it’s not about if you win or not, it’s more just about to go out to do it.”

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Whiteside enjoys the camaraderie within the tractor pulling community.

“It’s a fairly fun area to be in, and it’s always very encouraging and everything and great people to be around and hang out with.”

Whiteside encourages other young people to get into the sport.

“The biggest part is they don’t have to buy one that’s all fully painted up and everything as long as it runs good you can go to tractor pulls all over the place.”

He says that’s how he got started.

“My grandpa gave me a tractor for my 16th birthday; it wasn’t painted up or anything.”

And that’s where the hobby began and it’s only grown since then.

He says get your foot in the door, and then you can start building on it from there.

Whiteside, competing with a 1953 Farmall Tractor, finished first in his tractor class at the 2021 Calgary Stampede Vintage Tractor Pull.