Rookie of the Year Peter Norton wins DI Winter Series Pro Mod championship

BY NATE VAN WAGNEN

It’ s a dark, rainy spring late afternoon in Franklin, Indiana, where Peter Norton and his family grow corn, soybeans, and wheat across around 7,500 acres. The Norton family has worked this ground since 1834, making Peter the seventh generation to farm in this area just south of Indianapolis. Additionally, he owns and operates a trucking and logistics business, Hurricane Specialized Logistics, with about 65 trucks on the road hauling everything from military planes to wind turbine components. His wife, Christy, also owns a number of business ventures around town, and they have two young daughters.“ We stay pretty busy,” Norton says nonchalantly as rain beats down on his truck cab.

Tractor pulling is a big deal in this part of the country. It’ s where Norton got his start in motorsports and how he was inadvertently introduced to Pro Modified drag racing, sending him down a yearlong rabbit hole that started with him watching his first Pro Mod race in the grandstands at the 2025 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod and culminated with him winning the 2025 / 2026 Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J & A Service Pro Mod championship at the 2026 WSOPM presented by Red Line Oil.

Norton started pulling antique tractors when he was 16. He quickly moved into Farm Stock aboard a tractor off the farm before graduating to Super Farm with its stock-appearing but high-powered tractors. From 2018 to 2025, Norton competed in Pro Stock, the black-smoke-billowing tractors many people imagine when they think of tractor pulling. Most recently, he’ s also added a Mini Rod to the stable.

Pulling and drag racing, despite their differences, also bear some similarities, leading to numerous crossovers over the years. When Hall of Fame Funny Car driver, crew chief, and engine builder Ken Veney retired from driving, he got into tractor pulling, where he’ s now a veritable legend as well.

Conversely, diehard pulling enthusiast and team owner Earl Wells added a dragstrip and multi-car Pro Mod program to his GALOT Motorsports tractor pulling empire, racking up several PDRA Pro Boost world championships and turning what is now known as Darana Motorsports Park – Benson, NC into a world-class eighth-mile dragstrip.

Puller Stan Shelton is the latest convert, as his Team Shelton Motorsports team now fields a pair of cars in both NHRA Pro Mod and eighth-mile Pro Mod competition with former GALOT driver Kevin Rivenbark wheeling the second team car.

Norton recently joined that list after experiencing Pro Mod racing up close and personal at the 2025 WSOPM. The Norton family was vacationing in Florida for Peter’ s birthday when he decided to head over to Bradenton Motorsports Park to check out the race.

“ I knew about Pro Mod from the Sheltons being in the pulling world and watching Pro Mod on TV and YouTube, but I hadn’ t been to a Pro Mod race – I really hadn’ t seen a Pro Mod in person,” Norton says.“ I got a feel for how everything worked and how exciting it was. I knew some of the names and the big players in the Pro Mod world, so it was cool to walk around and see some of those in the pits. I was like,‘ Man, it would be awesome to be able to do this someday.’ It was my goal to get a car together in time to maybe try and make it down to the Snowbirds.”

94 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 200