LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The 56th annual Farm Machinery Show and the 53rd annual Championship Tractor Pull are coming to a close at Freedom Hall.

But before they do, one long-time tractor driver is hoping to come home with gold.

At 76, you can still find Wayne Sullivan in the driver’s seat at any tractor pull. He’s been competing since the 60s.

“I keep telling them I don’t have to drive, but they keep telling me they want me in the seat because I’m the best qualified,” Sullivan said.

Though “qualified” may be a bit of an understatement.

“[I’ve been driving] since I’ve been a real young man, in the 60s maybe the 50s even,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t pull at the first one. The first time I pulled here was 1973, and I had a single engine tractor with two full carburetors on it.”

Sullivan has plenty of titles to prove it.

“‘77 I won it, ‘78 I won it, ‘81 I won it, ‘82 I won it, and then I didn’t win anymore until I won in ‘15 and then I won it in ‘19,” Sullivan said.

He’s watched the world’s most powerful motor sport transform over the years, and said the difference is vast.

“Years ago they used to just put blocks on them and whoever pulled it the furthest with the most weight would win,” Sullivan said. “Now they got a machine we hitch to, and the weight sits on the tires and we take off and it gets heavier as we go and whoever pulls it the furthest still wins.”

Sullivan and his team, made up of family members, built their tractor from the ground up.

“We’ve been doing it for so long. We do a lot of work, we build our own motors and that’s the only way we can afford to do this sport,” Sullivan said. “If you had to come up with enough money to buy a tractor like this, you’re talking 4 or $500,000.”

What keeps Sullivan coming back isn’t the trophies or rush of the sport – it’s the family environment.

“What I liked about this pull is you see people once a year, and I keep seeing them every year and it’s so great to come down here,” Sullivan said.

Wayne Sullivan placed second in the tractor pull Wednesday and is hoping to go home to Warsaw, Kentucky on Saturday with a first place finish in the finals.