Very surprising news in the US tractor pulling scene has revealed the Green Streak Pulling Team from Washington, Indiana on their Facebook fan page on the 7th of December 2021.
The Boyd family announced that they have decided to retire from the tractor pulling sport after 23 years. In those 23 years, the Green Streak Pulling Team competed in three different pulling classes. 20 years of it alone on the national top-level in the pro stock, mini modified and modified division very successfully. The Green Streak Pulling Team was founded by Steve Boyd in 1998. Steve started in his first season of pulling in the pro stock class with a John Deere 4455 called ''Green Streak''.
A year later, Steve, together with his sons Greg and Michael, built a second John Deere pro stock tractor called ''Green Streak 2''. The main difference between Green Streak and Green Streak 2 was the hood. Green Streak 2 received a John Deere 8400 sheet metal hood. Greg and Michael Boyd shared the driver's duties on the Green Streak 2. The first big successes of the team were achieved already in 1999.
Steve won its first big competitions with the Green Streak. In February, he won the NFMS Pull in Louisville, Kentucky, and in the summer he won the Bowling Green ring in the pro stock class. Also, the Green Streak Team registered both tractors for the ATPA (now Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League) Championship.
And it was a successful season in the ATPA series. Steve Boyd won the ATPA Championship title in the pro stock class with Green Streak.
The second tractor Green Streak 2, driven by Greg and Mike Boyd, was positioned in 7th place in the Championship. In 2006, the team signed maybe the biggest sponsor contract in their team history. The engine oil company and organization of the PPL, Lucas Oil, became the new main sponsor for the Green Streak Team in 2006. Since that contract was signed, they were very well-supported by the engine oil company.
Over the years, the Green Streak Pulling Team become one of the most known and successful pro stock teams in the USA.
The Boyd's won with their 2 John Deere pro stocks 3 ATPA Championship titles, 3 Lucas Oil PPL Champions Tour titles, 3 ATPA runner-up places, and 2 Lucas Oil PPL Champions Tour runner-up places in the point standings between 1998 and 2010. In 2010, they also competed at the PPL Champions Tour for the first time with 3 pro stock tractors. That tractor was Green Streak X (X=Experimental) a John Deere pro stock with an 8345R hood and an Engler chrome-moly tube frame. The tractor was driven by Mike Boyd and finished in his first season in 6th place in the PPL points. In that, Green Streak X were mainly new things tested for the other two Green Streak tractors.
Already after the 2010 season, the Green Streak Pulling Team wanted to stop with tractor pulling. After that year, the team sold 2 of 3 pro stocks to the Greenline Express Pulling Team from Zeeland, Michigan. But they found pretty quickly out in 2011, without tractor pulling it's a bit boring and the team returned with their last pro stock in the workshop back to the pulling tracks in 2012. And surprisingly, the guys won again the PPL Championship with the Green Streak in 2012. That success was repeated with another title the following year. After the 2012 season, the team bought their old Green Streak 2 back from the Boersen Pulling Team for 2013. Green Streak 2 was driven again by Greg Boyd.
He had some very strong results during the season, but he couldn't match the performance of his dad Steve in 2013. But Greg finished on a nice 3rd place in the point standings. After these 2 further pro stock titles, Steve wanted to try something different from pro stock pulling after 16 years. He decided to switch to the super modified class in the PPL. After Green Streak 2 was sold, the team started to work on Steve's new toy. The new mod tractor received an Engler tube chassis with 4 blown Miner Bros V8 Hemi engines. But that first season was not so easy for them. The modified tractor was a completely different animal and had around 3 1/2 times more horsepower compared to his pro stock tractor.
The first season in the super mod division with the Lucas Oil Green Streak was finished in 8th in the PPL point standings. Better was the season with their last John Deere pro stock tractor.
Steve and Greg shared the driving duties on the Green Streak pro stock and finished on a nice runner-up place in the PPL Champions Tour points.
For the 2015 season, the Green Streak Pulling Team built a second modified tractor with 4 blown MBR V8 Hemi engines and concentrated now fully on the modified class.
In 2016, the Green Streak Pulling started for the first time with their pulling tractors outside the USA.
The team was invited to the European Superpull in Ahoy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Green Streak also drove for the first and only time with 5 MBR V8 Hemi engines on both modified tractors. For them, it was a great possibility to see the difference between the US and the European pulling sport. They also met a lot of great people there in Europe at that time.
After that trip to the Netherlands, on Steve's tractor, the Lucas Oil Green Streak were replaced all 4 MBR power plants by 4 new Sassy Racing V8 Hemi engines.
Also, they built during that time their first mini modified tractor. The Green Streak mini looked the colors similar to the big tractor Lucas Oil Green Streak.
The mini had a Bobcat Jr chrome-moly tube chassis with carbon fiber fenders, a Vampire Gears planetary rear axle, and a Sassy Racing V8 Hemi engine with a 14-71 Mike Janis blower and injector scoop. That mini mod project was a big success. With a win at their first outing at the PPL Pull in Hillsboro, WI, it was clear the team also is competitive in the mini rod class. Another nice second place with Dutchman Berrie Boer behind the wheel followed at the first session of the mini mods in Bowling Green, Ohio. After a few pulls in 2016, the Green Streak mini was sold again to Donnie Reeve from Stockton, California.
The 2016 season for the Boyd's was very good, especially for Steve. He fought all season long for his maiden Championship title in the PPL super modified class against Joe Eder. Steve led the championship until the PPL finals in Wheatland, Missouri. Unfortunately, he lost the title on that last pull by 2 points due to a bad run. His son Greg finished with the MBR V8 Hemi powered Green Streak Unlimited in 7th of the PPL point standings.
After the good season with the Sassy Racing power plants built by Brian Knox, also the MBR motors on the second tractor, the Green Streak Unlimited were replaced by the same engines as on the Lucas Oil Green Streak. The year started very well for the team. Steve won the NFMS Pull and his first and only in the mod class.
His son Greg finished second behind his dad. So it was a double win for the team. During the summer season, both modified tractors were to find in the top 5 of the 2017 PPL point standings at the end of the season. 2017 also marked the return of the team with 2 component pro stock tractors. The Boyd's brought a John Deere 8345R called ''Boyd & Company Green Streak'' and a brand new John Deere 6030 called ''Green Streak X'' to the pulling track. The new 6030 John Deere component pro stock was driven by Michael Boyd and the 8345R by Michael's son Andrew.
Both tractors were registered for the PPL Champions Tour circuit, and it wasn't a bad return to the class. Andrew made his first full season in the class and did a great job with the Boyd & Company Green Streak. With a couple of nice results and a win in Altamont, Illinois, Andrew finished in his first full pro stock season on a nice 3rd place in the PPL point standings. His dad Michael won 2 PPL rounds with the brand new Green Streak X, but more than a 9th place in the very strong PPL field was not in it.
During the winter of 2017/2018, the team from Washington, Indiana built a brand new modified tractor with 4 Sassy Racing V8 Hemi engines. For the first time, the team not used an Engler tube chassis for the new tractor.
With that new mod, they also wanted to try something different compared to their other Green Streak mods. The new chassis for the tractor with all the driveline components was developed and built by Bob Barbee of Full Pull Motorsports. The new Full Pull Motorsports chassis was from the basic completely different compared to the Engler chassis. Another point which were different compared to the old chassis was the position of the engines and the rotation of the engines. The 2 power plants on the right site turned counterclockwise, and the other 2 power plants turned clockwise on the left side. With this setup, they had less twist in the chassis. The new Green Streak Unlimited debuted with Greg Boyd behind the wheel at the 2018 NFMS pull in Louisville, Kentucky.
The new chassis and setup worked great, but unfortunately, one engine had a backfire and the chances to qualify for the finals on Saturday night were gone. Not better was the same day for Steve Boyd at the NFMS pull. He did a strong test hook, but at the end of the run, something broke in the rearend of his Lucas Oil Green Streak. Unfortunately, the damage couldn't be repaired in time, and he was out before the competition really began. After the bit disappointing NFMS Pull in February, Greg and Steve had then a great summer in the PPL competitions. Greg already won with the new Green Streak Unlimited his first pull at the second points round in Fort Recovery, Ohio. After that win, it was clear that the new tractor is a real force to be reckoned with.
4 further wins followed during the season, and also his dad Steve won with the Lucas Oil Green Streak 3 events. With this amount of wins, both were in the title fight. That title fight between Steve and Greg was decided at the very last round in Wheatland, Missouri. Greg had the upper hand with the new Green Streak Unlimited at the end and won his first super modified title, 4 points ahead of his dad Steve with Lucas Oil Green Streak. That was the best modified championship result for the team ever.
Also, the pro stock team of the Green Streak Pulling Team came with a new tractor on the track in 2018. The team purchased a John Deere 8400R component pro stock from the Greenline Express Pulling Team.
The John Deere was called ''Extremely Green'' and was driven by Nick Boersen. The Greenline Express Team competed only one season with the tractor. That pro stock had a Full Pull Motorsport chassis with a 680 cui 6 cylinder JD engine with a big Wimer billet turbo and a John Deere aluminum sheet metal hood. That tractor became the new Green Streak X in 2018. In that season, the team competed with only one pro stock tractor on the PPL pulling circuits. The other 2 John Deere pro stocks, the 8345R Boyd & Company Green Streak and the 6030 Green Streak X were sold after the 2017 season. The new Green Streak X ran pretty well in his first PPL season. Michael Boyd won with the John Deere tractor 2 events that year.
That 2 wins and some very strong results brought him 4th place in the points. But in 2019, the team returned again with a second John Deere tractor in the pro stock class.
A new component pro stock tractor was built by the team with the help of Bob Barbee from Full Pull Motorsports. The new pro stock received a Full Pull Motorsports component chrome-moly tube chassis with a John Deere 7310R aluminum sheet metal hood and a turbocharged John Deere engine with 680cui. The new John Deere component pro stock was named Green Streak X. The 7310R was mainly driven by Michael Boyd, but also sometimes by his son Andrew.
The 2018 Green Streak X was renamed into Green Streak and the seat was taken over by Andrew Boyd. But this 2019 PPL pro stock season was a hard-fought class. Andrew won 2 PPL pulls but finished only in 7th in the PPL point standings. Michael's season with the new tractor wasn't better, unfortunately only one win and a 10th place in the PPL point standings. But Michael and Andrew competed not only on PPL Champions Tour that season, but they also competed on some big NTPA pulls, like Chapel Hill and Bowling Green. Chapel Hill, Tennessee was successful for Michael with the new Green Streak X. Michael achieved in Session 1 a very nice runner-up place behind Darrin Hunt with his Case IH D2 Pro Stock Edition.
Much better was the weekend at the National Tractor Pulling Championships in Bowling Green, Ohio. The first session was a double win for the Green Streak Team in the pro stock class. Andrew won with his Boyd & Company Green Streak, and his dad Michael finished runner up with the new Green Streak X. In the 2nd session of the class, they couldn't repeat the success from session 1, but both tractors were to find in 4th and 5th, this time with Michael above Andrew. The Bowling Green ring was just thinly missed.
Also in the Green Streak modified team were some changes in 2019. Greg shared his driving duties with his oldest son Austin on Green Streak Unlimited, and Steve's Lucas Oil Green Streak got a brand new chassis.
It was a wedge frame that was built by Terry Jostock from Lapeer, Michigan. The V8 engines on the wedge chassis were positioned like on the other tractor. Also, on both tractors were the Firestone Puller 2000 tires replaced by a set of new Mitas Powerpull 30.5x32 tires. With the new Jostock chassis and the brand new Mitas Powerpull tires, the new Lucas Oil Green Streak was sometimes very difficult to drive. Steve struggled a lot with the new chassis. After some bad results, they switched back to the old Engler chassis and the tractor was back in the game and competitive as well. With the Engler chassis, Steve won at the end of the season 2 events, but he was out of contention for the title fight. Better was the year with their Green Streak Unlimited.
Austin won 3 hooks that year and finished together with his dad Greg in a nice runner-up place in the Championship behind Sullivan's ''Kentuckian''.
In 2020, the Boyd's wanted to compete for the first time with both of their modified tractors in the NTPA Grand National Championship in the 8000lbs Unlimited division. That plan of them was officially released at the NFMS in Louisville, Kentucky. They didn't compete with the modified tractor there, but the Lucas Oil Green Streak was exposed at the stand of Mitas Tires there.
But, Michael and Andrew competed with both pro stock tractors at the 2020 NFMS pull. Andrew couldn't qualify with the Green Streak for the finals on Saturday night. But his dad Michael could qualify with Green Streak X with a 2nd place for the finals but blew his turbocharger.
But that blown turbocharger was changed until the finals. Michael made it very exciting at the finals, due to technical problems he dropped to the end of the field and got a second attempt as the last puller. In the finals, the John Deere was on kill and Michael pulled the sled to 241.218 feet. It wasn't enough for the win, but enough for the runner up place in this class.
Before the US pulling season really started, then came COVID-19, and all the plans were suddenly unclear for 2020. The NTPA GN Championship season was canceled, as well as almost all PPL Champions Tour events. That meant the plan to run in the NTPA GN Championship in the unlimited class was not possible.
First, it looked like it will be a sabbatical year for the team, but during the summer came the good news, that the PPL pull in Farley, Iowa would take place.
So the team started with both modified tractors there, but they also brought a new tractor in the trailer to Farley. The Boyd's made a return to the mini rod class for the first time since 2016. Austin drove the Green Streak Mini there, and he finished in both sessions on a nice 3rd place. That mini wasn't newly built by the team, they purchased the tractor during the winter of 2020.
The mini was the former Honkin' Donkey Black of Jason Hathaway from Washington, Pennsylvania.
With the pro stocks, they competed on two pulling events during the summer.
After that season, Michael and Andrew decided to retire from tractor pulling sport and both pro stocks Green Streak and Green Streak X were sold to the Simon's Pulling Team from Farley, Iowa. But the John Deere 8400R Green Streak was later further sold to the Bootlegger Pulling Team from Rockwood, Pennsylvania.
In their final season in 2021, the Green Streak Pulling Team campaigned again on the PPL Champions Tour with 2 tractors in the super modified division and with 2 minis in the mini rod class.
That season was a great year for the team. In both classes, they battled until the final round of the championship for the title. In the super modified division, they battled with both Green Streak tractors against the Long brothers both mod tractors for the title.
The Long brothers won the final round in Wheatland, but the Boyd's won the Championship with the Lucas Oil Green Streak, 3 points ahead of Ricky Long with MAVTV. The second tractor Green Streak Limited finished in 4th place, only 5 points behind their championship-winning tractor Lucas Oil Green Streak and a single point behind the third-placed tractor Lucas Oil of Keith Long. What a close championship finish!
Both tractors were driven by Steve, Greg, and Austin Boyd during the season. The team won in total 6 hooks in the PPL super modified class in that year. Alone, Austin achieved 5 modified wins for the team.
Also, with their mini rod Green Streak Black, they were in the title hunt through the whole season. Austin Boyd won 3 events with the tractor during the season and led the championship until the final points round. But a bad result in Wheatland, Missouri cost him the title by just 2 points. The title went to Grayson Shelton with Sawed-Off from New London, North Carolina.
The second mini rod of the team, the Green Streak Green, ran not bad, but more than a 8th place in the point's evaluation was not possible.
Alongside their pulling tractors, they also had a nice big workshop for their whole pulling equipment. With their achieved tractor pulling experience during the years, they also founded with ''Boyd Performance'' a little company for pulling engines.
In that little company were 4 people employed full time. That were Shannon Leischner (son of PPL mod super mod champ Bill Leischner), Brian Knox (Hemi engine specialist), Brad Wachob and Chase Clymer. At Boyd Performance, a lot of engines were built and repaired for different top pulling teams in the USA. They used the finest quality parts for the engines and made machine and cylinder head services. They also had a flow bench in the workshop to service any fuel system. Alongside that, they also had an engine dyno built and designed for unparalleled data acquisition capabilities handling up to 8000hp and 10000 ft/lbs of torque.
After that decision was made to retire from the pulling sport, the team have decided to sell all their pulling equipment, all modified and mini rod tractors, their semi-trucks with trailer, and all the equipment including the engine dyno in their workshop of Boyd Performance.
The Green Streak Pulling Team achieved a lot of wins and national titles in the pro stock and modified classes during the last 23 years. The Team was always a fair competitor and helped many other pulling teams if they had problems with their tractors etc.
The Green Streak Pulling Team always had an open ear for the spectators if they had any questions about the technic of the tractors.
One thing is for sure, the Boyd family always had a great team behind in the workshop and at the events. Without the team behind, the success they achieved would never have come about as a result. And these people were Shannon Leischner, Brian Knox, Jason Davis, Brad Wachob, Chase Clymer, Grant Davis, Tim Strickland and many more.
By the note, I also had the chance to meet them at the European Superpull in Ahoy, Rotterdam in 2016. It was a pleasure for me to have met the team there.
Definitely, the US pulling sport has lost a great team and will be missed by the competitors and fans in the future.
Who knows, maybe one day they will return with a new pulling tractor. We will see what will happen in the future.
I would like to thank Greg and Austin Boyd for the support of the articles on pullingworld.com about their tractors in the past!
We wish the Boyd family a happy retirement from the pulling sport and good luck for the future.
