The Mission Valley Boat Pull Race Is Pure Montana

When I was scrolling through social media the other day, I stumbled on a race video filmed at the Mission Valley Super Oval near Polson. At first, I wrote it off as an ordinary modified-car race, but then I read the headline "Montana Redneckery at Its Finest."The race car on screen was towing an old boat with no boat trailer attached, speeding around the track with the rest of the field, lap after chaotic lap.

Wait... That's Actually The Event?

As a Montana man who grew up here and spent over a decade working with boats and fishing rods, I dragged the video progress bar back to rewatch the clip three times before I could confirm this was not a one-off prank

Drivers hook old boats to the back of their cars and see who can make it around the track while keeping the boat mostly intact. Because after a few laps, it becomes pretty obvious that preserving the boat isn't exactly the primary objective. Parts start flying. Fiberglass starts flexing. The boats take a beating. And somehow that only makes the crowd cheer louder.

The Travel Brochures Never Mention This

Out-of-state tourists who save up half a year of vacation time to visit this region only hold a fixed impression of this State. They think Montana is only for fly fishing, hiking, hunting, and gorgeous views. What they don't expect is a racetrack full of people watching cars drag trailerless boats around an oval just to see what happens.

As someone who recently blew a tire on his boat trailer, this race immediately caught my attention. It takes skill and grace to get around the track with a boat in tow. It is hard enough trying to back down the boat launch.