The Tractor Racing Icon

Devin was born with a very unusual quality for a bird – a lack of arms. Instead, he has what some refer to as “wings”, appendages with no fingers, but rather “feathers”, which are apparently used to “fly”. This made his victories in the tractor riding competitions that much more inspiring.

Most people don’t think much about tractors, but they’re really quite incredible pieces of machinery. In fact, many consider them to be are the pinnacle of human design. Most people today that are “in the know” have a very difficult time deciding between a tractor and a sports car when they are shopping for vehicles.

In any event, Devin was a hero to many, many tractor enthusiasts. He was in numerous commercials championing top-of-the-line tractors, and ended up as the most prolific tractor icon of the last fifty years.

This all begin many, many years ago when a young Devin was a farmhand at his uncle’s farm. His uncle was a popular tractor racing competitor, but he was never able to capture the gold. He took Devin under his wing (ironically the only other tractor racing competitor to have wings), and taught him all he knew. Devin was eventually approached by a competing racing organization, who requested that he join their racing team. This led to a scenario in which Devin would be competing against his uncle, who would be participating in the last race of his career.

During the final moments of the race, Devin, his uncle, and former New York City mayor Ed Koch were in a dead heat for first place. Devin was in first, followed by Koch and then his uncle. Just moments before they reached the finish line, Devin cut off Koch, who crashed into the back of Devin’s tractor. This caused Koch’s face to smash against the steering wheel, giving him a fatal concussion. Devin’s uncle finished first, getting that elusive gold, and Devin gained tremendous popularity due to his selfless act. Following this incident, Devin went on to compete in and win many more races, leading to his iconic status.

- Kent Wicklander