Top Truck Challenge 2001

The Tank Trap

We have always wanted an actual tank to attempt the Tank Trap to see if this Mother of All Obstacles could live up to its name. So far, we haven't had any volunteers from the military. So instead we make our 10 competitors run through this awesome gauntlet.

What makes the Tank Trap so hard? Giant earthen berms must be climbed, and once competitors reach their summits, they instantly drop into massive bodies of water. The unlucky ones, those who can't escape these quagmires--we poured 12,000 gallons of water into the Tank Trap this year--get to swim for their winch cables. Usually competitors are feeling pretty good when they make it through the first couple of holes. Too bad they have four more water traps to cross, with the last one resembling a small lake.

On top of this is the long, No Man's Land canyon section between holes 2 and 3. This place basically is a mess. Massive ruts are everywhere and there isn't a square inch of level ground. Competitors can always try to winch through this section, but finding anywhere to winch to can be a challenge, as the walls of the canyon are tall and vertical.

Figuring out who wins the Tank Trap is easy. Those lucky few that make it through before the 30-minute time limit expires are given a time. The quickest is the winner. The rest are judged on the distance traveled before their rigs blew up or they timed out.

Course Notes: The Tank Trap

Moeser Dozer: Done in Hole 2 when a tire bead blew off.
F-150: Carburetor gave him a lot of trouble going through canyon. Finally timed out with broken steering.
Big Bad 'Burb: Blew through with no problems. Used the winch to get through Holes 5 and 6.
Toyota: Started broken and timed out, but the guys were still having fun.
Jeep 5.0: Tried to winch through most of No Man's Land but ran out of time.
Hot Rod: Both driver and co-driver seemed experienced and worked well as a team.
Jimmy: Too much time spent trying to save body. Timed out.
S-10 Hybrid: Used winch once in Hole 6 and blasted through the rest of the Trap.
M-37: Had problems but never gave up.
Jolly Green CJ: Lots of problems with fuel injection.

Day 4 Results- The Tank Trap

Results (Time/Points)

S-10 Hybrid: 7:06/25
Big Bad 'Burb: 8:49/22.5
Hot Rod: 22:43/20
M-37: DNF/17.5
Toyota: DNF/15
Jeep 5.0: DNF/12.5
Jimmy: DNF/10
F-150: DNF/7.5
Jolly Green CJ: DNF/5
Moeser Dozer: DNF/2.5

Day Five

Finally the dust settled, the Tank Trap's waters became still again, and the Trap's sides were returned to the quiet of poison oak and rattlesnake. After a long week of battling it out, our weary competitors could finally rest. However, the judges and the rest of the staff were busy tabulating the points into the wee hours of the morning to figure out who won what. Besides the obvious First-, Second-, and Third-place finishers, there were plenty of other categories that the judges and staff spent most of the night debating about. Here is what we came up with before we decided it was time to go to bed:

Best Engineered: This award is actually decided by the points given during the engineering judging on the first day of activities. The judges spend plenty of time looking at each vehicle and its construction to determine who has done the nicest job of building their vehicle. Stephen and his super-trick '82 Jimmy won easily.

Team Spirit Award: The Team Spirit Award does not involve any points. Instead, it is up to us figure out what team worked together the best. Besides teamwork, this award also goes to the team that had the best competitive spirit. With their never-say-die attitude, the M-37 team definitely deserved this award.

Driving Elegant Award: Another award that doesn't involve points but rather a decision by the judges and staff. It goes to the driver who shows the most finesse and skill when traversing the many obstacles of Top Truck Challenge. For his smooth-and-steady driving, Ferris received the Driving Elegant Award.

Long Distance Award: Figuring out the Long Distance Award is fairly easy. We look at who had the longest trip out to compete in Top Truck Challenge. This year the award went to Chris and the Moeser Dozer. Chris and his friends made the long trip out from Penndell, Pennsylvania.

People's Choice Award: This award is the only one decided by the competitors. They pick which rig besides their own that they would most like to take home with them. This year the competitors decided that they would love to load up Robin's S-10 Hybrid on their trailers.

Most Records Broken Award: This was a new category for this year. It is rare that somebody breaks a record. Even more rare that they break two. Robin and his S-10 Hybrid did just that. He set fast times for both the Frame Twister and the Tank Trap, so naturally this award went to him.

With all the awards finally handed out, Top Truck Challenge 2001 came to a close, leaving us to prepare for next year's event. If you want to check out all the loot that the competitors won for each award, check out Top Truck Gear on page 58 of this issue.

Day 5- Final Results