Day Four
The Hill
Every year we have to find another hill for our Top Truck competitors to try to conquer. The park's neighbors, who mostly grow grapes for wine, sometimes complain about dust from our activities falling on their crops. While this might seem like a bit of a bummer, we are happy to oblige them as it gives the park rangers an opportunity to find a new and even more challenging hill. And certainly we're in favor of keeping the wine crop safe.
This year, the rangers once again outdid themselves (as they seem to every year) and found a nice, steep hill for our competitors to climb. Big ruts at the bottom of the hill were bound to give our challengers some headaches. Worse yet was that the hill was very slippery, with a thin layer of loose dirt on top of hard-packed soil. This meant that traction would be hard to come by. Concerned that the hill might be a little too much, our judges decided to have an ideal time to the top. The idea here was to keep the competitors from attempting full-throttle assaults on the hill to get the quickest time which, we hoped, would eliminate the chance of a roll. It would also change the Hillclimb from a horsepower contest to more of a test of driving skill, something we always endorse. After running the hill themselves, the judges deemed that getting to the top in 1 minute and 30 seconds would require plenty of skill. The competitor that came closest to the ideal time would be the winner.
Course Notes: The Hill
Toyota: Cruised right up without any problems. Just took it nice and easy.
Moeser Dozer: Big ruts were narrow for this fullsize truck, but it still cruised up. Seemed slower than most of the others.
Jimmy: Suspension worked well and it found traction without any problems. Good pace.
M-37: Had a little trouble finding traction but still made it up.
Big Bad 'Burb: Seemed really tall going up the Hill, but Brian must be used to it.
F-150: Was from the Texas flatlands and didn't like the idea of climbing the Hill, but still made it up.
Jolly Green CJ: Lots of air pressure in its tires and huge spare tire on the back made it look scary, but it had no trouble.
S-10 Hybrid: Putted right up and propane-injection made the Hill smell like a barbecue.
Jeep 5.0: Ran out of steam, missed a downshift, and rolled. No injuries.
Hot Rod: Big-block 460 V-8 had no problem getting to the top.
Day 4 Results- The Hill
Results (Seconds Off Ideal Time)
Jimmy: 5.5
Toyota: 7.4v S-10 Hybrid: 8.3
M-37: 8.4
F-150: 11.5
Big Bad 'Burb: 13.8
Hot Rod: 28.4
Moeser Dozer: 32.3
Jolly Green CJ: 37.4
Jeep 5.0: DNF
The Obstacle Course
The Obstacle Course is like an amusement park for our competitors, with plenty of wild rides. The tight little course winds up, down, and through what resembles a gravel pit but without the gravel. To keep things interesting for the competitors, the judges and rangers construct as many obstacles as possible, giving the event its imaginative name. Plenty of mud, water, and dirt mounds can be found sprinkled throughout the course to test the driving skills of the competitors.
After the course is constructed, the judges make a path of cones that guides the competitors through the most difficult sections of the course. Hills, ruts, and tricky off-camber sections all must be traversed. The cones also make the course very tight, which means that smaller, nimbler rigs are the favorites while those with big turning radiuses find themselves doing lots of three-point turns. Of course, the competitors can always decide to take out a few innocent cones but every cone that gets knocked down brings a two-second penalty. With the winner judged on the quickest time, every second counts, so the fewer the cones killed, the better.
Course Notes: The Obstacle Course
S-10 Hybrid: Took the course very slowly.
Jolly Green CJ: Also putted through the course.
M-37: Broke a hub right away coming down the first hill. Got stuck in mud and timed out.
Toyota: Almost wiped out coming down the off-camber section. Mud hole was too big for it and it got stuck and timed out.
F-150: Was very big for the course. Made it through, but not quickly, and took out four cones.
Moeser Dozer: Impressive run for such a big truck. Was making good time until it lost a rear tire, but still finished.
Jimmy: Very nimble for a truck of its size. Made fast progress and blew through the mud hole.
Big Bad 'Burb: Didn't hit any cones, which was impressive for such a huge truck.
Hot Rod: The little pink roadster was fast and nimble.
Jeep 5.0: Did not start the event. Was busy checking for damage from rollover on the Hillclimb.
Day 4 Results- The Obstacle Course
(Time Through Course)
Jimmy: 1:24
Hot Rod: 1:34
Big Bad 'Burb: 1:37
Jolly Green CJ: 2:04
Moeser Dozer: 2:18
S-10 Hybrid: 2:36
F-150: 3:31
Toyota: DNF
M-37: DNF
Jeep 5.0: DNS