Top Truck Challenge 2008 - Shake, Battle & Roll

Hair's Wagoneer

Day 2 Event 2
The Hillclimb
What it is and how it works: Our 600-foot Hillclimb is pretty typical as far as hillclimbs go. Or not. This one-of-a-kind, heart-pounding event combines a steep natural hillclimb with gobs of loose dirt and a few sweeping turns for good measure. Oh, and did we mention the deep, strategically-placed holes? This event rewards those who can think on the fly and it punishes those whose minds have already wandered to the next event. Rigs are ranked according to how fast they climb to the top. Rigs that don't make it to the top are ranked in order of how far they traveled. This year, more than half the field failed to reach the top. Also new this year, we let competitors bask in the glory of continuing up the hill after they DNF'd if they wished.

Finish Line Quotes
"That is a crazy hill. This is the mother of all hills."
-Randy Swartz

"Man, a lot different than I expected. Lots of fun. What an adrenalin rush."
-Brandon Lammers

"I didn't realize we were gonna have off-cambers and all that."
-Jeff Wood

"It was pretty scary for me. I was shakin' a lot down at the bottom."
-Clayton Kraatz

"That's pretty nasty. I didn't think it was going to be that rough."
-Scott Morris

The Nitty-Gritty
Beck's International: Last competitor. Great run until the last hole, when a bad line flipped the truck completely onto its top.

Hair's Wagoneer: First competitor. Came into the event with a borrowed tie rod installed to replace the one that was bent in the Frame Twister. Rolled onto the passenger side in the final hole and broke the tie-rod mount from the passenger-side knuckle.

Hulbert's Willys: The carburetor on the 327ci engine didn't like the incline of the hill, and it sputtered to a halt at the 103-foot mark.

Kraatz' Warthog: Flew up the hill to easily post the fastest time of the event. Came close to rolling in the final hole, but the driver stayed on the gas and drove out of it.

Lammers' Bronco: Came off the line strong but lost momentum at the 223-foot mark and was marked there. Driver continued on and flopped the rig onto its passenger side in the last hole, but drove out of it to the top of the hill.

Morris' Buggy: Tried to shift from First to Second gear, but the rough course caused the driver to shift into Reverse, which caused the rig to come to a momentary complete stop at the 261-foot mark, thus ending his run.

Naeger's Buggy: Third competitor to run, and even though the driver was suffering from an excruciating old back injury, he took honors as the first rig to top the hill this year.

Swartz' Chevy: Replaced the front-axle ring-and-pinion with the help of all of the other teams during the lunch break before the Hillclimb. The lack of a front locker hurt him, though, and he lost momentum and stopped at the 216-foot mark.

Wood's CJ-5: Slowest of the rigs that made it to the top, but not by much. The Cummins 4BT pulled strong and the rig crawled through the final hole with just a bit of front wheel lift.