Day 1 Event 2: Frame Twister
What it is: The fact is, 424 feet isn’t really that far of a distance. As a matter of fact, at 65 mph a vehicle can cover that distance in less than 4½ seconds. However, when it’s 424 feet of Frame Twister, it’s a completely different ballgame. This course contains a banner collection of items designed to challenge driver and machine every inch of the way. Highlights include the sheetmetal-mashing boulder pile, tire-grabbing log section (logs placed perpendicular to the direction of travel with deep water holes between each log), deceptive 5-foot-tall log pile, and final large culvert pipes. New this year, we added a 5-foot-deep, water-filled hole early into the course and “Trenchula,” a squiggly, deep, water-filled trench strategically placed between the log pile and the logs. Both proved to be a surprise headache for some competitors.
How it works: Each team is allowed 20 minutes. This is an increase of eight minutes from last year to compensate for the added obstacles. During this time, each competitor battles to get as far as they can on the course. Penalties, for infractions such as reversing, winching, etc., are added to each competitor’s raw time. Ranking, for those who finish, is by total elapsed time including penalties or overall distance traveled for those who don’t finish. This year, we ran the Buggy Class competitors first.
Finish Line Quotes
“When the tires are spinning and the water is splashing in your face and you hear the engine you just go. I don’t have time to think about this stuff. You just go.” –Josh Hall
“I’m glad that we got to test the vehicle. That’s what we wanted to do.” –Steven Montpas
“Awesome. Absolutely awesome. Love it. That’s why we came. All these events. Love it.” –Tim Dallner
“I love it man. This is what I do every weekend if I can.”—Alex Sanders
The Play-By-Play
Dallner’s S-10: Blew through the course and arrived at the logs with 2:00 on the clock. Got stuck, quickly winched out. Entered Trenchula with 4:49 on the clock. Winched over the log pile with 7:45 on the clock. Completed the course. Suffered a punctured passenger-side front tire and pulled the winch cable off the drum.
Hall’s Samurai: First Buggy Class competitor. Entered the logs with only 2:15 on the clock and managed to get through without winching. Rolled onto the passenger-side in Trenchula with 3:43 on the clock. Winched back on its wheels with 6:08 on the clock, but traveled out of bounds with 6:24 on the clock.
Keller’s F-350: Blazing fast run through the course. Hit the logs at speed and caught big air. Unfortunately, the truck went out of bounds with 1:51 on the clock and was disqualified. Blew a hydraulic steering line.
Montalto’s Bronco: First Truck Class competitor. Got stuck in the new hole prior to the boulders and began winching with 3:15 on the clock. Crawled the boulders with no problem. Was stuck in the logs and had winch problems with 14:00 on the clock. Managed to get unstuck and continued with no available winch. Traversed Trenchula before becoming stuck on the log pile and timing out.
Montpas’ Willys: Entered the logs with only 2:09 on the clock. Got stuck and quickly winched out. Began winching through the log pile with 4:00 on the clock. Completed the course. Along the way bent the rear driver-side lower four-link bar.
Sanders’ Chevy: Became stuck in the logs with 3:05 on the clock. Entered the log pile with 7:00 on the clock, but became stuck and suffered winch problems. Chose to end their run with 11:29 on the clock.
Seely’s Suburban: Became stuck nose-down in the new 5-foot-deep hole early into the course. Winching ensued, but mud and water caused the winch to fail. The team chose to end their run with 7:38 on the clock.
Spencer’s FJ40: Entered the logs with 2:15 on the clock. Good head of steam, but became stuck and immediately started winching. Entered Trenchula with 5:20 on the clock. Had trouble with the log pile and broke a front passenger-side CV joint and the driver-side steering knuckle bolts. Chose to end their run with 10:42 on the clock.
Timson’s YJ: Entered the logs airborne with only 1:35 on the clock. The rear output shaft in the transfer case broke, which left the rear axle with no power and the team had to winch. Traveled out of bounds with 7:42 on the clock and was disqualified at that point.
Vizenor’s “Li’l Nasty”: Came to the event with a new front driveshaft. Hit the logs at speed and caught big air. Became stuck, but quick winching and no problems on the rest of the course earned the fastest time in the Buggy Class. Cracked a high-steer arm brace somewhere along the way.
Results (time with penalties included or ranking order if DNF)
Truck Class
1. Montpas’ Willys 7 min. 46 sec.
2. Dallner’s S-10 10 min. 50 sec.
3. Montalto’s Bronco DNF
4. Keller’s F-350 DNF
5. Seely’s Suburban DNF
Buggy Class
1. Vizenor’s “Li’l Nasty” 5 min. 05 sec.
2. Timson’s YJ DNF
3. Spencer’s FJ40 DNF
4. Hall’s Samurai DNF
5. Sanders’ Chevy DNF