Day 2 Event 1: The Obstacle Course
Our low-speed Obstacle Course is approximately ¼-mile of non-stop pucker. Historically it’s been tough, but this year we bumped it up a notch so our champions wouldn’t get bored. It still starts out with a gnarly, long, slippery hill descent that we simply call the “frst hill.” Descending the frst hill drops competitors into what we call the “lower section,” which contains a 360-degree turn around a couple of water holes. From there competitors travel up a hill to the “upper section.” Here they’re subjected to a twisty, rapid fre collection of obstacles including a new 6-foot-deep trench that could either be crawled or jumped. From there they head to the fnal section that includes a tricky off-camber dogleg. Cones mark the course and hitting one of them earns a 10-second penalty each. If three or more tires of a vehicle travel outside of a cone the competitor is issued a DNF at that point. Because of the increased number of vehicles this year we decreased the time limit for each competitor from 10 to 8 minutes. Ranking is by overall time for those who fnish or overall distance traveled for those who don’t. The key here is accuracy because those cone penalties can bloat an elapsed time pretty quick. This year, the course put three vehicles in a headlock. the Play-By-Play
The Play-By-Play
Austin: Descended the frst hill in 18 seconds.Jumped the trench, but the landing pancaked the lower control arm brackets at the frame, which allowed the axle to shift rearward and the driveshaft yoke to bottom out thus spearing the driveshaft into the transfer case. This in turn cracked the bellhousing in two. Chose to end the run with 2:50 on the clock. The driver had the repair parts but it was determined that it would’ve taken too long and too many points would’ve been lost to stay competitive.
Burton: Third competitor. Descended the frst hill in only 16 seconds. Blazing fast run until an unseen deep hole swallowed the vehicle’s driver-side front wheel while the vehicle was completing a 180-degree left-hand turn in the upper section above the trench, causing the rig to roll onto the driver-side. Received a DNF at that point.
Campbell: Incredibly fast run. Was at the bottom of the frst hill with only 12 seconds on the clock. Jumped the trench and avoided all but one water hole. Only hit one cone.
Duffy: Fast run to the bottom of the frst hill, arriving with only 18 seconds on the clock. From there, a conservative run that included crawling the trench and avoiding most of the water holes. Hit fve cones.
Ellis: Last competitor. With the 1.6L four-cylinder engine screaming he made it to the bottom of the frst hill with 26 seconds on the clock. Big air jump over the trench. Stopped to realign coming out of the last water hole in the upper section in an attempt to miss hitting a cone. Only hit two cones.
Fox: Came to the event sporting a new steering box. Careful descent of the frst hill, arriving at the base with 29 seconds on the clock. Crawled the trench and avoided all of the water holes except one. Broke the pitman arm and damaged the steering box lower sector shaft bearing in the dogleg.
George: With only 21 seconds on the clock he was at the bottom of the frst hill. With no rear steer he had to back up a couple of times in the tight sections. Successfully jumped the trench and only hit two cones.
Gray: With only 17 seconds on the clock, he had descended the frst hill. Crawled the trench, but with 1:20 on the clock he ran off course in the upper section and lost time. Tried to make up time in the fnal section but hit the dogleg too fast and sheared all four steering arm bolts on the driver-side of the front axle, broke the steering support on the end of the steering arm, bent the inside of the Stazworks wheel, and split the steering knuckle top and bottom. Annihilated 14 cones during his run.
Green: Fast run to the bottom of the frst hill in only 20 seconds. Restrained, calculated run and was the frst vehicle to crawl the trench. Only hit one cone.
harrell: Fast run to the bottom of the frst hill in only 16 seconds. Jumped the trench and avoided all but one water hole. Penalized for hitting four cones. The custom-cut tires threw so much dust the driver had to stop occasionally to let the dust clear so he could see the course.
Karwath: Blazing run that found him at the bottom of the frst hill with only 15 seconds on the clock and leaving the upper section with only 1:18 on the clock. Crawled the trench. Only hit two cones.
Kraatz: At the starting line Kraatz gave up the driver position to truck owner and former TTC competitor Leroy Latham. Latham fred the engine with 28 seconds on the clock and they descended the frst hill with 51 seconds on the clock. Crawled the trench. Only hit two cones.
Montpas: Came to the Obstacle Course with new driveshaft U-joints to replace ones that were presumably damaged the previous day in the Tow Test. Descended the frst hill with 24 seconds on the clock and then crawled the trench. Only hit two cones.
Naeger: Second competitor. Arrived at the bottom of the frst hill with 30 seconds on the clock. Successfully jumped the trench but the throttle pedal became damaged during the landing and the throttle cable broke. He had a pair of Vice Grips on hand for such an emergency and they were quickly attached to the throttle cable so it could be operated by hand. The spotter operated the throttle for the rest of the course. Only hit one cone.
Sanders: Made it to the bottom of the frst hill in 21 seconds. With 1:01 on the clock the power steering pump had blown apart and the driver was out of the vehicle. With 3:04 on the clock he had strapped in and was restarting the engine to complete the course with no power steering. Crawled the rest of course in front-wheel drive, only using four-wheel drive in the trench. Only hit four cones.
Thorson: Cleared the frst hill with only 15 seconds on the clock. Big air over the trench and avoided all of the water holes. Penalized for hitting six cones.
Waddell: Descended the frst hill with 20 seconds on the clock. Fast run on the course with no drama and only contacting three cones.
Wager: First competitor. Slow run to the bottom of the frst hill with 43 seconds on the clock. Attempted to jump the trench but the back wheels fell short, which caused the rear of the vehicle to contact the lip of the trench, kick up, and toss the vehicle end-over-end.
Finish Line Quotes
-“It was great. I had a blast. I want to jumpit again.”
– Jeremy Naeger
-“That was maybe a bit much, but I heard that the frst buggy went in and he didn’t carry enough speed and caught the rear and fipped him over and I didn’t want to do that.”
– Ron George
-“There was more turns in there. I didn’t study the map close enough that was for sure.”
– Jason Gray
-“I was planning on not using rear steer unless I had to, then I realized I had to.”
– Brian Waddell
Results
(elapsed time including penalties or ranking if DNF)
1. Campbell .................................... 1 min. 26 sec.
2. Karwath ...................................... 1 min. 53 sec.
3. Ellis ........................................... 2 min. 04 sec.
4. George........................................ 2 min. 06 sec.
5. Green ......................................... 2 min. 07 sec.
6. Harrell ........................................ 2 min. 09 sec.
7. Thorson ...................................... 2 min. 12 sec.
8. Waddell ...................................... 2 min. 18 sec.
9. Kraatz ........................................ 2 min. 25 sec.
10. Montpas ..................................... 2 min. 28 sec.
11. Duffy .......................................... 2 min. 36 sec.
12. Fox ............................................ 2 min. 39 sec.
13. Naeger ....................................... 2 min. 51 sec.
14. Gray .......................................... 3 min. 34 sec.
15. Sanders ...................................... 5 min. 25 sec.
16. Austin .......................................................DNF
17. Wager .......................................................DNF
18. Burton .......................................................DNF