Clear skies and warmer temperatures greeted fans
and driver today making for a great day on the
rocks for everyone. A light snow fell overnight
and collected on the ground. Most of the snow
had melted by the time the courses were started.
Hobie
Smith, owner of Formula Toy #010 scored 36 points on
course M6. This was a good score for the course but what
made it interesting was the way Hobie crossed the
finish line. On his side!.
At the
end of the course Hobie does a complete roll, and landed
on the passenger side of the rig just 3 feet from the
finish gate. Repeated attempts to start the rig were
unsuccessful. You just cant get a carburetor to run when
it's upside down. With just a little battery power left
it was time for desperate measures.... It's time for a
temporary switch over to fuel injection. Out comes a can
of
starter
fluid and the with several blasts into the motor the
team was able to feed the motor on pure starting
fluid. The two wheels on the ground had just enough
traction to pull the rig rear axle past the finish line.
With only 3 seconds remaining on the clock this was a
great example of never giving up and using everything at
your disposal.
Saturday Coverage:
Sitting in first
place in the Formula Toy class at the end of day one was
Mike Falkosky (above). Mike was the only F-Toy driver to
score well on every course.
It was so
cold today that even some of the dogs had sweaters on.
Chris Dunbar launched over 100 shirts into the air above crowd
with the Trail-Gear t-shirt launcher. This has got to be
the best use for a Powertank I have ever seen!
Bob Standage (above) sits just 7 points ahead of second
place Dean Bullock in the Super Stock Class.
John James (above and bellow)
broke his front transfer case output shaft trying the
optional D gate on course #2
It's a cold one this weekend at Cougar Buttes.
Snow flurries continue to blow across the event
site all day. Some drivers and spectators we
unable to get to the event site due to closed
mountain passes leading to the valley. Gusty
winds and cold temperatures are the order of the
day. Over night is was 25 degrees, and the
daytime high was 39. Burrr.
Over
all points leader for the day and leader in the
Trophy class Jason Scherer and spotter
Lance Clifford (above) seem to be able to climb
everything they point "Tiny" at. Working well
together, this pair is making it look easy.
Team Trail-Gear (above and below) was sitting in
second place until taking on obstacle M2. Going
for the bonus line on gate D, they entered the
crack just a bit early and ended up bound up and
on their side. While trying to work it out of a
jam, the rear transfer case output shaft broke
leaving the team with only front wheel drive.
During the extraction from the v-notch, the
front ring and pinion broke and the hydro ram
twisted like a pretzel. It took about an hour
and three winches to extract the rig from the
course.
Marlin
took a turn at driving the shop's Formula Toy
this weekend. Placing 4th out of 7 in the
Formula Toy Class. Courses 2 and 3 gave The teem
some difficulty. On course 2 Marlin went for the
bonus line at gate D. He took a sweet line into
the V-notch that consumed two other F-Toys
today. With attentive spotting, Johnathan
Wisener was able to put Marlin into a great line
on the notch. Once in the notch his rig laid
over onto the driver side but was stabilized by
the roll cage on the rocks. The position would
have worked had the motor not cut out due to
fuel starvation. The summit racing fuel sell had
it's pickup on the right side of the tank and
when the right side of the truck was in the air,
the pump inlet was exposed to air in the tank.
It was very frustrating to have completed the
most difficult section of the day only to time
out because of a minor fuel glitch.
Today's air may have been cold but the action on
the rocks was HOT. These teams are working their
skills and their rigs to take home the Trophys.
Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for clearing
skies and warmer temperatures so come on out to
the event site and enjoy true rock crawling
action as the nations top drivers push their
rigs to the absolute limits.
Hobie
Smith, owner of Formula Toy #010 scored 36 points on
course M6. This was a good score for the course but what
made it interesting was the way Hobie crossed the
finish line. On his side!. 
starter
fluid and the with several blasts into the motor the
team was able to feed the motor on pure starting
fluid. The two wheels on the ground had just enough
traction to pull the rig rear axle past the finish line.
With only 3 seconds remaining on the clock this was a
great example of never giving up and using everything at
your disposal.
Marlin
took a turn at driving the shop's Formula Toy
this weekend. Placing 4th out of 7 in the
Formula Toy Class. Courses 2 and 3 gave The teem
some difficulty. On course 2 Marlin went for the
bonus line at gate D. He took a sweet line into
the V-notch that consumed two other F-Toys
today. With attentive spotting, Johnathan
Wisener was able to put Marlin into a great line
on the notch. Once in the notch his rig laid
over onto the driver side but was stabilized by
the roll cage on the rocks. The position would
have worked had the motor not cut out due to
fuel starvation. The summit racing fuel sell had
it's pickup on the right side of the tank and
when the right side of the truck was in the air,
the pump inlet was exposed to air in the tank.
It was very frustrating to have completed the
most difficult section of the day only to time
out because of a minor fuel glitch. 
