Race 14, Shoot `n Scoot
Upsets Are Upsetting
Race 14, Shoot 'n Scoot
The location was perfect. Remote and with minimal traffic. The pavement was rough in some places and like glass in others. Wormy, Tin Man, and Quaker Chevelle showed up early for some practice runs down the hill. Also in attendance were members Team Downhill Vegas with their longboards ready for a good time. Johnny Dog had given Baja Barbie to a buddy (who did not attend ) and brought with him his new creation, Skeletor.It is a very lightweight rail frame runner with disk brakes on rear and plastic rim 16in bike wheels in front.
The race rules were given and the starting order announced by reverse going by the finishing of the last race. This put all of the faster carts and drivers to the back where things would be more interesting.
The count was given and the carts were off.... kind of. The line up was little too far up the hill where the slope was very slight. Some carts stood still for a bit before anything happened. The few carts that rolled well were off early leaving the others to rock back and forth for momentum. Bollywood , Johnny Dog , and Wormy got the hole shot while Tin Man, Cobra, Quaker, and The Lion struggled. Johnny Dog's new cart Skeletor was light and quick leading for the first half but Wormy with his heavier Rat Fink gained the higher speeds and passed for the win. Tinman fared better in Extreme Green that the others in the back by speeding up enough to pass Bollywood, who by the way had a ridiculously good start with John Deere, and then sail in for third. Cobra was close on the heels of Tin Man and would have posted a much better finish if not for the chaotic element in racing so frustrating to the losers. After Tin Man passed the slower John Deere, Bollywood was spooked and veered to the left. The left was were Cobra was making his pass just then. Instead of tangling two open wheel carts at 50mph by allowing John Deere to slam into Mayhem, Cobra went into the dirt shoulder where he nearly lost control turning sideways and hoping in the air over rocks. After a stunning recovery Cobra went to pass John Deere twice more with similar results allowing Bollywood a respectable 4th place finish with Cobra in 5th. Quaker had a good seat to tis show as he cruised behind suffering from slow speeds due to a flat tire on Hawaiian Punch. Even worse off was The Lion piloting Chicken-Coupe. The poor cart has been digressing in each race a little more each time in it's performance leading to a 7th and last place earning after Quaker's 6th.
At the bottom of the hill Wormy could be seen in his excessive celebratory state rolling around on the ground in triumph, laughing and mocking the slower competition. There were some complaints about starting on a bad part of the hill and unfair assassination attempts while under speed, but in the end it was agreed by everyone that in the spirit of underground downhill racing the results would stand.
A fun run followed with all the carts in the same start positions and a few yards further down the hill where a better roll out could be expected so as to put mind at easy as to which carts would have rightfully won. Skeletor was a flash off the line lead the run by a good margin until Mayhem blew past on the straight away. As for the rest, I am not sure. I didn't see them see them due to how awesome I am.
1st - Wormy / Rat Fink
2nd - Johnny Dog / Skeletor
3rd - Tin Man / Extreme Green
4th - Bollywood / John Deere
5th - Cobra / Mayhem
6th - Quaker Chevelle / Hawaiian Punch
7th - The Lion / Chicken Coupe