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MotorTranscript
00:00 (rock music)
00:02 (rock music)
00:31 - Top Truck Challenge 2015.
00:34 You've got 10 minutes to complete the obstacle course.
00:36 A 10 second penalty is added for each cone you hit.
00:39 Get four tires out of bounds, disqualify.
00:42 - In years past, we've only given them a map of the course.
00:45 This year, we're letting them look at the course
00:47 ahead of time.
00:48 All right, so once we're down here into the bowl,
00:50 this is the end of the course.
00:51 Look at how deep these holes are.
00:53 There's plenty of holes in a spiral formation
00:55 and lots of off-camber traction action.
00:58 - Now Chris Bowman draws the pole position
01:01 for the obstacle course, which is not the best place
01:03 to be in the obstacle course,
01:04 'cause the obstacles are at their most difficult.
01:07 Now this year, we're starting them at the finish line
01:09 from last year, so they have to go up
01:12 this off-camber section and have gravity work against them.
01:15 Now wait, as he passes by me, you can see right there,
01:18 he is, he's lost some links.
01:21 The rear links going to his axle are broken.
01:25 He is leaf sprung, so these links are not components
01:29 to keep him steady and straight,
01:30 but they're more like anti-wrap bars.
01:33 Now he dropped, oh, he dropped the head nose first.
01:36 He's standing on his head!
01:37 (crowd cheering)
01:40 (laughing)
01:42 He brings it back down.
01:44 Pucker factor 15.
01:46 That was cool.
01:47 Once again, these dips are at their deepest
01:50 when you're the first one going through.
01:52 Every car that goes through plows some dirt down there
01:55 and they get less and less difficult.
02:00 Very good part, now look how fast that winch is.
02:02 He calls it Franken-winch.
02:04 Oh, there he goes, he broke the cable on his winch.
02:09 - What do you want to do?
02:10 - Uh, we got anything backwards to winch, dude?
02:12 - Yeah.
02:12 (engine revving)
02:16 - Opting for the rear winch.
02:17 Burning up a lot of time.
02:20 He's making it, he's got it out.
02:24 And right there, he runs out of time.
02:28 (engine revving)
02:30 And Jeremy Brown's next in the obstacle course,
02:33 screaming up that hill.
02:35 Now he's coming down to that dip.
02:36 He's the second person into it.
02:37 Let's see how he responds.
02:39 (engine revving)
02:42 Nice turn, really smooth.
02:48 Now let's see if he can get over these bumps
02:50 without high centering.
02:51 He does have a little bit smaller tires than most,
02:54 but he should be able to navigate this.
02:57 (engine revving)
03:00 And maybe not.
03:02 - Right now, they're seven minutes in.
03:05 They got a 10 minute time limit,
03:06 so they got about three minutes to get out of this,
03:07 get to the finish line.
03:09 - Yeah, they're burning up a lot of time.
03:12 You've got to be prepared for every situation.
03:14 (engine revving)
03:16 - Time run out.
03:17 (horn honking)
03:21 - Oh, that is sweet.
03:23 Look at the articulation in Kim Gray's rig.
03:27 That is awesome.
03:28 This drop here in the upper plateau is getting mellowed out.
03:33 She's starting to prepare for her turn.
03:35 She's turning driver's side just a tad.
03:38 She does not have rear steer,
03:42 so let's see how she plays this.
03:44 She walks up the wall.
03:45 Excellent.
03:47 She's model perfect driving so far.
03:52 Truck's holding together.
03:53 Great model of consistency.
03:55 And she's making this look easy.
03:59 First time she gets on the throttle there,
04:03 coming out of that berm,
04:04 drops down into the lower plateau.
04:07 Yep, he's lost his power steering belt.
04:10 He does have a spare belt.
04:11 He's going to try and get it in there,
04:13 but you know, when you're in a rush for time
04:16 and you don't have all your tools with you,
04:18 they're going to try just muscling it.
04:20 They're both working real hard on that wheel,
04:23 and it's not working.
04:25 They've got less than a minute,
04:27 and they're going to go to the winch,
04:28 see how far they can get.
04:29 I don't think they're going to complete.
04:30 Nope, and there it is.
04:31 Time is out.
04:33 Good try.
04:35 (crowd applauding)
04:38 Now, Ryan Egan is the next to attack the obstacle course.
04:44 Now, remember, he's got smaller tires than most.
04:45 He's only running 42s.
04:47 He's got a well-balanced rig, no rear steer.
04:49 So let's see what he can do to make a great run out of this.
04:54 Drops in nice and easy.
04:55 He makes a nice hard turn.
04:56 Let's see if he can crawl that wall.
04:58 He sticks it, three wheels it, up and down.
05:06 He's got it.
05:07 Nice, he's got a great departure angle,
05:13 so he doesn't hang up with his front bumper
05:15 on those deep pits.
05:17 Awesome.
05:18 He's the fastest through.
05:19 The upper plateau than everyone else so far.
05:22 Now, the bottom wall, he does choose.
05:25 He's opting to hit some cones.
05:27 He's got smaller tires,
05:30 so he's got to avoid those deep ends of those pits.
05:34 Look at it, just swallows him up.
05:35 And they go to the winch.
05:38 He's got that truck buried in those holes.
05:43 Those holes are deep.
05:44 Now, the only problem with the pull that he's got
05:49 is that the pull is pulling him off course.
05:53 So, the communication between the spotter
05:56 and the driver is intense right now,
05:58 trying to get the right amount of throttle
05:59 and the right amount of winch.
06:01 The winch is doing the work.
06:03 He's getting around it,
06:03 but he's probably going to have to restring it here.
06:06 And look at that.
06:08 See how he holds his hands up?
06:09 He's communicating non-verbally to his spotter
06:11 that you are clear to move the winch.
06:14 I'm not driving, I'm not moving the vehicle.
06:16 Excellent communication, both verbal and non-verbal.
06:19 Now, he's got to make this turn
06:22 because he's got a hard, unforgiving bulldozer
06:24 on that left corner.
06:25 Detach the winch.
06:28 Let's see if he can make this turn.
06:31 Backs it up, goes, yes!
06:32 He's got it, first one through.
06:34 (crowd cheering)
06:38 Eric Hamm is next into the obstacle course.
06:44 Now, he's got some great tools for the obstacle course.
06:46 He's got a cheater knob on his steering wheel,
06:49 and his other hand is on the rear steer.
06:52 So one hand operates the front axle,
06:54 one hand operates the back axle.
06:56 It's like rubbing your stomach and patting your head,
06:57 but he's got this down.
06:59 Something's been missing on his motor,
07:00 but he seems to have it worked out.
07:02 Nice use of rear steer and front axle coordination.
07:10 Backs it up, and he's going to get through this real easily.
07:15 And there it goes.
07:16 Now he's having issues with his motor again.
07:18 It's just stuttering and stammering.
07:21 He's been fighting it.
07:21 He said in Canada, when he was testing it out,
07:23 it was running great.
07:24 He gets here to California and it's just not cooperating.
07:27 Now into the lower plateau.
07:30 He's hitting it pretty hard.
07:31 Yeah, his spotter just said,
07:34 "Let's take another cone pedal and get around this thing."
07:35 He's using the rear steer quite well, and now he's stuck.
07:39 He's in there.
07:44 He needs one more winch.
07:45 He's got to have to relocate that winch.
07:47 Spotter's going.
07:54 He's leashing it up ahead.
07:55 Oh, Yanks the winch.
07:56 Oh, and he's down in the hole.
07:58 Oh, judges call safety.
08:00 They stop it, and now they say go.
08:02 Had to get the spotter out of the way.
08:03 Sometimes when the heat of the moment,
08:05 you can do some pretty wild and crazy things.
08:07 And good thing the judges were all over that,
08:09 so he didn't get run over and use the spotter's traction.
08:13 He's against the rules, by the way.
08:15 And he's out of time.
08:17 - Oh, it's too bad.
08:18 - Yeah, too bad.
08:19 Mike Jazz is next.
08:28 He's got that 555 in his truck called Thumper.
08:31 Look at the artwork on that hood.
08:33 You don't get the chance to see it,
08:34 but man, look at the airbrushing.
08:36 You don't get a chance to see it
08:37 until he's, you know, nose deep in the dirt.
08:40 It's great when guys come with their rigs
08:42 all decked out like that.
08:43 Beautiful looking rig, and he's not afraid to wheel it.
08:47 And Thumper's motor's now stumbling.
08:49 Something's wrong, and we got a fire!
08:51 - What's going on underneath that motor?
08:59 - He can't see it right now.
09:00 There's oil dripping underneath,
09:02 so we may have cracked the valve housing.
09:04 Who knows?
09:05 We'll see once we get it out of here.
09:07 Maybe done, maybe done.
09:09 Hopefully not.
09:10 (engine revving)
09:12 Now there's not much shine left on Jake's Toyota,
09:15 but if anybody can shine, it's him.
09:17 Into the hairpin corner there.
09:21 Whoa, Eddie!
09:22 He's over, he's over.
09:23 We got a rollover up in the hairpin corners.
09:25 - Go!
09:26 Oh, I got too high up on the bank
09:28 doing my corner before I stopped,
09:30 and it just went over.
09:32 - Oh, that's gotta be bad luck.
09:34 I mean, you know, we've had so many people
09:36 enter this obstacle course,
09:38 and we've had only one person cross the finish line.
09:42 And Adam and his coal-burning tractor
09:44 are gonna give it a try at the obstacle course.
09:47 He's got a shorter wheelbase,
09:48 so let's see how he maneuvers this hole.
09:51 He also has that rear steer.
09:53 (engine revving)
09:57 (engine revving)
09:59 Now, as I watch from the back end of his rig,
10:12 his axle is twisting.
10:13 It looks like his control links in the back
10:17 are starting to give,
10:18 or the mounts, the welds are starting to break.
10:21 Can't really tell,
10:22 but he may lose a rear axle here soon.
10:26 They're going to the winch,
10:27 see if they can make some distance.
10:30 If we had smell-o-vision,
10:31 you could smell the smell coming from under his hood.
10:35 His motor is hot.
10:37 (horn honking)
10:39 Time up.
10:40 Shut that thing down.
10:42 Let's see if we can save that motor.
10:43 - Go!
10:44 - And now it's time for the moon buggy
10:49 to come into the obstacle course.
10:52 (engine revving)
10:55 It's amazing that he can fit that behemoth gingerly
10:57 into that hole.
10:58 Now he's working the rear steer.
11:00 Let's see if he can keep that upper axle on that ridge,
11:06 and he could probably pivot right through this thing,
11:08 if we can keep it running.
11:11 (engine revving)
11:20 There it goes, springs back to life.
11:22 Now he's going to drop down on this bowl.
11:25 Let's see how he negotiates
11:26 and how fast he can negotiate these huge pits.
11:30 But his engine's backfiring and sputtering.
11:33 Nice rear steer move.
11:35 He's got that long, long wheel base stretched out.
11:38 So that's really helping him negotiate these pits
11:41 despite his sputtering motor.
11:43 Ah, frustrating.
11:49 He actually makes it through.
11:51 And they are stoked.
11:53 Now Dan enters the obstacle course.
11:58 This is going to be amazing to watch his rig.
12:00 His rig is so well put together,
12:02 especially with that really cool cantilever suspension.
12:05 He does use the rear steer,
12:09 and he gets right through that hole
12:10 without even having to back up.
12:12 Now he's opting to stay away from those cones,
12:17 which is unique, and that doom-dim there.
12:19 He didn't cut the corner on that one
12:21 and he fell right into that hole.
12:23 He does have a little bit smaller tires than most.
12:25 Let's see if he can negotiate his way through this.
12:28 Look at that cool suspension.
12:30 Look at that.
12:30 That's amazing.
12:32 Now he did take a cone penalty there,
12:40 and he throttles through.
12:42 Yeah, there he goes.
12:45 Not afraid of the skinny pedal,
12:46 but they're going to go to winch.
12:47 They're playing it safe.
12:48 Just the right mix of winch and throttle
13:05 gets him right out.
13:06 And the spotter's going to leash him through.
13:12 And into the last corner.
13:14 Watch that bulldozer.
13:16 It doesn't give.
13:17 Look at that suspension.
13:19 That is so cool,
13:20 especially from the back view.
13:21 If you can see this.
13:23 And he crosses the finish line.
13:24 What a great run.
13:25 That's right.
13:32 Dan did own that course.
13:33 He schooled it.
13:34 Only three competitors made it out alive.
13:37 The rest died.
13:38 The coal chute.
13:42 This is a man-made course,
13:44 and there's some crest that you're sitting
13:46 15 feet above the ground.
13:48 The beauty of the coal chute
13:50 is it doesn't change from competitor to competitor.
13:53 It's the same for the first guy to the last guy
13:55 because it's made out of concrete.
13:57 They've got 20 minutes to get through four major sections.
14:00 And then the only way to get disqualified from this event
14:02 is to fall out of the event.
14:04 And that's going to leave a mark.
14:06 And Chris is the first one into the coal chute,
14:09 and he's already on the winch.
14:12 (motor whirring)
14:14 Now this concrete course does give him lots of good traction,
14:20 but it also can be very unforgiving.
14:22 Look at those Mickey Thompsons just grab onto that rock
14:29 and just crawl right over it.
14:31 Whoa, look at that.
14:40 He's coming down.
14:41 I don't know if the spotter and driver
14:43 can see each other very well,
14:44 so this is pretty touchy.
14:46 Holy diver, that's a way to go.
14:48 Now he's geared really low.
14:53 See if he's got enough tire spin to get up this hill.
14:56 Nope, his rear end is totally wrapping
15:00 because he doesn't have those control bars back there.
15:03 And there's the finish.
15:06 He cranks through that one.
15:11 In Dan's attempt to the coal chute,
15:13 he's got over the first bump
15:15 and he's already into the winch.
15:17 Much smaller tires than the others,
15:21 but he's got the right angle.
15:22 See how he put one tire up first
15:24 and kind of came up at an angle?
15:26 That's the way to get up a steep ledge like that.
15:28 There, it's all winching front tires,
15:32 pulling him up over that ledge.
15:33 Now there's a rock in front of him
15:35 that says "Trainy Pan" all over it.
15:37 This is why you want good protection
15:39 on the underside of your rig.
15:41 Nice articulation with the cantilever suspension.
15:44 Look at that thing flex!
15:45 And he is stuck so bad in the cable
15:50 and the truck is not gonna do it.
15:54 Not enough power.
15:54 He is pegged like a butterfly on a needle.
15:58 And there he goes.
16:01 He's timed out.
16:02 Good run.
16:09 The coal chute is saying to Jason,
16:11 "None shall pass."
16:12 But Jason says, "I'm gonna give it a try.
16:14 "I got big tires, lots of protection, big motor."
16:17 But that motor is not cooperating with him.
16:20 Keeps stuttering.
16:21 So this is gonna be a winch fest.
16:23 And now the motor's overheating,
16:36 radiator's boiling over.
16:39 And now his driver's side front of the axle,
16:42 the hub is broken or an axle shaft is broken.
16:45 He's had right here, like I said,
16:47 coal chute said, "None shall pass."
16:50 - Let's see what we can do here.
16:51 It got a little water in the transmission
16:54 and from the cooling system.
16:56 And so I had to add a little tranny fluid
17:00 and see if that, got the ratio a little bit better
17:02 for water to oil.
17:04 And we'll see if it hooks up enough
17:05 to make it through this.
17:07 (engine revving)
17:10 - He is totally destroying the links on this side.
17:13 He is destroying this vehicle.
17:15 Look at the angle on the one door,
17:18 on the driver's side, just totally pretzeled.
17:20 Too bad for Adam.
17:24 He gave it a good shot.
17:26 Now, Jeremy's been here quite a bit before,
17:33 but not as a competitor.
17:35 So he's seen the action here.
17:37 Let's see if that experience will help him.
17:40 Honks the horn, gives a signal to a spotter to get busy.
17:45 This may be the right strategy.
17:49 Winch over the high crests
17:51 and get into the meat of the course.
17:53 Let's see if Jeremy can make some magic happen.
17:56 Now this is really good talent
17:59 because he's got a clutch
18:02 and he's using a standard transmission on that.
18:05 He's taking a line that I've never seen anyone take.
18:07 That is cool.
18:09 Nice driving.
18:16 Now that is the way to do it.
18:18 Look at that, incredible.
18:19 Holy diver, he slipped off of it,
18:25 but he cleared it anyways.
18:26 He's got to pick up higher gear,
18:29 get some tire spin up.
18:32 Just not enough.
18:34 More speedy pedals.
18:37 Goes for the winch and that's the safe way to get through.
18:43 And he flies across the finish line in low gear.
18:50 Now Mike has had a hit and miss experience
18:54 here at Top Truck Challenge.
18:55 Now he does have some dangerously exposed
18:58 control arms here.
18:59 He's got protection on his transfer case,
19:01 but let's see if he can get over this
19:03 without mangling some components.
19:06 There you can see him sliding across it.
19:12 It's not bending.
19:13 Oh, good, no damage.
19:17 Very good line, great line, perfect.
19:22 Great spotter work.
19:24 (engine revving)
19:27 He's sticking it on this side, he's looking good.
19:35 That's the line you want right there.
19:37 If he can hold that line, he's got a great chance
19:39 of just walking right through this.
19:41 Now he needs throttle and he's got it at 555.
19:53 Pulling off course a little bit.
19:54 It's gonna be a fucker factor 15 right there.
19:57 And there he is across without winching.
20:02 Next, we invite Kim into the coal chute.
20:08 She accepts and let's see which line she takes.
20:11 They're going to the winch.
20:14 Big pull and she's got great tire placement, good line.
20:20 (engine revving)
20:22 She's got about four minutes left.
20:31 She clears it, beautiful, that was awesome.
20:34 Most people got hung up on it.
20:36 Now she's at the very end of the waterfall.
20:37 She screams across the finish line.
20:39 Done.
20:41 Jake enters the coal chute
20:46 and he's representing the Toyota fans out there,
20:49 but he opts for the winch.
20:50 Now he's had a lot of, oh no,
20:54 his problems just keep compounding.
20:56 He just broke his winch line.
20:58 He has no winch power straight,
21:07 so they're going to rock stacking.
21:10 - One minute.
21:18 - He's doing the best he can with what he's got
21:20 and time's up.
21:22 The scoring this year's competition has been very close
21:27 and Ryan has been very consistent.
21:28 Let's see if he can pull out a really great run.
21:31 Look at that, with the right amount of throttle,
21:38 he just crests those bumps and he hasn't winched yet.
21:42 He keeps confirming with his spotter where his line is
21:46 and looking down at his tires
21:48 to see what he can get his tire placement on.
21:51 The great draw up there.
21:54 Boy, he has definitely practiced this before.
21:57 Now this has hung up quite a few competitors.
22:07 Let's see what this experienced driver picks as his line.
22:12 He's going way far driver's side on the course,
22:16 almost to the verge of tipping off the course.
22:18 That's got to be scary.
22:23 This is definitely not his first rodeo.
22:25 What a great run.
22:26 What a great line.
22:28 Kind of scary for most.
22:29 Holy diver, that's a great run.
22:36 A little bit of throttle, correction at the end.
22:39 Touchdown!
22:40 (horn honks)
22:42 (crowd cheering)
22:46 (crowd laughing)
22:49 Now Eric Cam does appear to have a good rig.
22:51 He's got the experience,
22:52 but he's been fighting his motor since the day he got here.
22:56 Let's see if he could pull something out
23:00 of his hat here in the coal chute.
23:02 There we go.
23:08 One of the few guys who's been able to crest
23:10 that first obstacle without winching or any problems.
23:13 It looks like he's lost the axle shaft in his driver's front
23:18 and now he's down to three wheel drive.
23:21 He's been handicapped now.
23:23 He's got to go to the winch.
23:25 Another winch fest.
23:28 So far, Eric's been winching through most of the coal chute
23:33 here, that wound in his front axle is definitely hurting him.
23:38 (beep)
23:41 (motor revving)
23:44 Slow and steady progress.
23:47 I just heard him yell out, it's starting to overheat.
23:49 That's not a good sign.
23:51 One minute, go!
23:54 Now he's about to fall off the course.
23:56 They're going to have to rely on the winch on this.
23:59 Like I said, if you fall off this course,
24:03 there's a good 10 foot drop and he's starting to fall off.
24:07 Judge's call time.
24:10 Poor guy.
24:11 Ryan Agin takes first honors,
24:13 but then we kind of knew that
24:14 cause he had the home field advantage.
24:15 Half of the field didn't even cross the finish line.
24:19 A ton of pulling power.
24:25 You saw that.
24:26 (motor revving)
24:29 (rock music)
24:31 (rock music)
24:34 (rock music)
24:36 (rock music)
24:39 (rock music)
24:41 (rock music)
24:43 (rock music)
24:46 (rock music)
24:48 (rock music)
24:51 (rock music)
24:53 (rock music)
24:55 (rock music)
24:58 (rock music)
25:00 Give way!
25:01 (rock music)
25:04 (rock music)
25:06 (rock music)
25:08 (rock music)
25:11 (rock music)
25:13 (rock music)
25:17 (rock music)
25:21 (rock music)
25:24 (rock music)
25:28 (rock music)
25:33 (rock music)
25:38 (rock music)
25:41 - And there it goes, the spotter's gotta
25:45 cross the line with him.
25:47 One, and the spotter finishes, there you go!
25:50 Woo hoo!
25:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]