Engines were roaring and mud was flying as over 50 trucks took part in three categories, Stock, Mod and Open, at the first ever Painted Hand Casino Mud Fling held at the Cornerstone Raceway in Yorkton on Saturday and Sunday.
The Mud Fling, hosted by the Yorkton Exhibition Association, drew nearly one-thousand spectators over the two days of action despite less than ideal weather conditions. "The weather hasn't helped us a lot but there were over 500 people here the first day through the rain storms," offered YEA General Manager Shaun Morin, continuing, "but 500 people coming out (per day) in poor weather makes you think there might be quite a bit more coming out if the weather was nice."
While the weather affected the attendance, one thing it didn't affect was the actual action. In fact, the wet weather aided the event, making things more wet and muddy than ever. "While we do want it to be nice out for the spectators it's still a mud fling," mentioned Morin. "So the added water and mud really didn't hurt the event in the long run."
And although the added mud didn't hurt the overall competition, it did cause some trouble for certain trucks as Morin mentioned that "there were some trucks breaking down and getting stuck" but that it was to be expected, seeing as "they do three runs each per day".
Results
On Saturday it was Steve Shotter's 'Skinny Nuts' truck that took home first place in the Stock Class, closely followed by Wayne Weber's 'Blue Thunder' truck and Daniel Schick's 'Schick-kicker'. Bad Habit, driven by Terry Leippi, finished in fourth while Shotter's teammate Alvin Askomitis finished in fifth place with his truck 'Old Nuts'.
'Shocker', driven by Joe Mocassin, took home first place in the Mod Class while Milt Fedak's 'Renegade' machine was named runner-up. Mud Money (Chris Sykes), Blue Thunder (Wayne Weber) and Pitbull (Trin Smith) rounded out the top five in the Mod Class.
The final class of the day was the Open Class, where any truck could enter in hopes of taking home first place; however it was 'The Reaper' driven by James Smith that took home the Open title, followed by Wayne Wallis' 'Mopar Missile' in second and Trin Smith's 'Pitbull' in third. Mason Hollinger's 'The Beast' finished in fourth while Tex Davis' wonderfully named truck 'Devil's Grin' finished fifth.
On Sunday Wayne Weber's 'Blue Thunder' moved up one spot from Saturday to finish first while Terry Leippi's 'Bad Habit' also moved up one spot for a second place finish. 'Tetanus', driven by Rodney Richards, made its first appearance in the top five with a third place finish while Old Nuts (Alvin Aksomitis and Saturday winner Skinny Nuts (Steve Shotter) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
In Sunday's Mod Class competition it was Joe Mocassin and 'Shocker' who repeated as champions, while Wayne Willis' 'Mopar Missile' and Milt Fedak's 'Renegade' trucks rounded out the podium. Blue Thunder (Wayne Weber) and The Beast (Mason Hollinger) also finished in the top five.
James Smith and 'The Reaper', much like they did on Day One, dominated the Open Class en route to the first place finish. Tex Davis and 'Devil's Grin' finished second while Sunday's Mod Class winner Joe Mocassin and 'Shocker' finished in third. Mopar Missile (Wayne Wallis) and Renegade (Milt Fedak) also made the Open Class top five on Sunday.
