What a day! I first walked through all of the 4-H and craft buildings...pretty boring. I then visited all the stinky animals: pigs, sheep, steers, chickens, rabbits, and ducks and geese. That brought back the good old memories of my days in 4-H. My husband and I had brought along a few of his siblings so while walking through the pig section of the barn, we stopped to look at a pregnant pig in a furrowing cage. I explained to my youngest sister-in-law why she was kept in there instead of a regular pen like the rest of the pigs (to keep from sitting on her babies once they were born). A woman just happened to hear me and asked if I had experience with pigs and breeding (which I do). She actually asked me for advice on which pig would be best to buy to start a pig breeding business. It was kind of awesome and made me feel smart. Then it was off to the actual derby!
Lawn mower races started the derby off. Although it sounds lame and boring, it is totally sweet! People actually spend their hard earned money ($300-$3000) to fix up lawn mowers and travel around the states racing them. Some are just regular lawn mowers (without blades of course), but others are modified for racing. They spice up the engine and anything else to make it go up to 50 mph. The first group was actually only two people, but these two people were seven year olds! Can you imagine letting your seven year old son race a modified lawn mower!? One of those kids was definitely having too much fun! Every time he passed the last corner he'd hit the gas as hard as possible which basically made his mower drift around the wet corner. I think he felt like a nascar driver. Different heats were spaced in between the heats of the combine derby. During one of the last races their was actually a wreck. The guy's lawn mower totally flipped and he went flying into the dirt. He was uninjured, but unfortunately his mower was not...he had to leave the race. He made it into the final "All Out" race, as did most, if not all, the racers. According to the announcer, it's called the "All Out" race because "they have the rest of the year to fix up their mowers." In this race they line everybody up against haybales at the edge of the arena and they race to the first corner and then do five more laps. The winner takes all the money (which for each race is $250).
Then came the combines! They first did barrel races (just like in a rodeo but with combines instead of horses). There were eleven contestants. The fastest time was around 38 seconds. It's amazing how well those combines can actually maneuver. Then the carnage started! The combines were split into two heats. First and second of each heat moved onto the final heat. The losers of the first two heats were given a chance to enter a 'wild card' heat. First and second of this heat also moved onto the final heat. In one of the initial heats, a combine called the Covered Wagon actually had his entire header (front portion) ripped off by double attack. In the wild card heat the officials blew the whistle and ended the heat with three combines still visibly running. Just after it ended, The Hulk broke down. This was the officials' first choice for winner. Because of an apparent early judgment they allowed all three combines into the final heat. That meant seven combines would compete for the overall win. The last heat was basically awesome. Sneak attacks, head ons, double teaming, it was all there, even after all the previous damage to the combines. However, this heat did have one problem. Mike Jenson with his camouflaged combine totally got screwed out of the win. He made an awesome side hit to The Hulk. This hit was so good that he not only took out The Hulk, but he got entangled and stuck to it. He waved his arms and set off smoke signals with his rig, trying his best to get the attention of the other participants or even the judges. One hard hit from another combine would have loosened the grinding metal, but Jenson was doomed to a losing fate. No one noticed him and if they did they ignored him. His combine was still running in almost-tip-top shape, but he had no way of putting it to use. The officials did nothing to help, but instead did the worst thing possible. They made him pull his flag and bow out of the competition. Now, he may not have won the competition but there was no reason to take that chance away from him. Otherwise the derby was just plain awesome! Best entertainment ever!
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