The weather was not on our side Saturday for the event but that didn’t stop those that showed up from having a good time. We had a last minute sponsor jump on board, Pabst Blue Ribbon, which helped brighten the mood and a it turned out to be great crowd that wasn’t going to let a few rain drops spoil their fun!
There were several youngsters that came for the Build-A-Sander portion which started at 2pm. Several ArtCar folks were on hand with supplies to help make that part of the day extra enjoyable for the participants and their fans. There was also a great demo for metal smithing pewter which many people of all ages took part in.
When it was time for the main event to start we were feeling pretty confident in our angry looking little monster we named “The Reaver”. It was definitely the largest motor in the field and while still fairly new to welding pretty confident she was going to hold together. Alas things don’t always go as you would like and in the end she had too much ass to stay on the track. In hindsight a wheelie bar would have provided all the necessary stability to keep it on the track and win us the whole show. As it turned out this year all Coptool took home was a trophy for “Best Wreck(s)”. Even our most successful run we knocked over both hay bales and smashed into a metal pole… not a good showing for 2010, but there is always next year! See the highlight reel of our racer on YouTube above.
The final race came down to last year’s champ TJ who brought the Pig back, head reattached and newly named “Oinkenstein”. The competition was a new comer to the more open platform of power tool racing but a well established old timer in the world of Belt Sander Drag Racing, named “United We Sand”. This well designed and hand engineered machine came right off the wall of fame at Wood Werks Supply (one of the best independent Woodworking shops around and also the 1st nationwide to have a Rockler store within their store). In a best of 3 challenge, the PIG took home the prize for the second year in a row! Hats off to TJ for another great victory.
Our initial assessment of any belt sander was that it would be near impossible to compete against something powered by a circular saw or large angle grinder but we were wrong. It was amazing to see how fast this think flew down the track. We will see “United We Sand” again next year and potentially some other competition from the guys over at Wood Werks. We are also working on the repair crew at Ohio Power Tool to build something than could compete next year in a tool store throw down, let the rivalry begin.
Here are some of the initial Albums (with more to come soon):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/krugalug/sets/72157624788806384/
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=201122&id=77451218630&ref=mf
Thanks again to all the event sponsors:
Irwin Tools Liggett Stashower Ohio Power Tool Pabst Blue Ribbon
