The completion of a new 4×4 park brings about the first annual King 4×4 Challenge, an event like Carbon County has never seen before. The Castle Country King Crawlers, a local 4×4 group, and the Carbon County Commissioners have worked closely to create this challenge park. Spectators will have the opportunity to witness various drivers as they push their trucks to the limit through a rock garden, a mud bog, a tire pit, a tug-of-war, an RTI ramp, and a car crush. All this to see which driver will be named King and claim his share of prizes that will be offered. It will be held Aug. 14 starting at 10 A.M. and will run throughout the day.
Drivers will compete in two different classes: the modified street legal class, in which drivers must meet all requirements for and carry current state registration, and the open modified class, in which anything goes, including tube frame buggies with little or no sheet metal.
Cash, prizes and trophies will be awarded to the winners in each event, but the big money will go the driver who proves he has the toughest all-around 4×4 vehicle. The driver in each class who has the highest combined score between the mud bog, rock garden, and tug-of-war will be named King.
The events will be grueling on both the drivers and vehicles. Each obstacle is designed to test the truck and driver’s ultimate abilities – some of the events are nearly impassable. The mud bog is 100 feet long and a full 5 feet deep at its most extreme point. Drivers will be given 5 minutes and will be scored according to how far they travel, and not necessarily who makes it through the fastest.
The rock garden is also 100 feet long, 25 feet wide, and is placed on a slight hill. Boulders near the end of the event stand approximately 5 feet tall. Drivers will be given 10 minutes on this course; however, not many are expected to complete it. This event, too, will be judged according to the distance each driver travels. In the case that two drivers travel the same distance or more than one vehicle completes the course, then drivers will be awarded according to how much time the event took them.
The tug of war will be judged on a double-elimination basis as two vehicles at a time face off to see who has the most pulling power.
Spectators will find themselves continually enthralled with little lag time between events as drivers will be rotated throughout the obstacles one after another. The tire pit, car crush, and RTI ramp will all be held as exhibition events on the side that keep spectators interested.
There will also be a dash-for-cash in the mud bog in which volunteers from the audience will be asked to dive into the mud in search of over $100 in cash and prizes.
ATV’s will also be racing through the mud bog in an effort to test their skills and to keep the crowd cheering.
The event is part of the Carbon County Fair and has been designed to attract tourism to the area and give locals the opportunity to have fun and test their rigs. A company called Renaissance Video will also be bringing more recognition to Carbon County by filming the event and creating a video for sale to the public.
Drivers who are interested in entering may do so by contacting Scott Edwards at 613-0204, or if any positions still remain, by arriving at the 4×4 park at 8:00 A.M. on Saturday.
Challenge coming up this weekend
