Rough muddin’
COSHOCTON – A day’s worth of steady rain and a misting rain off and on during the event did not deter the faithful from attending the annual Rough Truck contest at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds on Saturday evening, July 19 where Adam Blankenhorn of Mount Vernon bested local favorite Dan Shaw by a few seconds with a time of 50.646. Shaw raced around the track at 53.942 and in third place was David Lape of Lucas with a time of 54.159. Around 30 trucks were in the contest.
A separate UTV contest was held this year with Colt Sammons of Coshocton winning the inaugural race with a time of 43.165. But the loudest applause of the evening was for a local youngster that obviously had fun racing around the course and is sure to be a future mudder.
Event organizer Rodney Adams said prior to the event, “I think we’re going to have a good show. The people that draw the early numbers are going to have the most trouble. The track will get faster as the night goes on because I believe that the jumps and the ramps will deteriorate and disappear by the end of the show and that will make the track faster for the guys in the last spots. It’s a rain or shine show so it’s going to go on. We’re going to give our crowd a show no matter – it’s going to be a mud bog maybe but we’re going to give ‘em a show.”
Jay Savage from South Zanesville brought a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 318 V8 fuel injected motor with the name “Savage Beast” emblazoned on the vehicle. Savage said that he had a square body that he had started on but moneywise can’t afford to build a modified but that’s down the road. At 50 years old I’m not sure how much longer my body can take this.”
Savage said about the mud, “Well, I hope it’s not like Old Washington where I drew number two and there was no number one. I really don’t want to be the first one out on the track tonight.”
“I enjoy the racing part itself, meeting new friends and stuff like that. I’ve only been in it six years but I know a lot of the guys that do it. My daughter did it a couple of times but she just got married in June so her racing days are over.”
When asked about a favorite for the Coshocton event, Savage said, “It’s hard to beat these modifieds. Some of these guys – and I’m not exaggerating – have over $20,000 in their vehicle and I have $3,000 in mine.”
Proceeds from the annual July event are split between the Coshocton County Fair Board for building maintenance and the Three Rivers Fire District to purchase equipment or other needs. Food was readily available under the grandstand from a local 4-H committee or from the Three Rivers Fire District with hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, grilled corn on the cob, noodles, baked beans and more. A nice sized crowd attended the event and cheered their favorites and good performances all around.
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