Mud flies at Fair

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's a...1990 Chevy Lumina?

No, it wasn't an aberration. More than 50 drivers came out to the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds on Saturday night to participate in the Tuff Trucks and Mud Bogs Competition.

The event was divided into three separate divisions - stock tuff trucks, modified tuff trucks and mud bog trucks.

Drivers in Ford Broncos, Chevy Silverados and even a 1994 Geo pushed through mud piles and flew around the race track in an attempt to clock the fastest time and take home the first-place prize money in the amount of $200.

Drivers in the Tuff Truck competitions were assigned the task of navigating a winding race track consisting of speed bumps, big-air jumps and tight turns.

Mud bog drivers had to take their trucks through a mud pit from one end to the other without getting stuck, with the fastest time receiving the prize money.

Arboga's Joey Donaldson got a standing ovation after he took his aforementioned Chevy Lumina over one of the biggest jumps on the track in the modified Tuff Truck division.

Donaldson was only one of two competitors to compete in a "tuff car." Donaldson took home first place in last year's competition.

"We've had pretty good luck with this car," Donaldson said. "It was an OK run until that landing. It's an adrenaline rush, but you feel it later on when you wake up in the morning."

Donaldson said he will be donating his winnings to the World of Life Church in Marysville to support the youth program.

There certainly was a youth movement, with several of the competitors under 18 years of age. But that didn't mean they couldn't drive.

Sutter's Jacob Frederick, 17, put together two impressive runs in the stock Tuff Truck division, clocking in at 27.98 and 26.59 seconds.

This was Frederick's second year competing in Tuff Trucks and he turned some heads in his 1988 Ford Bronco. He said his strategy was simple - "pedal to the metal."

"I don't do that much, I just put a battery in it and go," Frederick said. "Whenever you're out there and you hear the crowd it's an adrenaline rush."

Chris Hill of Olivehurst came in with one of the fastest times in the stock Tuff Truck division with a time of 25.79 in his 1987 Mazda 4x4.

In the modified Tuff Trucks, Colusa's Chava Valencia put together a blazing time of 26.63 seconds.

Although it was shorter distance in the mud bogs, it seemed like drivers were having a tougher time crossing the finish line. The first four drivers had to be pulled out of the mud by a tractor.

However, drivers were able to adjust and soon were tearing a path through the mud bog and making some respectable times.

Yuba City's Travis Hill said the hardest part of the mud bogs is not driving through it, but preparing the car for the workload. Hill's yellow Chevy is a single cab and isn't too intimidating like his rivals, but he had the perfect combination working of strength and speed.

He said it also helped that he added nitrous to give himself a little more power.

"The truck held together and it's not too big and not too small," Hill said. "Making sure everything gets together is the key, driving is the easy part."

Hill had been doing this competition for four years with Ronco Automotive and clocked one of the highest times with an impressive 3.97 mark. In his second run he made it through the bog in 4.91 seconds.

In all his years in competition with both mud bogs and Tuff Trucks he said he still keep coming back for one reason - "It's the adrenaline rush."

Contact sports reporter Jimmy Graben at jgraben@appealdemocrat.com or at 749-4720