If there is an event I was looking forward to at the Diesel Power Challenge 2015, it is was this one. The trailer towing obstacle course is the best combo of man and machine we have at the event and I say that because it is not only up to the truck to be responsive and quick on course, it is up to the driver to demonstrate any number of driving skills by backing, turning, and ultimately docking a trailer into a box that requires planning and precision. Some drivers take this all in stride and do a fine job where others get completely lost and wipe out half the course in fits of panic, fury, or rage.
While the driver skill is the most centrally important factor in this competition, the trucks cannot be discounted either. You will see some of the guys who have combos that make power in the “upper” (remember we’re talking diesels here) RPM range and they struggle to get the trailer moving during the multiple times that they have to start from a stop on this course. The thin air and the effect that it has on the trucks was already well measured on the dyno but here we see it exposed in a real life practical situation.
Clearly there are guys who practiced some version of this course before coming to Denver and clearly there are guys who, well, look like they have never seen a trailer before. All of it makes for a fun time and some highly wounded cones by the end of the contest. Rick Fox took the top honors on the dyno, would be have enough truck and acumen to compete here as well? Lavon Miller and a host of other Diesel Power Challenge 2015 competitors were waiting at the ready to bring it as well.
Here’s how the whole thing shook out on the pit asphalt in the comfy confines of Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado.
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