Things are looking a little too quiet for this weekend.  There has to be something to get involved in.  I did catch wind of a Mud Bogg going on just off of I- 40 down at the 108 mile marker. Let’s just check it out…..

 Now lets see, that last Ebay Jeep ( ITEM #270222387751) is sitting in the shop and we haven’t tried it out on anything yet.  I just got done replacing the broke axle in the front Dana 44 that it had when we bought it.  YEP!!!!!!!   Why not?  We will take the Big Red Jeep that is sporting a carbureted 350 that sounds pretty good in front of a turbo 350 and sitting on a new set of 44” Boggers and load it on to the Ebay trailer (ITEM #2402082105  ) and hook it onto the 1985 Dodge (ITEM # 16017416977) and go Mud Boggin).

 Now this Mud Bogg'in thing is not really my cup of tea.  I couldn’t even convince any of the boys to take their rigs and play with me in the mud.  They did decide to go along and watch and laugh and said they would sit and watch me clean up the Jeep after we returned home.

 About 900 AM we rolled into the event, paid our fee, got unloaded, and went through the safety inspection and then began our wait.  They would be running two events.  The fast track, which is a 200 ft dash against the clock over a shallow pit of loose mud, then the mud pit which is supposed to be a several foot deep, boggy mud bath. They would be running several classes in each event.  I chose to just run in the mud bog and would be  placed in the  tire size 40-44” modified class.

 As we sat around and waited, it was apparent that I was out of my league. I think some of these guys had done a lot more in preparation than just go on Ebay.  There were big horsepower rigs everywhere you looked.  But that would be fine, we were just a bunch of rock crawlers lookin for some weekend fun and hoping not to be embarrassed.

 As soon as the stock class got started I began to wonder what their definition of stock was, with some of the stock class turning in times in the 5-6 secs on the flat track.  Yes, there were some rigs there of all types and sizes so I didn’t feel too badly out of place. As we moved on through the modified classes and on into the open class, we were seeing some very impressive times.  Some were blasting through in the high 2 sec range.  We began smelling the smell of racing fuel and alcohol in the air after a lot of the runs. 

 Soon we were moving on into the mud bog portion of the event. As we did, we began to see some unexpected developments.  The expected deep sticky mud had began to dry out due to the high winds and sun of this breezy western Oklahoma afternoon.  What was expected to be a very deep mud bogg was turning into a very deep rough crooked race track that was tossing the vehicles all over the place.  As we moved on through the events, the times got faster and faster.  Soon we were getting near the same times as had been achieved on the fast track.  It made for some interesting actions but began to get pretty scary with the trucks leaping into the air as they exited the pit.  As we moved on into the larger classes they stopped the event once and brought in equipment and stirred up the pit.  Better results were only temporary and they ceased the action again for safety reasons to move spectators farther back away from the launch point at the end of the pit.   One last effort was made by bringing in a dozer and smoothed out the jump at the end of the track.  Nothing seemed to solve the problem totally, but everyone just had deal with it.

 So you ask, "How did the EBAY Jeep do?"  Well, I must confess, I did not win the 40-44” Modified Class.  Sorry to disappoint you, but we were outclassed.  On my first pass I broke a throttle cable clip and came to a complete stop in the pit.  I had to get out and put a pair of vise grips on the cable and drive from the pit using it as a hand throttle.  But on my second pass we flew through in a very respectable 5.2 seconds.  We didn’t place but we also didn’t get embarrassed, especially running a rig that we knew nothing about.  The little SB 350 ran very well and put us in a mid pack finish in our class.

 All in all it was a fun time.  I got to spend some time with all 3 sons and visit with a lot of old friends.  I got to try out the new pony from the barn (EBAY JEEP).  I didn’t flip it over and the broken clip on the throttle cable was the only breakage. We arrived home with all three of the Ebay items still intact.  I would call it a successful day!  So in summary I will say,  "You don't have to play in your usual game to have fun.  Just get out and play".  That is what is all about.  Get your toys out and play in the dirt.  Have fun enjoying the different things that God has given us to enjoy.

 Until the next game…..God Bless You and Yours
 
OKIE OUT