On The Track: Chaos Canyon

by Ali Kidder-Mostrom

The Canyon Outlaws series is now well underway. The list has been set and, each week the Outlaws return to challenge each other for Canyon supremacy.

Two weeks ago, it was the first chance for Outlaws to find a way to raise their standings on The List. But before the main event there were grudges to call out and races to be run. This set of grudge match races included more than one 8Crate (not surprisingly) and culminated in a ute on ute race featuring the Canyon’s own Thom “Spanners” Watson.

Once the Outlaws started to race, each called out the one ahead, in an attempt to rearrange their standing from the week prior. Starting from the bottom, Nancy Wilson called out Ugly Betty and managed to move away from 8th place.

Scud had a flawless run against Jumping Spider, moving into 5th place and perhaps providing a window into future success for the rogue missile.

El Dardo De Chetarra called out Glitch (in Grinder) and, with a lastminute pass, pulled into third place. This was some classy racing from the driver who has a tendancy to deliver crazy antics. They don’t call it Kayem Corner for nothing.

In a redemption run, Xanthippe (in Click) called out Frank “The Guru” Gibbs (in Jade Monkey), but unlike the day’s other challengers, Click was unable to unseat her competitor and Jade Monkey stayed squarely on the top.

Spoiler alert: That’s where Guru ended the day after last week’s race as well. Otherwise, Round 3 of the Canyon Outlaws was far from what one would expect.

The day started with a set of grudge races between Canyon residents and some fast, furious posers. Chaos Canyon ruled the day, with a particularly exciting bit of racing by Gina, who led her competitor to a photo finish.

Phillip the Tank (in Nancy Wilson) called out Sharon Tarshish’s Jumping Spider. This time the Baracuda couldn’t jump over the competition and Tarshish kept his 6th place standing. Not willing to settle for 6th, Jumping Spider went on to battle Scud. Unfortunately for the spider, he was unable to reclaim his 5th seat spot (lost to Scud the week before).

What happens next should not be missed: In a domino-effect series of races, Scud flew from 5th place all the way to 2nd, racing Grinder, El Dardo De Chatarra and Click on the way up. Myke Maze’s Scud had three clean races, unlike each of his three competitors – who each ended the lap on their roof.

For a diversion from the serious competition of the Canyon Outlaws, last week also saw the Looney Mooney family return, this time racing in some famous cars - all movie machines. This epic line-up included 8 The Fast and The Furious cars, some Venom Marvel cars and… Batman (Batmen?)!

The Mooneys weren’t the only special guests in the Canyon; cinema fans will spot many a familiar vehicle who stopped by to watch the race. One modern family even rolling in from the Stone Age.

In the first run of the night, Big Daddy D rolled away to a rare set of wins for both laps one and two. His sons took the last two laps. But in the final race, Big Daddy rolled away with his first-ever overall win. It was a good day to be Big Daddy.