The Pink Floyd Award: (TWO WAY TIE) MEAN GREEN MACHINE’S RYAN DECKER and RECKONING’S “SPEEDY” STEVE VOLLBRECHT
Getting an opponent’s car up on (Pink Floyd’s) the wall is one of the harder things to do in the demos. In order to do so, you have to go against both the laws of physics and gravity. Any time you see a car on the wall, it should be heralded as a major accomplishment. Two of these hits/pushes stand out as the best of the year. And for completely different reasons.
RYAN DECKER: Fifth Night against Full Throttle, Mean Green Machines’ Ryan Decker trunked Full Throttle’s Ron Johnston onto the wall near turn 2; I don’t know why, but the cars always seem to go up on the wall in turn 2. What made Decker’s hit so impressive wasn’t simply that he got Johnston stuck on the wall, but that he pushed Johnston so far up the wall that all four of Johnston’s tires were dangling off the ground. As Johnston attempted to rock his car off the wall, his back tires spun wildly in the air, a solid 8-10 inches off the ground.
“SPEEDY” STEVE VOLLBRECHT: Fourth Night against Damage, Inc., Reckoning’s “Speedy” Steve Vollbrecht managed to do something that seemed only theoretical prior to the start of the evening. He pushed Dave “Repo” Swan’s car onto the wall… sideways.
I have no idea whether this occurred because Swan was near a curve in the wall, because Vollbrecht hit him just right or because some other anomaly, but Vollbrecht got Swan’s up on the wall… sideways.
These were unquestionably the two best hits that ended with a car at a 45 degree angle with the track. Next year I’d like to see some local business offer a prize to any drivers that get a car on the wall, much the way local suit manufacturers offer free suits to minor league baseball players who manage to hit a homer that nails specific target in the stands.