Race 5 - June 17

The preliminaries are all over. So are the Cleveland Cavaliers, but based on the ratings, no one cares about that. Based on the ratings, no one cares about this either, but we have a show to recap, so lets recap it.

Round 2 - Accuracy

Ty Murray
John Elway
Laird Hamilton
Tony Hawk

(See the earlier recaps for information on what achievements they have done)

Young Gun - Kasey Kahne - Lady killer and the youngest young gun.

The Rules - Not only must you race fast, you also have to race over arrows and land in a Pit Stop Row when you are done racing all three laps. A failure to run over a set of arrows adds 2 seconds to your time, and you also get penalty time depending on how badly you miss the Pit Stop Box. The worst driver of the four will not be around to see the final event.

It's going to be interesting to see if Ty decides to go for the fast time or to try to hit the arrows. Surprisingly, he decides to go after the arrows. He goes 141 MPH the first lap and 142.86 MPH the second lap. That's going to be pretty good, as he only makes two misses on the arrows. On the last lap, he doesn't have to hit the arrows - but he does have to slow down to make the penalty box, and not only does he not do that, but he also blows past Kasey Kahne in shades of what William Shatner did on the last episode. He tries to slam on the brakes to make the box, but he makes 2:05.53

Elway is the next to go. He's a little slower than Murray at 140 MPH, but he only makes one mistake (compared to Murray's 2) and he should be able to make up the speed. He will if Elway can land in the box, which he does perfectly. However, despite the perfect box record, he finishes in 2:07.33, which is behind Murray. He loses a lot of time slowing down to get his car in the box, and it's becoming evident that how fast you go may be more important than how accurate you are.

Hamilton's car looks like it's going in slow motion. The announcers are wondering if he's only driving in third gear, and sure enough, he shifts it to 4th gear right before the race starts. Not only is Hamilton behind (he's 138 MPH in the first lap), but he's missed 5 of the arrows. Even if he's perfect in the last lap, I fear that the penalties will kill him. He also passes Kahne, almost misses the entrance to Pit Road, and almost misses the Box entirely. Hamilton finishes in the slowest time (2:02.54) and gets the most time penalties (25 seconds) for a whopping 2:27.54. Ouch. In the words of the announcers, 'The only way that Laird continues on is if Tony Hawk winds up upside down on fire.'

Laird is already preparing himself to go home while Hawk starts his laps. Hawk is not going as fast as Murray (only going 140 MPH in the first lap), but he hasn't made a mistake on the arrows. Hawk is a perfect 10 for 10 on the arrows and only a streaker running on the track can stop him from advancing. The streaker never shows up, and while the time puts him in third (20794), it's good enough to send Laird Hamilton packing. Laird makes fun of Tony, congratulating him on the dress, but Laird is still going to the ball and Hamilton is at home, sweeping up the ashes.

Next episode - The other semi-finalists try their luck at the accuracy challenge. Join us when we see who will be joining Laird at home watching the finals and not driving in them.