The Potato Race is a race for people who like potatoes.   Where else in the Mojave desert for the measly price of a dollar can you get seven large potatoes, hash brown ready, and have fun doing it?

The Potato Race has been a fixture of Hi Desert Round-Up for years, and 2005 was no exception.  It's hosted by the Drifters Jeep Club and the object of the race, as advertised in the official Hi Desert Program guide is simply stated, "persecution of potatoes."  What do potatoes and Jeeps have in common?  Read on... There are two divisions:  The men's division means that a male must drive and the potato stabber, who just happens to be the front seat passenger, can be any age or gender.  The women's division is the same, meaning that a woman must be the driver.  The race is a timed event consisting of 7 tires filled with potatoes.  

 

Left:  Registration for the Potato Race.  Note HDR base camp in background.  Right:  A YJ has been checked out and is ready to start the race.

The clock starts ticking as soon as the vehicle starts moving.  You pull up to the first tire and the passenger, or better known as the potato stabber, stabs a potato with a large spear-like rod, and throws the potato on to the floorboard of their rig, as they speed off to the next tire filled with potatoes, to spear another one.  All of this is accomplished while wearing seatbelts, and navigating a bumpy, four wheel drive required course.  You encounter 7 tires filled with potatoes, and you must spear 7 potatoes and present them to the referee who is standing at the end of the course, with stopwatch in hand.  If you don't have your 7 potatoes, you're voted off the island.  Hey, it's not the end of the world, as you can keep your speared potatoes and since they've already got a hole in them, you don't have to stab 'em before you bake 'em.  If you don't like baked potatoes, well, they make dandy hash brown fodder.

 

Left:  Potato stabber in action.  Right:  Potential potato-stabbers limbering up and getting ready for the action.

Photos:  Potato stabbers in action.

 

Left:  After the potato-stabbers have run the course, you sometimes have to replentish the tires with fresh russet potatos.  Right:  Stabbing a potato at tire #1, near the beginning of the course.

All kidding aside, it takes a lot of coordination between the driver and the potato stabber, as the driver must maneuver within the stabber's range, and to achieve a good score, the stabber should bag the spud on the first stab, as seconds count in this race.  It's a fun event to watch, only eclipsed by the Can and Stick Race as being the wildest vehicle game at High Desert Roundup.

 

Left:  Stab that potato, at the fourth tire.  Right:  However fast you can stab the potatos and drive the course, at the end, you have to face the guy with the stop watch.

So if you're in the mood to stab a few potatoes in the desert, Potato Race is the event for you.