(Press Release from New Hampshire Motor Speedway)
Air cannons, trebuchets and catapults, oh my! Autumn at New Hampshire Motor Speedway means it’s time to take pumpkin-launching to the extreme. Nearly 20 teams from six different states will compete in four different classes during the second annual Extreme Chunkin event, which pits backyard engineers in an all-out battle for greatness on Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16.
This year’s Extreme Chunkin event includes two rounds of competition on Saturday as well as the championship round on Sunday. Back again will be world record holder American Chunker, a $180,000 air cannon out of Merrimack, N.H. Last year, American Chunker shot a pumpkin more than 4,500 feet across the speedway’s property, earning the inaugural event’s top prize in the Air Cannon Division.
“This is an awesome regional event that will really give us an opportunity to hone in on what we need to do to prepare for the World Championship in November,” said Brian Labrie, owner of American Chunker, the current World Championship title holder and world record holder for longest launch at more than 4,600 feet. “The good news is that there will be lots of good air cannons to compete against at the speedway. Extreme Chunkin is a very beneficial event for us.”
Along with the Air Cannon Division, Extreme Chunkin will feature Trebuchet and Catapult/Torsion divisions, as well as – for the first time ever – Eastern Propane and Fuel Youth Division.
“There is a concerted effort to get kids involved because they are the future of this pumpkin chunkin,” said Labrie. “This year’s Extreme Chunkin is going to be 10 times what it was last year. People are really going to enjoy everything this event has to offer.”
On top of the launching events, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will have a number of opportunities for attending fans to participate in various activities, including airbrush tattoo artists/stations, a carnival archery tent, go-karts, and different food and drink vending services.
Exhibition events include a 200-foot crane that will be making drops on every half hour – including a 700-pound pumpkin, while the 2015 trebuchet champion Yankee Siege II will feature top-of-the-hour jaw-dropping launches of cars, pianos, and a 1,200-pound pumpkin.
It all begins on Saturday morning with the Extreme Chunkin 5K, a road race to honor former Nashua Police Chief Don Gross – one of the founding members of the International Chunkin Coalition and Nashua PAL – who died tragically in January.
The month of October is a busy one at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Extreme Chunkin set for Oct. 15-16 and the 24 Hours of Lemons on Oct. 22-23. For more details and ticket information on these events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, or to purchase tickets to the 2017 July and September NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekends, please stop by our ticket office, visit the speedway website at www.nhms.com, or call Fan Relations at (603) 783-4931.
Leave a Reply