Races heat up Wild Coyote Days

Sourdough Village was more like a metropolis Saturday as the annual Wild Coyote Days celebration took place at the bar and restaurant along Prospect Creek Road near Thompson

Falls.

The weekend long summer celebration included a horseshoe tournament, rubber duck race down Prospect Creek, live music, vendors, food and the always popular lawn mower races.

More than 100 spectators gathered at the Wild Coyote Saloon for the lawn mower races Saturday afternoon. Seventeen drivers put the pedal to the metal as they went round

and round.

Nate Saint of Thompson Falls didn't place in the event, but he had a classic ride on a classic machine. Saint was driving a small yellow mower that has been passed down for generations in the Saint family.

His father, Steve Saint, said that his dad bought the mower out of the back of a "Popular Mechanics" magazine. He couldn't remember the exact year, but thought it was around 1970, making the machine older than its driver.

This year's competition included six new drivers from Missoula and spectators from as far away as California. The Wilkinson family from San Diego told The Ledger that they were camping in Harrison, Idaho, and had set out on an adventure, looking to float the Coeur d'Alene River. When they saw how close they were to Montana they decided to visit

the state for the first time. They saw the Coyote event and decided to spend the afternoon there. The lawn mower competitors, under the direction of Brad McGuigan running the heats, tracking times and waving flags, started the afternoon by clocking a two-lap time. That determined the lineup in the heats of 5-6 mowers, which determined who would race in the two main events. It was wild competition from the start as a driver tipped over in the first heat, forcing a restart.

While Ethan Brown of Thompson Falls had been winning prior to the restart, his father Jason edged him out to win the first heat of four drivers. In the second heat of six mowers, Shawn Franck showed he would be one of the top competitors of the day as he easily

won the five-lap competition. Not to be outdone, Franck's son Corey won the third heat of five mowers, lapping every other driver in the heat. In the main event, though, Shawn Franck proved to be the best of the best, capturing the top prize, with Ethan Brown finishing second and Jason Brown finishing third. The winners paid $20 each to enter the competition.

McGuigan said the Wild Coyote Saloon matched the entry fees for the prizes for the winners. McGuigan said this was the highest number of drivers they have had in the four years of the event.