FARLEY, Iowa -- The black school bus sped by the red, white and blue RV in turn 2 while the decommissioned Cedar Rapids city bus gave futile chase.
The lesson of the pass: Don't underestimate the horsepower and agility of a GMC 6000 school bus or the charming outrageousness of Farley Speedway's third annual Race 'Em and Wreck 'Em Day.
"It was going to be a prison bus, but we never got it finished," said Kelly Welter, of St. Donatus, Iowa, the winning driver of the bus/RV race.
Naturally, opponents questioned how a dated 1980s-era school bus could pull off such a pass.
"Let them think what they want," joked Welter, an accomplished stock car driver.
In what seemed like a lost episode of "The Dukes of Hazard," 193 beat-up Ford Escorts, Dodge Neons, Chevy Suburbans, Oldsmobiles, RVs, boats and other jalopies took to the track Sunday. Most of the cars looked like the junkyard's rejects.
"How do you say it was hillbilly racing in a nice way?" track announcer Mike Becker asked. " It was redneck racing at its finest."
"It's something fun to do," Welter said.
What was the day's wildest moment?
"The guy in the trailer race toward the end who crawled up on somebody's trailer and rolled his truck twice," Becker said.
The cars came from everywhere. Some were old high school cars. Some were classic cars. Some were retired stock cars with "3:16" inscribed on top of the hood. Some of the buses in the bus/RV race where old Cedar Rapids metro buses which were retired after being damaged in the floods of 2008.
It might be the year's craziest race, but don't underestimate the competitive fire of the drivers who took the track Sunday.
"It's always a stress reliever, always a good time. Everybody who comes comes to destroy," Becker said. "It's funny, they complain, 'I shouldn't have gotten sixth, I should have gotten fourth.'"
