The third annual Extreme Chunkin competition wrapped up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, and once again it was American Chunker taking home the biggest hardware. The two-time reigning champion out of Merrimack, N.H., used a strong tailwind to record its longest launch of the weekend - 4,381 feet - to take first place in the Air Cannon Division and defend its crown as the ultimate pumpkin chucker.
Joining American Chunker as champions were Yankee Siege II (2,218 feet) in the Trebuchet Division, Chunk Norris (3,095 feet) in the Catapult/Torsion Division, and Chunk 58 (1,490 feet) in the Youth Division.
The unseasonably warm mid-October weather and strong northeasterly winds provided a perfect combination for some of the longest launches in the three-year history of the event. Competitors in each division received three opportunities - two on Saturday and one on Sunday - to fire their pumpkins from the S9 Reserved RV Parking area across the speedway's property.
Exhibition events included a 200-foot crane that dropped everything from giant pumpkins to water barrels to pianos, while the Yankee Siege Trebuchet, a six-time world champion that weighs 58,000 pounds, launched cars, motorcycles, pianos and a massive thousand-pound pumpkin across the speedway property.
On top of the competition and exhibition launching events, Extreme Chunkin featured a number of opportunities for fans to participate in various activities, including an airbrush tattoo artist station, kids archery, go-karts, and a number of vending tents, including fried dough, pizza, apple cider donuts, bread bowl, chicken tenders, burgers, beer, and other carnival games.
The New Hampshire Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities also offered children a chance to race tricycles through hay bales.
