HELENA — On Saturday Helena’s group of tough trucks, mud bogs and rough runners, Ram It Into High Gear, had their show and shine event.
The group started with founder Jacob Ogle, whose car journey started in a junkyard with a Ford Festiva.
“I whacked the muffler off, stuck it on the hood, made it rowdy sounding and I took it on obstacle courses, I jumped it, I beat the crap out of it,” Ogle said.
Ram It Into High Gear started because Ogle saw a need for it in the community.
“So this all started with me, well, I've always done it my entire life. But I was raising kids. And of course, that takes up time, and I couldn't do it anymore. So I got back into it by simple friends that were still doing it. And they said that, you know, it was starting to die down. Not as many people were out doing it anymore. And that really started to bother me. And then Last Chance, Speedway gave me the opportunity to lease some land from them to host these races. And that's how it kind of all began.”
At the raceway they do mud bogging and tough truck races.
“So the difference between a mud bog and a tough truck is that mud bog is a 100 foot stretch of deep mud. And the trucks are timed, or by measurement. So they might not make it through but they still get a number of footage. And if they make it through, they get a time. So the fastest time we win that round. Tough trucks now is a truck like this one that we literally will take over jumps, ruts, bumps, rocks, we'll send it in the air as high as we can. And hope that nothing breaks.”
Ram It Into High Gear is not only a group of like-minded individuals with a passion for trucks, but also a non-profit.
“So when I started this, I didn't want anything from it. I wanted to be able to help the community in some way in some form. And when I got it going, I was like let's help the police department, let's help the fire department, and that's why I just decided to stick with that. I want nothing from it. I just want a place to go have fun and bring it to Helena again, because it's been many many years since Helena has ever been able to put something on like this.”
Ram It Into High Gear’s next event will be held June 4th and 5th with mud bogs on the 4th and tough trucks on the 5th.
