FERGUS, Ont. – Caterpillar’s booth at the Fergus Truck Show has become well-known as one of the loudest at the annual event, where sounds of the Cat-sponsored race car revving its 800-horsepower engine can be heard at all ends of the grounds. But at this year’s show, visitors to the Cat booth were making some noise of their own, taking part in a pit crew tool challenge which showcased Cat’s full line of tools.

Racing against the clock, contestants were required to remove the lug nuts from a race car tire and rim, rotate the tire and re-install the lug nuts, before quickly countersinking 12 woodscrews into a board. Contestants used the Caterpillar 1/2 composite air impact gun and the Caterpillar 19.2-volt cordless drill, respectively, to complete the feat.

A total of 139 contestants took part in the event over the three days, with the fastest time on each day earning the participant a set of Caterpillar wrenches valued at $800. The fastest time on day one was clocked by Chris Poersch, day two’s winner was Brad Baker, and the quickest contestant of the final day was Ben Hamilton. Baker ended up being the contest’s grand prize winner, clocking a time of 1:06 to claim the top spot. As grand prize winner, Baker received a Caterpillar roll chest tool box valued at $5,600 in addition to the wrench set.

“This was the first time we did this challenge and we were thrilled with the response,” said Rob Hall, truck engine business manager at Toromont Cat, adding he anticipates Cat will likely host more contests like this in the future.

In addition to the tool contest and race car, the Cat booth also featured a transporter which housed a number of Cat engine products, including its diesel particulate filter, C13 engine and C15 engine. Cat representatives like Hall were on hand for people to ask questions related to the new ’07 technology.

“There was a number of excellent questions and good interaction with incredibly knowledgeable people that really wanted to know what was going on with the ’07s: what the impact is going to be on fuel economy, performance, what the technology actually is and why it is in place, and what maintenance is required,” Hall said. “It was a very good show from that standpoint.”