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The Potato Race is a race for people who like potatoes. Where else in the Mojave desert for the measly price of a dollar can you get seven large potatoes, hash brown ready, and have fun doing it?

Photo: Here's the start of the Potato Race, as our Flat Fender gets ready to run the race. The Drifters sell hot dogs and soft drinks, for a nominal price.

The Potato Race has been a fixture of Hi Desert Round-Up for years, and 2010 was no exception. It's hosted by the Drifters Jeep Club and the object of the race, as advertised in the official Hi Desert Program guide is simply stated, "persecution of potatoes." What do potatoes and Jeeps have in common? Read on... There are two divisions: The men's division means that a male must drive and the potato stabber, who just happens to be the front seat passenger, can be any age or gender. The women's division is the same, meaning that a woman must be the driver. The race is a timed event consisting of 7 tires filled with potatoes.

Photo: Our Flat Fender heads for the first potato, as the husband prepares to stab a potato. The potato stabbers must be seat belted in their seats, as per CA4WDC protocol, which makes stabbing the potatoes accurately all the more difficult.

Photo: It takes careful aim to accurately stab a potato on the fly, but this guy seems to have the right stuff. The wife seems to be preoccupied shifting into a higher gear.

Photo: Between stabs, one of the Drifters rearranges the potatoes inside the tire, and repositions some of the potatoes that have fallen out.

The clock starts ticking as soon as the vehicle starts moving. You pull up to the first tire and the passenger, or better known as the potato stabber, stabs a potato with a large spear-like rod, and throws the potato on to the floorboard of their rig, as they speed off to the next tire filled with potatoes, to spear another one. All of this is accomplished while wearing seatbelts, and navigating a bumpy, four wheel drive required course. You encounter 7 tires filled with potatoes, and you must spear 7 potatoes and present them to the referee who is standing at the end of the course, with stopwatch in hand. If you don't have your 7 potatoes, you're voted off the island. Hey, it's not the end of the world, as you can keep your speared potatoes and since they've already got a hole in them, you don't have to stab 'em before you bake 'em. If you don't like baked potatoes, well, they make dandy hash brown fodder.

Photo: It's the wife's turn to stab a potato on the run, amid a cloud of dust. Four wheel drive action photography at its best!

Photo: Junior now gives the potatoes the ol' college try, as mom takes a photo of the action.

Photo: Hi-Desert Roundup base camp, a mile in the distance, as seen from the top of the hill at the Potato Race.

All kidding aside, it takes a lot of coordination between the driver and the potato stabber, as the driver must maneuver within the stabber's range, and to achieve a good score, the stabber should bag the spud on the first stab, as seconds count in this race. It's a fun event to watch, only eclipsed by the Can and Stick Race as being the wildest vehicle game at High Desert Roundup.