Federal Heights – Trash-talking racers slid down a 61-foot-tall, 410-foot-long racetrack Tuesday to mark the opening of Hyland Hills Water World’s newest attraction.
TurboRacer – an eight-lane waterslide billed as the tallest ride of its kind in the world – is a perpetual competition of sorts. Equipped with checkered flags, green lights and timers, riders compete to get to the finish line.
And on Tuesday morning, the competition was playfully fierce as eight drivers from the Colorado National Speedway were the ride’s inaugural patrons.
Racer Scotty Backman, 47, won the two practice races before the 11 a.m. start.
Backman singled out fellow racer Jan Sant at the top of the slide after his victories.
Sant, with 15 years racing experience, shot back.
“It’s typical him,” he said. “He’s been trash-talking all morning.”
But when it came to the race, Backman’s bravado didn’t hold up. The racer shot down the track and splashed past the finish line in 12.24 seconds, three hundredths of a second slower than winner Mike Hankins, who got $1,000 to donate to The Children’s Hospital Burn Center.
“Get all the way on the board, that helps,” Hankins said, his only advice for speed-loving patrons.
A line of hundreds snaked along a sidewalk next to the ride, some waiting since 10 a.m. for the public opening about 11:30 a.m.
Collin Kinchen, 11, was happy to ride the new slide.
“Ever since I saw the (construction) in the parking lot, I wanted to go on it,” he said. And on Tuesday, his birthday, he got his wish.
His brother, 13-year-old Cameron Kinchen, loved zipping through the tube.
“It’s fun laying on your stomach and not knowing where you’re going,” he said of the near darkness inside the tubing.
Backman said he was glad to be away from the racetrack.
“This is the funnest ride here, I think,” he said. “And it’s something to do different than racing on hot asphalt.”
Staff writer Vimal Patel can be reached at 303-954-1638 or vpatel@denverpost.com.
