Rain doesn't slow down the fun at the Blaine County Cruise

Marvin Potter of Harlem stood proudly next to his 1985 Corvair in the parking lot at the Hill County Weigh Station at U.S. highways 2 and 87 Saturday morning.

It was cold and rainy, the coldest and rainiest in the six-year history of the Blaine County Cruise.

But Potter was chipper as he talked about his love of cars, especially older ones.

Adorning his Corvair were two American flags that are on his car at all times, he said.

He's had flags on his car since Sept. 11, 2001, he said. As he saw the Twin Towers collapse to the ground, he made a decision that he was going to let the world know where he stands every day going forward. And he's done that with the flags on his car.

He said he gets comments on his flags everywhere he goes.

He said his love of cars goes back as far as he can remember. He once lived in Glasgow, which had a dirt track at the time. He and his brother used to race there when they were young.

He competes in races at Phillips County Motorsports in Malta.

But his Corvair is his pride and joy. Even after going through 20 miles of rainy weather Saturday, it was shining brightly, having been polished repeatedly.

"It just gets in your blood," he said, as other participants in the cruise nodded in agreement.

More than 50 people participated in the Blaine County Cruise this year. Organizers think the bad weather may have scared some people away.

The weigh station was the first of many challenges the drivers would face throughout the day. They started the cruise at the Blaine County Fairgrounds, went to the weigh station, then on to Big Sandy, north to Rocky Boy, over to Beaver Creek Park, then back to Havre and home to the Blaine County Fairgrounds.

At each stop, drivers had a different challenge to perform.

At the weigh station, they were tasked with throwing a foot-wide rubber ring out of the driver's side of the car onto a piston that was about 20 feet away - without bringing the car to a stop.

Drivers got points for coming close.

There were similar challenges at each stop.

At the end of the cruise, the person with the most points won a $1,000 prize.

At the weigh station, Allen Pula and Wally Duchscher were judging the ring-throwing contest.

In between contests, they were trying to come up with ideas for the 2017 challenges.

"We try to come up with something different every year," Duchscher said.