The Ford Hot Shots was the annual

skills competition Skills competitions refer to special Exhibition game, exhibition contests that take place during all-star games or other special events in professional sports. Generally, they are held the day before the all-star games. These events seem to serv ...

preceding both the

Scotties Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts ('; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Association. The winner goes on to represent Can ...

and the

Tim Hortons Brier The Brier ('), known since 2024 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March. The wi ...

, Canada's women's and men's national

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

championships respectively. The competition has not been held since 2018.

History

When

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

became a sponsor of the

World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and Doubles curling, mixed doubles championships, as ...

in 1995, it also began a tradition of a skills competition preceding Canada's national championships. The change in competition format for the 2018 Tournament of Hearts and 2018 Brier led to a change in format for the Hot Shots. Fifteen teams would compete instead of individual curlers, with the winning team being awarded a cheque for $15,000 and one of four Hot Shots spectators winning the two-year lease on the Ford vehicle. The three finalist spectators would each receive $500 to donate to the charities of their choice.

Disciplines

There were six disciplines that each competitor (for 2018, each team) had to do: *The "hit and stay" (they must hit a rock on the button and not roll out) *The "draw to the button" (they must throw the rock as close as possible to the centre of the rings) *The "draw through the port" (the must throw the rock as close as possible to the centre of the rings, but go between two guard rocks in the process. *The "raise" (they must bump a guard rock into the rings as close as possible to the centre) *The "hit and roll" (they must hit a rock at the edge of the rings and roll as close as possible to the centre of the rings) *The "double" (they must remove two rocks with one stone, and end up as close as possible to the centre of the rings) Hacknerdouble

Since 2017, the event included five new disciplines: *The "Hackner double", replicating

Al Hackner Allan A. Hackner (born July 18, 1954), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a retired Canadian Hall of Fame curler from Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was born in Nipigon, Ontario. He is a two-time Brier and World Champion skip. He is of Ojibwa descent and ...

's famous double takeout at the

1985 Labatt Brier The 1985 Labatt Brier, the Canadian national men's curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boule ...

. *The "Schmirler shot", replicating

Sandra Schmirler Sandra Marie Schmirler (June 11, 1963 – March 2, 2000) was a Canadian curling, curler who captured three Canadian Curling Championships (Scott Paper Company, Scott Tournament of Hearts) and three World Women's Curling Championship, World Cu ...

's in-off at the

1997 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The 1997 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held from November 22 to 30, 1997 at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. They were held to determine the Canadian National men's and women's Teams for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Men Teams Fin ...

to send her team to the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

. *A "straight raise to the button" *A "drag-effect double takeout" *An "around the horn triple takeout for two".

Scoring

For each shot, where the shooter rock came to rest determined how many points were earned. A rock that ended up on the button received 5 points. A rock that ended up in the 4 foot ring got 4 points. 8 foot ring, 3; 12 foot for 2; and one point if a "shot has been to have provided some sort of positive result."

Prizes

Until 2018, the winner of the Hot Shots received a 2-year lease on a Ford vehicle. First and Second runners-up received cash ($2000 and $1000 respectively). In 2009, the women's winner received a lease on a 2009

Ford Flex The Ford Flex is a full-size crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Ford over a single generation from 2009–2019, as the successor to the Ford Taurus X. The Flex was introduced in 2005 as a concept vehicle based on the Ford D4 chassis ar ...

SEL FWD and the men's winner received a lease on a 2009

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since model year 1948 as a range of full-sized pickup trucks — positioned between Ford's Ranger and Super Duty pickup trucks. Alongs ...

XLT 4x4. In 2013 the lease vehicle was a Ford Fusion SE. Winning women's vehicles:2017 Scotties Media Guide: Overall Records *1995:

Ford Contour The Ford Mondeo I (first generation) is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Ford, beginning on 23 November 1992, with sales beginning on 22 March 1993. It is also known as the Mk I Mondeo; the 1996 facelift versions are usually designa ...

GL *1996:

Mercury Mystique The Ford Mondeo I (first generation) is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Ford, beginning on 23 November 1992, with sales beginning on 22 March 1993. It is also known as the Mk I Mondeo; the 1996 facelift versions are usually designa ...

*1997:

*1998:

LS *1999:

LS *2000:

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from 1985 to 2019. From 1985 to 2009, Ford marketed the Taurus alongside its rebadged variant, the Mercury Sable. Four generati ...

SE *2001:

SE *2002:

Ford Focus The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1998 until 2025. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worl ...

SE Wagon *2003:

ZX5 *2004:

Ford Escape The Ford Escape is a compact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company since the 2001 model year. The first Ford SUV derived from a car platform, the Escape fell below the Ford Explorer#Second generation (UN105/150; 1995), F ...

XLT FWD *2005:

Ford Freestyle The Ford Freestyle is a crossover utility vehicle that was sold by Ford from 2005 to 2009. Largely marketed as the successor to the Ford Taurus station wagon, the Freestyle was the CUV counterpart of the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego ...

SEL *2006:

Ford Explorer The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

XLT *2007:

Ford Edge The Ford Edge is a crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company introduced for the 2007 model year as the first mid-size CUV marketed by Ford in North America; now in its third generation. Deriving its name from a trim pack ...

*2008:

Ford Fusion The Ford Fusion is an automobile nameplate by Ford. * Ford Fusion (Americas), mid-size car produced between the 2006 and 2020 model years ** Ford Fusion Hybrid, gasoline-electric hybrid powered version ** Ford Fusion Energi, plug-in hybrid ...

SEL V6 *2009:

SEL FWD *2010:

SEL FWD *2011:

FW *2012:

Titanium *2013:

SE 2.0L *2014:

SE 2.0L AWD *2015:

XLT *2016:

Sport EcoBoost *2017:

SE *2018:

Winners

References

{{Reflist *''ExtraEnd Magazine'', 2009-10 edition, pg 20-21 The Brier Scotties Tournament of Hearts Curling trophies and awards Ford Motor Company