Let There
Be Rocks...
Now that you know all about CRCA and the Ultimate Rock Challenge,
you're surely wondering what the course was like. Although
seemingly only a hundred feet long, the course was quite
difficult. It started off with the first rock ledge
on the course being much tougher than it looked, as it claimed
more than one vehicle's front end.
Once past the
gate, drivers had to round a slight bend, crawl through
an area that knocked everyone's rockers that tried to get
through it, and attempt to finesse a rather steep hill climb
with a tight turn at the top and a very nasty rock section
that was dubbed "Hell's Kitchen" before the day
was done. After having cleared that little bit of fun, the
stockers had a relatively easy way out while the modified
class had a very steep drop to the finish line that threatened
to put more than one rig rubber side up.
Spotters and
drivers were allowed to walk the course to try to find the
best lines they could before the run began. Being a timed
event, some drivers opted for mega-testosterone levels and
pedal to the floor tactics, while others tried to squeak
their way through with as smooth a run as possible. The
competition started roughly at 8am and ran into the night,
with only one driver finishing in the dark.
Between the two
classes there were a total of 23 vehicles from mild to wild
with all sorts of trick innovations. The course claimed
many parts with nearly every other truck having some sort
of mechanical failure. Carnage ranged from pulled slip yokes
to grenaded axles. Ah, there's nothing like the smell of
burning gasoline and the sound of grinding metal first thing
in the morning.
Hell's Kitchen
at the top of the hill climb exposed many a wheeler to the
possibility of a rollover and certainly kept more than one
driver in check. Short but sweet, it is a trail to be reckoned
with, and although difficult as it was, for the main event
the trail was made just a bit tougher by moving the flags
in to make for an even tighter, more challenging course.
The Players
Trucks covering the better part of the off-road spectrum
at this event, which had entries from Scouts and Toyotas
to Jeeps and Samurais. There was even a big yellow full-size
Wagoneer. When it came down to who did well on the
course, Don Gardner in his squeaky-clean TJ managed
to roll through the course with an excellent time of 7:31
to qualify for the finals where he again made it through
without so much as a scratch.
Scott Waterbury
was dubbed "Air Samurai" after blasting his way
through the course with a time that put him into first place
on his qualifying run in the stock class, while Ron Schneider
flew through the course with an incredible record breaking
time of 2:25 in his highly-modified YJ.
Naturally it
was quite an upset when the main event came along and the
crowd pleaser, Ron, broke his front end doing the hill climb.
Although there
were many close calls, amazingly there were no rollovers
by the time the day was done, and as usual, the crowd loves
nothing more than seeing carnage, blasting speed and near
rollovers. But in their favor, more than once the audience
was yelling at drivers to put their seatbelts back on when
they would forget. To quote one spectator, "it's all
in fun. I just don't want to see the guy get hurt."
It was a fun day and everyone there had a great time. I
can't wait until the next one.
For more information
about the C.R.C.A. and future events, call
909/679-3879 or visit their website.