King Healy Reigns at Discount Tire American Rocksports Challenge

1TOOELE, UT – AUGUST 23rd, 2014: More than 90 teams registered for the Discount Tire American Rocksports Challenge at Miller Motorsports Park. With double the car count from 2013, the racing was some of the tightest and most intense of the 2014 ULTRA4 season to date. After a fierce battle in the main among 4 former Kings; Campbell, Healy, Scherer and Miller, it was Healy who climbed to the top of the podium for his 2nd consecutive ULTRA4 win. Fellow Nitto Tire drivers, Jason Scherer and Erik Miller took 2nd and 3rd place respectively for a Nitto Tire podium sweep at the Trail-Gear  ULTRA4 Western Regional finale.

Saturday morning’s prelims proved challenging for all classes with a muddy short course and slick rock obstacles due to heavy thunderstorms on Friday night.  Shannon Campbell had the fastest qualifying time on Friday followed by Jason Scherer and Loren Healy respectively. All three drivers had pole position in Saturday morning’s three prelims for the 4400s. The top 7 drivers from each prelim made it into the Main event, and the remaining drivers competed in a B Main with the top four drivers from the B Main also earning spots in the Main race for a field of 25 drivers for the 4400 Main event.

Campbell, Healy and Ferravanti Sr. each won their respective prelims. With Campbell’s prelim being the fastest of the 3, he won pole position in the Main with Healy starting along side him and Ferravanti Sr. starting behind him. The main event for the 4400s was 12 laps long, and early in the competition Healy had the lead with Campbell overtaking him in the rocks. By mid race, Campbell and Scherer were battling it out for the lead on the short course when the two vehicles tires touched sending Campbell into a race-ending roll that he was able to walk away from.  In the final laps, Healy overtook Scherer and Erik Miller was able to work his way from a middle of the pack starting position into 3rd by the final lap of the race.

The limited class racing was also some of the most exciting of the season.  The 4500 Rubicon Express Modified class raced with the 4700 Spec class while the 4600 Pro Comp Stock Class raced with the 4800 Legends class. In the 4500 Rubicon Express Modified class, John Currie was back on the top of the podium after overtaking Jordan Townsend who had a rollover in the rocks and finished second followed by Shawn Rants in 3rd. Kevin Adler took the checkered flag for the 4600 Pro-Comp stock class followed by Brian Behrend in 2nd and Discount Tire driver Mel Wade III in third place. In the 4700 Spec class, Jeff Rector made his debut racing in the class by taking the checkered flag, followed by Bailey Cole who was also racing in the 4700 class for the first time, Jessi Combs claimed a 3rd place finish while battling some vehicle issues likely caused by the morning mud. Dave Schneider took 1st place in the 4800 Legends class followed by 4800 rookie Dennis Lapp in 2nd and Ernie Hardaway taking 3rd in the class racing in Alex Hardaway’s old 4400 car.

In the UTV race, Mike Slawson, brother of former King of The Hammers, Randy Slawson came out to his first regional ULTRA4 race and won the UTV Sportsman class followed by the youngest driver in Utah, Discount Tire driver, Mel Wade IV, and 3rd place went to Discount Tire driver Andrew Gorman.

The next race in the ULTRA4 Nitto Tire National Championship series is the series finale for the 4WD Hardware Eastern Regional Series taking place September 12th and 13th in Sturgis Kentucky at the Sturgis Off Road Blowout sponsored by Lifetime LED and Bill Baird Motorsports. On September 26th and 27th is King of Portugal, the ULTRA4 Europe series finale. And the Nitto Tire National Championship race is going to be held October 17th and 18th at the Wild West Motorsports Park in Reno, NV.

Discount Tire American Rocksports Full Race Results

 

4400 Main Race
1 67 Loren Healy 12 21:19.100
2 76 Jason Scherer 12 32.21 7 21:51.317
3 4421 Erik Miller 12 1:25.9 76 22:45.076
4 4775 JAKE HALLENBECK 11 1 Lap 21:42.352
5 5252 Bill Baird 11 1 Lap 22:03.596
6 4444 Jason Pickett 11 1 Lap 22:40.116
7 4493 Andrew McLaughlin 10 2 Laps 21:29.998
8 4459 Keith Xavier 10 2 Laps 21:49.258
9 966 Jason Blanton 10 2 Laps 21:53.475
10 4477 Jake Yeoman 10 2 Laps 22:16.366
11 4483 Raul Gomez 10 2 Laps 22:26.993
12 4457 Doug Evans 10 2 Laps 22:30.256
13 4477 Brian Wood 10 2 Laps 23:07.575
14 4425 Brandon Johnson 10 2 Laps 23:22.265
15 75 scott foley 10 2 Laps 23:26.77 6
16 4431 Mike Klensin 9 3 Laps 22:17.216
17 4481 Levi Shirley 9 3 Laps 22:20.334
18 7779 Kenneth Goodall 9 3 Laps 22:29.905
19 4775 Robert Daly 9 3 Laps 23:31.420
20 3 Wayland Campbell 8 4 Laps 22:01.091
21 5150 brendon thompson 8 4 Laps 23:16.950
22 5 Shannon Campbell 7 5 Laps 11:55.395
23 444 Rick Waterbury 5 7 Laps 22:39.456
24 4482 JP Gomez 3 9 Laps 5:23.2 24
25 44 Gary Ferravanti sr. 2 10 Laps 21:30.855
4400 BMain
1 1977 Jake Yeoman 12 25:39.026
2 7779 Kenneth Goodall 12 1:45.748 27:24.774
3 4457 Doug Evans 11 1 Lap 25:52.148
4 4775 Robert Daly 11 1 Lap 26:10.203
5 54 mike bou 11 1 Lap 26:22.866
6 4455 Andy Brown 10 2 Laps 28:35.661
7 11 Bruce Szember 8 4 Laps 18:37.256
8 4205 Jason Waits 7 5 Laps 18:29.900
9 4437 Dustin Sexton 4 8 Laps 26:34.3 95
10 4441 Darren Henke 3 9 Laps 6:54.90 3
11 902 Steve Bray 3 9 Laps 8:38.6 69
12 4481 Alex Hardaway 2 10 Laps 9:16.8 05
4500 Rubicon Express Modified Class
1 88 John Currie 10 23:04.2 61
2 4580 Jordan Townsend 10 2:01.0 34 25:05.295
4 4531 Shawn Rants 9 1 Lap 23:30.501
5 4503 Adam Arsenault 9 1 Lap 25:00.002
7 4510 Matt Oakeson 8 2 Laps 24:27.7 63
8 4511 Alan Johnson 8 2 Laps 24:57.7 70
9 713 Doug Faloni 7 3 Laps 20:49.209
11 4578 Paul Bickerton 3 7 Laps 11:16.206
12 63 Jimmy Jack 2 8 Laps 7:03.8 02
4600 Pro Comp Stock Class
1 4602 kevin adler 7 3 Laps 27:38.111
2 4648 Brian Behrend 7 3 Laps 27:40.836
3 4651 Melvin Wade III 7 3 Laps 27:50.591
4 4654 Bailey Cole 7 3 Laps 28:08.033
5 4696 Sean McNamara 7 3 Laps 28:46.241
6 4623 David Miller 7 3 Laps 32:29.111
7 4612 Ben Varozza 3 7 Laps 13:57.467
4700 Spec Class
1 4704 Jeff Rector 9 1 Lap 23:04.9 68
2 4705 Bailey Cole 8 2 Laps 23:43.859
3 4703 Jessi Combs 3 7 Laps 8:09.747
4 4701 Mitch Funk 1 9 Laps 1:09.3 23
4800 Legends Class
1 4871 Dave Schneider 10 27:02.78 2
2 4840 Dennis Lapp 8 2 Laps 27:40.909
3 4881 Ernie Hardaway 7 3 Laps 27:21.407
4 4852 richard fenton 6 4 Laps 27:41.953
5 4813 rory romero 5 5 Laps 18:13.142
6 4824 Sean Leonardini 3 7 Laps 28:19.405
UTV Sportsman
1 307 Mike Slawson

8

32:53.852
2 1951 Melvin Wade IV

8

1:53.2 41 34:47.093
3 1958 Andrew Gorman

7

1 Lap 36:02.866
4 1915 Brian Hogue

6

2 Laps 35:25.082
5 203 Jared Murch

2

6 Laps 4:33.9 30

ABOUT ULTRA4 RACING

ULTRA4 is a vehicle type, class and series.  ULTRA4 Racing was born from the popularity of the annual Griffin King of the Hammers Presented by Nitto Tire, considered to be the toughest one-day off-road race. The vehicles are unlimited four-wheel drive, capable of competing  in multiple racing disciplines – extreme rock crawling, high-speed desert racing and short course.  In seven years, the sport has grown significantly from the inaugural King of the Hammers to an eight race national series, and a four race International series.  ULTRA4 Racing is managed by Hammerking Productions located in Temecula, CA.  To learn more, log on to www.ultra4racing.com.

 

ULTRA4 SPONSORS

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ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING MOTORSPORTS IN THE US – ULTRA4 RACING ULTRA4 racing began in 2007 with a dozen friends competing for bragging rights.  Seven years later, more than 400 cars compete nationally and internationally in ULTRA4 races.  In 2014, races in the United States will be held in the following states: Utah, Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas, California and Nevada. Additionally, 4 European races will be held in Scotland, Wales, Italy and Portugal.

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