The Mud Bog
was saved for last, and the trucks slushed and gushed their way
through about a hundred feet of Tennessee red yuck. Kudos to the
kid in the stock Ford F-150, two wheel drive, who got caught up
in the buzz and wanted to see how far he could make it after the
competitors were done. He outshined many of the official attempts
by almost making it all the way out! With a bit more tread on
his tires I think he could have actually made it.
A tired, hungry, and ready to get cleaned up group headed out
to get their rigs back together and prepare to meet back again
for the awards banquet to find out who the winners were.
The banquet
was held at Jim Oliver’s Smokehouse and after everyone had
a chance to eat the Tennessee Off-Road guys stood up to announce
the final scores. Sam Lewis, owner of TOR first took a moment
to thank the competitors for coming out and hoped that everyone
had a great time. He also thanked all the members of the TOR team
for all of their months of hard work and planning.
The final
scores were announced in ascending order, and when it was all
over Team 19 had won - their second win in their three years of
competing. The prizes for First place this year were $1000.00
cash, a trophy and a gift certificate from ARB for forty percent
off. Second place got $400.00 cash and a Mobi-Arc Welder. Third
place got $100.00 cash and a Mobi-Arc Welder.
With the sport
of four-wheeling taking a more extreme direction, the Skyjacker
Challenge was a different and refreshing type of competitive event.
Based originally on the defunct Camel Trophy and the also-defunct
Safari Triathlon, this type of event is rare in the United States
and has become one of our very favorites each year. We can’t
wait for the 2003 event!
Final
Scores
Team
# |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Navigator |
Home
Town |
1 |
Ford
Bronco II |
Tom
Campbell |
Matt
Maier |
Springfield,
IL |
2 |
Scout
cab truck |
Chris
Rudd |
Chad
Molitor |
Murfreesboro,
TN |
3 |
Jeep
YJ Wrangler |
Todd
Valmassei |
Sean
Falk |
Monroe,
MI |
4 |
Toyota
Pick Up |
David
Brawley |
Steve
Melton |
Tracey
City, TN |
5 |
Ford
Bronco (Armageddon) |
Berry
Bruich |
Gil
Perry |
Brooksville,
FL |
10 |
Willy
M-170 |
Dan
Johnson |
Sean
Philyaw |
Crawfordsville,
IN |
11 |
Jeep
CJ-7 |
Jonathon
Jeffers |
Bill
Elam |
Franklin,
TN |
13 |
Jeep
CJ-7 |
JB
Conrad |
Mark
Lloyd |
Kingman,
IN |
14 |
Ford
Ranger Hybrid |
Bic
Boyte |
Doug
King |
Nashville,
TN |
19 |
Jeep
TJ Wrangler |
Tom
Fitzgerald |
Chris
Jones |
Stanardsville,
VA |
37 |
Nissan
Frontier |
Eric
Davis |
Kyle
Updegrove |
Douglasville,
GA |
44 |
Jeep
CJ-7 |
Eric
Trigalet |
John
Hutson |
Danville,
IL |