Rock Crawlers converged on this area for a two-day show, one that gives them a chance to display their driving skills in a very challenging environment.
MUSTANG (Sept. 26/27) – This weekend a new event, Silver State Rock Crawling Championship, was held at the Wild West Motorsport Park. Good weather and 57 competitors help make it a success.Unlike the other events at Wild West this one was located on top of a hill on the west side of the parking lot.
“I don’t think I could have expected it to go much better than it did,” promoter Jesse Haines said later. “It went really well but every event will have some issues due to human errors. Some things related to being first year event and there were mistakes.”
He explained that while they tried to get experienced judges some of the things were different events of this type.
Everyone ran four times each day but the street stock course was changed after everyone had run it twice and had two more runs left.
Al Lockett, who promotes the spring Home show, was a first time competitor and completed this course despite a flat right front tire.
Competitors run under a time limit so the teams attempt to negotiate a course within the allowed time. And there are things like cones and course limits that also help create challenges.
While the time limit counts so do penalty points incurred during a run if a driver goes outside the course or moves and hits one of the cones liming the course.
Five classes of vehicles were used ranging from Street Stock to Unlimiteds. The latter category vehicles are marvels or engineering with front and rear steer, front and back lockers and suspensions that allow them to climb over just about anything.
Here is a good example of how a spotter can assist his driver in choosing the correct line through an obstacle. Tyler Glover helps his driver James Treacy over an obstacle.
While this sport might lack speed it more than makes up for it by the technical challenges offered to competitors as well as the tension that rises when competitors are informed there are only a few minutes left on their run.
Most teams have a driver and spotter, who usually gets out of the vehicle and helps direct the driver toward the best course.
The event covered two days and in the end a driver/spotter total score determined their finishing positions.
One local competitor was Al Lockett, who promotes the annual Home/Racing/Outdoor show in March. During one of his runs he got a right front flat tire but still completed it in the allotted time.
Asked about the event he said, “This is my first event and I love it.
The fans also seemed to be enjoying themselves and they were able to move from one course to another since there was a road around the area.
Haines explained that next year Wild West there will be several improvements to make the event better. One of them will be path for those wishing to walk up the hill rather than depending on the shuttle.
“It’s really difficult to keep everyone happy, if its not challenging enough then it’s boring for the teams and spectators,” he said. “So you just to have the right level of difficulty.”
During the event he did ask some of the last place finishers their opinion and those asked said they had a great time.
Now the planning begins for next year’s event.
“Most of the work will be off site in the next months. We’re going to the Off Road Expo his weekend in Pomona, California as it’s a fairly big event for off road guys,” he said.
He explained the Expo is a target event for the off road community. And he’ll be talking to people to get more support.
Based on what he saw this weekend, and people’s response Haines is very optimistic about next year. He did admit this will also depend on the weather but for now his view is up beat.
“I heard a lot of spectators saying they had a great time and will be back. Assuming similar weather and the same amount of advertising we hope to go a little bit further as we have an existing fan base now.
Another challenge he’s addressing is getting more sponsorship. He mentioned that many sponsors are reluctant to back a new event, as they don’t know if it will be money well spent.
His success this time should help bring in more sponsors.
He added the PR effort and feedback should help those fans that were sitting on the fence this time. His hope is that these people will buy a ticket and attend next year’s event.
This means another popular event at Wild West and more visitors to our area.
RESULTS
Silver State Rock Crawling Championships*
Wild West Motorsports Park – Sept. 27/28
Unlimited: 1. Justin Keileman/Jody Everding, 2. James Treacy/Tyler Glover, 3. Todd Young/Tate Elquist, 4. Matt Deas/Mike Berard, 5. Kevin Carroll/Drew Johnson, 6. Matt Messer, 7. Wayne Mortensen/Keith Mortensen, 8. Justin Hall/Mark Hall, 9. Oliver Messer/Chris, 10. Jerry Unruh/Nathan Unruh, 11. Brian Hicks, 12. Jeff McKinlay/Mitchell Sweatt, 13. Brandy Southall/Randy Southall.
Pro Mod: 1. Denis Volkov/Kyle Congdon, 2. Cody Gabriel/Richard Penrose, 3. Shawn McNearney/Jared Neff, 4. Jeremy Oftstad/Shawn McNearney, 5. Jason Scherer/Jeff Mello, 6. Kevin Reimer/Erick Williams
Legends: 1. Kaitlin Yates/Graeme Tydeman, 2. Kyle Witherspoon/Neff, 3. Kolt Mieras/Josh Bart, 4. Ryan Maxfield/Nate Hurst
Trail Buggy: 1. Eric Wicks, 2. Uriel Varela, 3. Danile Zeman, 4. Jeremy Winter/Chris Kiker, 5. Charlie Vacha, 6. Mike Moore, 7. Shawn Heywood/Brian McCarthy, 8. Brian McCarthy/Shawn Heywood, 9. Cycle Sorri/Sean Glenon, 10. Chad Martin/Chaz Merritt, 11. Roger Conroy/Roman Conroy, 12. Devin Hoglund/Jeremy Benson, 13. Rick Nuzum/Carl, 14. Tate Elquist/Todd Young, 15. Ashby Bradwell/Randy Morgan, 16. Kyle Sage/Dave Wong, 17. Justin Sexton/Tim Ellis, 18. Cory Allison, 19. Chris Borowick/Paul Devecchi/ 20. Bob Orr/Ryan Amborn 21. Toni Dorre
Street Stock: 1. Mark Hodges 2. Jim Martino/John Black, 3. Al Lockett/Jim Frens, 4. Kannin Pruksakon/Justin Sipe, 5. Tim Sanders/Austin Hall, 6. Alan Johnson/Ryan Horning, 7. Josh Wilkins, 8. Tim Sanders/Austin Hall, 9. Linus Brewer, 10. Derrick Hodge/Nick Smith, 11. Austin Falerios/Brandon Glaw, 12. Nick Smith/Derrick Hodge, 13. Dakata Convesse.
* Driver’s and Spotter’s names are listed.
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