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| Farmington, New Mexico - Chokecherry Canyon | Short Cuts | ||||
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by:
Joshua "Superdawg" Lowenstein
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Chokecherry Canyon - The Encore
During the second of the two-day fierce competition at the ARCA Farmington, NM final event, an internal battle of sorts took place. Maybe it started earlier or even years ago, but a gentleman's battle for best showman of the ARCA events came to a boil in Chokecherry Canyon. The start of which happened when 2000 ARCA Champion, Ace CJ10 Pilot squared up to what would soon be known as the "Wall of Death" B7. Chris Durham was the first of the competition to try the dreaded climb of doom, and with all the showmanship he could muster, he gave the crowd a better show than simply climbing the wall (or so we thought at the time).
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| Chris Durham is seen here with
his front
driveshaft flying out. Joshua Lowenstein |
Chris gave warning to Phil Collard, that he would need the crowd moved back for his daring attempt at the right side of B7. As he approached the untested climb the look on Chris's face was his usual casual smile of pure cocky confidence. The easy-going South Carolina gentleman eased up to the face and gave it all he had. Chris lucky and skillfully was able to save the CJ10 from endoing backwards only to break a front drive shaft on his third attempt. Quick as blink Chris and spotter Ronny Barton replaced the front shaft slip yoke and proceeded to make it up the left side (common, but not easy by any stretch) of B7. As the crowd went wild over that performance the thoughts that he would be outdone by anyone faded. or so we thought.
Then, came Mike Palmer from Denver, in his Campbell/Palmer built jeep, the feud was nearly at full boil when Mike told Phil Collard that he too would attempt to climb the foreboding wall of rock. Simply trying the same extreme wall was enough to get the two drivers into a WWF cage match, much less succeeding as Mike did!
Holy Moses, what could top this? How about a personal, all for the fun of the sport, grudge match after the final days competition?
The stage was set: B7, wall of death, after school. Got it? Be there! I was!
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Jeff Baucom in
his new "Rock Hopper" tube buggy. Joshua Lowenstein |
You can't have the battle royal without a warm up bout or two. Jeff Baucom who was unable to compete due to not getting his rig completed in time had so much steam under his collar that he just had to show off what his new "Rock Hopper" tube buggy could do. First he ran all of A7 with no trouble. OK. a little (he ran out of gas) but when JR Brown donated some high-test, the "Hopper" easily made the climbs. Jeff raced over to big B7 and ran the brand new rig right up the left side with a throttling show.
This well-built rig and a loose nut, show-off driver should make for a fun filled season next year.
Pinky comes out of retirement. no kidding! |
Shannon said at the beginning of the two day final that this type of tight turning obstacles (like on A course) was built for Pinky, but, knowing that the old girl was built a bit light duty for Shannon's new and heavier right foot, he stayed with the new Dana 60ed buggy called the "Psycho Billy Cadillac".
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| Pinky out of retirement. Joshua Lowenstein |
But, just to test and see how Pinky would do, he put her to the test on B7. As he rolled up in the championship proven rig, the crowd that had begun to go home, started back to watch the "Late show".
With the 90" wheelbased Pinky, a run at the right side "Wall of Death" would be unthinkable, or would it? I think Shannon played eeny-meeny-miny-mo to decide which side to take.
Shannon tried the left side and with only one attempt, he broke the right front 10 bolt axle u-joint. As the crowd sighed, a new spark came to be, Shannon backed up, looking up at the right side "Wall of Death" he brought the helm around to full speed ahead with broken axle and all, attempted the ruthless daunting face. Another bang was heard, left front axle. Shannon was not deterred from his quest, he tried again in rear wheel drive only now, to climb the dreaded driveshaft axle-eating wall.
A third ka-BANG echoed over the canyon walls and this time the rear drive shaft with half of the Dana 300 output shaft flew out. Pinky was done for the day!
| Revenge |
Then came Chris Durham to exact his revenge on the sandstone face that defied his glory. As the CJ10 and its daring pilot lined up to retake the glory stolen by the wall and Mike Palmer, Chris wound up the 360 cubes of AMC power and launched up the face, making it past the point of no backing up. As the front tires left the bonds of gravity, Chris slap saved the rig again.
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| Shannon takes Mike Palmer's jeep up B7s
"Wall of Death". Mike rode shotgun to test the AC. Joshua Lowenstein |
Pilot Durham repeated the attempts, one of which tossed his rig sideways off the wall, with quick reversing and skilled driving Chris saved the CJ10 from a certain roll over. Now, the "Wall of Death" was taunting Chris to try again. Oh sorry, that was the crowd who had returned. Not to be denied, Chris tried again, and with everything the mighty CJ10 could muster, it made it nearly to the to top when another front drive-shaft gave way and flew out. Dejected, Chris reversed the rig back down safely, to a rousing ovation from the re-growing crowd.
Mike Palmer asked Shannon if he wanted to try the dreaded wall in his jeep? Without any delay, with Mike as co-pilot the two strapped on their helmets and headed for the base of the "Wall of Death". Shannon not being one to waste any time, executed a perfect rocket launch right up the face using all of the 650 ponies under the hood.
As Mike and Shannon sat in the only rig to climb the menacing wall (twice), they simply smiled and gave knuckle punches, autographs and high fives to the fans that surrounded them.
4th place for the event and 11th for the series, Chris Durham overall had a better day, but when it came to pure showing off, Chris was out-gunned on this day, but the fuel that fires this showman will assuredly be burning brightly next year. If you want to see what a nut-case showman Chris is, pick up the Big Rock Video series of the ARCA events. The 2001 Cedar City Competition really shows that Chris is truly an aircraft pilot in his jeep.
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| Mike Palmer and Shannon Campbell. Joshua Lowenstein |
A final note, while the stages were driven exactly as I stated, the perceived rivalries, the name the "Wall of Death" were fictitiously exaggerated/fabricated by the author. The drivers of the ARCA and WRCC are all gentlemen and professionals. If there are rivalries, they keep them to themselves. Thanks Mike, Chris and Shannon!
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