|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| WRCC, Las Cruces, New Mexico | Short Cuts | ||||
|
|
|||||
By: Mike Garner and Bart Jacobs - 12/2001
Edited by: Randy Wheeler
A Test of Teamwork
The Warn Rock Crawling Championship event gathered some of the biggest names of rock crawling in Las Cruces, New Mexico on the second weekend in November. The technical check in on Thursday afternoon brought out a variety of rigs. The Avalanche Assassin was there, Chris Durham's CJ10, a few Snipers, a few Shannon Cambell chassis. As with the first competition in Johnson Valley, there were some huge, full axled, ominous rigs in the parking lot, that seemed very intimidating, but experience revealed they were too big to really compete. Competition rigs have come a long way in two years, and huge is not necessarily a good thing. Clearance, wheel base, up travel, agility, and weight play a much larger roll in being competitive than lots of lift, huge full width axles, and a outrageous ramp scores.
 |
| Mike Garner in his "Feep". |
For this event, Bart Jacobs, current ARCA competitor, and Mike Garner teamed up to tackle the rocks of Las Cruces. As many of you know, Bart is most comfortable behind the wheel of his own creation, but this weekend, his primary duties were to navigate their team through the rocks with Mike Garner behind the wheel of his custom 2"x4" tube framed CJ5. Since Mike lives in Iowa and Bart lives in Utah, they didn't really get a whole lot of practice time together before the event. Commented Bart, "Mike made a couple trips out west so we could practice for that, but time and circumstances only allowed us a couple of days of playing in Montrose, Colorado this time. Still, I've had the chance to wheel with Mike in Moab a few times, and have watched the Feep grow, so I figured I was familiar enough with his rig and we'd be okay. I was especially psyched when we did Die Trying this fall, and the enhanced capabilities of the Feep really shined through. I was gung-ho when Mike first called, but after thinking about it a while I got nervous. I'd been on the driving end of a quite a few competitions, driving my XJ in most of the ARCA events, the 99 WRCC, and the Vernal UROC competition and finals, but had never been on the spotting end of the sport. I thought about it for a while and decided to call Troy Gregory, my spotter in ARCA, for a few pointers. Troy and I had grown together as a team along with a lot of the other competitive teams that have been together for a while, but I didn't realize how evident this would become. Communication is key to a successful team, and like wine, it gets better with time. Troy gave me a couple of great tidbits of advice that helped a lot. He told me to view the line as a driver would (hey, I could do that) to get a concept of what he'd be seeing, and to trust my gut feeling on a line, even if others weren't taking it. Both of these points came in handy".
The drivers meeting that night brought the team number drawing. The odd numbered teams would head out to the Canyon course, the evens to the Trail course. Each course was set in stages. Six for Canyon, seven for Trail. Each stage consists of an 'A' gate to mark the beginning, intermediate gates labeled 'B', 'C' and so on, and a final gate of 'Z'. Each gate must be cleared in the intended direction. Each stage is started with 20 points. Penalty points are assessed for infractions, such as stopping (1pt), backing up (2pts), using a tool such as a winch or highlift (14pts), running out of time (20pts), hitting a cone( 20pts), driver or spotter entering before time starts (20pts), unsportsmanlike behavior (20pts) and alcohol or drug use(20pts). After a team clears the stage, runs out of points, or times out, two points are awarded for each intermediate gate cleared. So, if a team clears the B gate, then times out, they receive 2pts for the stage. If they clear the B, C, D and then the Z gates without any penalty points, they receive 26 points for the stage.
| The Competition |
Friday morning found us trailering out to the meeting place in the pre-dawn hours. Bob Hazel was determined to get everyone off the trails at a reasonable hour. After line up and caravan to the course, we watched team number one (Hawkins and Christensen) line up at the first gate. Number one is a tough place to be. You don't have the privilege of seeing anyone go through the course, and you're sure where to go most of the time. This happened to a team on the first stage. They were unable to determine exactly the best route to take between gates and timed out after clearing the "B" gate. Next up were Palmer and Noss. Up he shot through the B gate, on to the C, up and over the D and through the Z. A clean run. The next two rigs both timed out at the base of the big wall that made up the B gate. Zero points. We were up next. We had a plan and didn't get quite in the right spot the first time we lined up. Mike backed up and I restacked. I motioned to him to bump it up and my heart hit my throat when he drove up it. I was so excited I had to regain composure so I could finish the obstacle. We were in good shape and had plenty of time when we pulled up to the final steep climb at the end of the obstacle, at the flag before the Z (end) gate. Mike tried it once and got high centered. I saw a line to the right but thought it might slide the Feep into the flag. I thought he could make it where he was if he hit it with more speed. My bad. We high centered bad and timed out looking like a turtle searching for ground to grip on. Oh well, somewhat disheartened we headed over to obstacle 2.
We finessed our way up to the first gate and it was a wicked, loose climb. We tried it numerous times on numerous lines, with different various rock stacking methods each time. We finally made it but didn't have enough time to finish the rest of the gates. I think the heavier weight of the Feep, especially in the back, contributed to our troubles there. Regardless of what it was, we weren't happy. Our lack of communication and working together had bitten us hard.
We decided to mellow out, quit taking it so serious, and have some fun. What do ya know, we started doing well. In fact we started kicking a little bootie. We did well on the next few obstacles and were having a ball, until we missed the approach to B (first) gate of #5. Instead of backing up and realigning, I thought I saw the front end start to climb and told Mike to try again. It was a mistake. We not only had to back up anyway and get the right line, but as Mike came up over the knoll I saw a little stream of fluid spray in the air; the exposed cover of the steering box had contacted a sharp Las Cruces rock and was cracked. As Mike turned for the next gate the little stream grew. Every movement of the steering wheel brought a larger geyser. By the end of the obstacle we were completely out of our plan of attack, but managed to finish with only four penalty points. The bad news was we didn't have steering. We tried the only trail fix available and JB welded and duct taped the cover back together. It actually held, for a while.
Obstacle #6 was the last of the day and had a wicked B gate. You had to get the rig high right on a wall, tipping hard to the driver's side. Once the left rear tire was on the stacked rocks, inches from the left B gate, it required a bump to get past the gate. The bump accomplished two things. It got the rear tire past the gate and drove the front left tire into a wall to keep pressure on the left side and keep the rig from rolling. We lined up once and I asked Mike if he was ready. He shook his head, backed up and re-aligned. The second line looked good and I told him to bump it. He didn't like that line and backed out again. While getting a better line the third time the trail repair on the steering box cover broke loose like a floodgate. It looked like Old Faithful. I said "if we're going to do it, let's get it now. Mike bumped it but not hard enough. The Feep never reached the safe haven of the left front tire on the wall, and took a soft roll to on the left side. As it was going over you could hear Mike saying something like, "..well, let's call it a day".
| Day 2 |
Saturday morning found us on the Trail course. Armed with a new strategy, we were going to take the backups when needed. The goal today was to complete every stage. Two jeeps away from our turn to enter the first stage and there's a problem. Says Mike, "I do a quick check of the rig. Uh-oh, in the confusion of fixing the steering in the dark last night I neglected to inspect the rig fully. I had a broken front axle shaft. I pull out of line and start pulling it apart. I was surprised by the support I received from the other competitors. Everyone standing there pitched in to help. We pulled up to the 'A' gate only one jeep out of position". We were out of breath and raggedly unnerved as we pulled up to the start gate. We had a plan for the long obstacle and made it all the way until just before the finish. I thought we were out of hard stuff and getting close on time and wanted to hurry. I should have looked at the huge diff catcher that grabbed hold and pestered us, until time ran out. We did make 5 gates and got 10 points for the obstacle.
"After that we took a breath, gained some composure, and went back to the plan of taking our time and having fun. In fact we were both laughing when we realized we'd started one of the sections with a steep climb up a sheer rock face, and hadn't locked the front hubs back in after an inspection. It actually worked out to be a good thing and lined Mike up just where we wanted to be. I even got the hubs back in without a penalty point. We were finally finishing obstacles with minimal penalties and having a ball" said Bart.
On the fifth obstacle of the day I learned an important lesson in communication that could possibly have helped on day one. We had watched Dan Brown complete all but the last climb to the Z gate. He hit it pretty hard and broke a control arm, rotated his pinion up, and exploded his driveline. We followed Dan and did well on the obstacle and got to the last climb where Dan had broken. Mike tried it once and didn't quite make it. We backed up a bit and I stacked some rocks on a troublesome ledge. I said, "okay, bump it". Mike looked at me and said, "first or second". It took me completely off guard. Mike is geared so low that throttling down in first gear mostly just raises the RPMs and doesn't go a long ways. I thought for a bit and said, "second". He popped up that climb slicker than grease on a hot plate. Thinking back I wish I would have known this on the last obstacle of Day 1. We needed a second gear bump there too.
Obstacle Six wandered a bit, then dropped into a huge hole right at the bottom of a steep climb out. The gates were arranged so you couldn't get a straight shot at the hole, to possibly straddle it, so you had to get way tippy to the right as you approached the climb. As we came up on it we were a bit off line and I had Mike back up once. The new line looked good as Mike started to crawl it the back tire slipped under a ledge. I had him hold for a second while I checked it out, and he stated "if feels good". I told him to come up slow while I watched it. As he climbed the rear tire worked its way out from under the overhang, and the front end walked over to the best spot. It was smooth and Mike made it look easy. We crawled it and had people telling us it was the best run on that obstacle out of the two days. Oh what a feeling.
Next up was the seventh and final stage. The obstacle had an option of taking the left side for two points or the right side for four points. The left side was a steep, but doable climb, while the right side had many overhangs from the base, and worked into a nasty climb up a V notch. Since Mike had run this canyon before he was ready for what was coming up. Mike drove up to the junction and we both agreed we would take the right (four point) side. As he lined up he was way to the right and climbing high with his right side. I saw a bit different line and tried to line him up more to the left when Mike said, "I was here in March, I did that exact line. This rig will do it". I proceeded to describe the way it worked last time. As Mike said that, his right rear tire came up off the ground and he was close to rolling. I think the base may have been a bit more washed out since the last time Mike was here. I smiled and said, "okay, you're call". The line worked. All I had to do was get him past the ugly overhangs, into the little ledges of the V notch and we were up and out without incident. It was one of the toughest obstacles of the weekend and our first ace (no penalty) of the competition.
Overall, Team Garner/Jacobs placed 24th, which was pretty good considering it was Mike's first competition driving and Barts first competition spotting. Says Bart, "It would have been nice to have started the competition with the knowledge and communication we had at the end. I have even more respect for spotters than I had before. We both learned a lot and ended up having a ball. The Feep did well and held it's own among the big dogs of rock crawling. It was truly the sleeper rig of the Trophy class". Comments Mike, "One thing that jumps out at me is the teamwork in these competition. The level at which some of these teams work together is just amazing. You can really tell that they have had a lot of practice because they are fun to watch".
| Day 3, The Finals |
Sunday brought the Dirty Dozen. The teams lined up were, Jordan and Watson, Paule and Wadeson, Brown R. and Purcell, Todd Meyers and Niccum, Randall and Volkoun, Weaver and Brady, Troy Meyers and Williams, Gililand and Gililand, Palmer and Moss, Reynolds and Filar, Bunch and Hastings, Currie J and Waggoner, and filling out the bakers dozen, Lillard and Bills. Stage one claimed Troy Meyer's front axleshaft. Stage two was the real tricky one of the day. It held a complex 'puzzle' for the teams to figure out. Some entered the stage forward, and tried the *hard* right hand turn up between two boulders. Randall entered backwards and took the two points for a reverse, and up the boulders he went. This seemed to the way, as everyone behind him followed his lead. A good example of thinking differently and using the rules to your advantage. Stages three, four and five were pretty well handled by the teams. Six was a steep climb, and seven was climb, hard right, then another wall. At the end of the day the scores settled out like this.
| Scores |
| Place | Driver | Spotter | Points |
| 1 | Paule | Wadeson | 471 |
| 2 | Brown R |
Purcell |
456 |
| 3 | Jordan | Watson | 454 |
| 4 | Gilliland | Gilliland | 450 |
| 5 | Palmer | Noss | 411 |
| 6 | Myers Todd | Niccum | 435 |
| 7 | Weaver | Brady | 433 |
| 8 | Bunch | Hastings | 427 |
| 9 | Reynolds | Filar | 426 |
| 10 | Randall | Vokoun | 418 |
| 11 | Currie J | Waggoner | 409 |
| 12 | Lillard | Bills | 395 |
| 13 | Myers Troy | Williams | 350 |
| Please support 4x4Wire by visiting our featured sponsors | ||||||
|
||||||
|
| 4X4Wire Portal | About 4x4Wire | Search 4x4Wire | TrailTalk Forums | Advertiser's Guide | |
