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Article and Photos by: Kimber Rau
Edited by: Randy Wheeler

Crawlers Battle it out Over Moon Rocks
 

After the dust had settled, and everyone returned back to the Reno Hilton for bathing and humanization, the masses refilled their tummies and awaited the list of qualifiers. Those continuing on to do battle on Sunday were: 

Competition started a little late on day two, but was well worth the wait. As usual, Bob Roggy and his design crew made us all wonder from what dark depths of the soul the lines for each gate are brought forth. The first competitor of the day always has the disadvantage of not watching and learning from others mistakes. For the Pro Modified division, that fate fell to Dustin Webster and his Red Bull sponsored rig. I'm sure that Dustin must have gulped down several of the little blue and silver canned beverages from his sponsor in preparation for the first obstacle in the hopes that Red Bull truly does "give you wings." 

On Day 2, Competitors were treated to a totally re-designed course full of challenging obstacles.

Gate one, hands down, wins the "most death defying" criteria for the day's events. Its beginning obstacle placed the competitor on a long, steep uphill climb followed by a sharp left turn at the top. From there, they followed a ledge to a sharp left turn and through a notch. The kicker to this obstacle was the off-camber position that had many rigs taking the safety strap (It was agreed that no point penalty would be assessed for taking this additional safety measure should the competitor opt to do so). Others, such as Chris Durham, used his trademark cutting brakes to slide his rig into perfect position to jettison his rig through the notch. 

Terry Scheetz chose to take the strap and that decision seemed to make a difference in the mind set of driver, spotter, spectators, and press crew. Terry did a spectacular job of passing through the entire section with efficient use of time and space.

The second gate for this group of competitors was meant to test their willingness to "get-it-on!" Once started, the vehicles traversed a small hump of rocks and took a hard right down into a trough, with the ever-present off-camber factor thrown in for good measure, both at the top and bottom of the decent. From there they straddled, then climbed out of the trough to the left and immediately right and followed the mountains edge for a few feet. The true test of skill and fearlessness for this obstacle, came when they turned into the mountainside to climb virtually straight up about 7' before the mountainside gave way to a lesser degree of ascent and allowed for climbing traction on all fours. Dustin Webster broke a front driveshaft before even getting to the obstacle. Terry Scheetz, the first driver to attempt this hill, drove away unsuccessfully after rolling his rig onto its top. While trying gallantly to hold the rig on at least 2 tires, spotter Scott Bohemier suffered a pretty good case of rock rash on his legs and arms. After a medical survey by the great volunteer crew on-hand, Scott walked away, somewhat sore but ready for the next obstacle. Next up was Matt Padgett, who also ended up on his top after it appeared he was just about to conquer the mighty rock. Jason Bunch would have none of that. After several realignments and hammer down attempts, he finally got the right combination of luck, skill, and "I refuse to lose" attitude to climb the formerly unconquerable line. He was only one of a few that were successful at doing this though.

The lower obstacles on Day 2 provided some awesome action.

Gate three, not be out done by it's predecessors, offered up a bounty of tip-overs, carnage, and never-say die-attempts. This gate had the competitors finessing their rigs through huge rocks, holes, outcroppings, and ridges while descending a narrow sluice. Matt Padgett, true to form, wowed the crowd and every Toyota aficionado, not to mention those of a different automotive preference, as he literally used the stock starter to turn his wedged left tires while the truck was on its side in the ravine. How he recovered it back to all fours, despite the carburetor flooding out, was pure speculation of "higher powers". No sooner did he regain his footing to continue his run for scoring, than he was back on his left side just a few feet up from the last spot. 

Gate 4 started right into a steep climb through a series of knee high ledges and into a 90 degree turn through a short crevice. After about 30' feet of maneuvering through smaller boulders, they made a full u-turn through a narrow switchback that was strewn with large boulders that grabbed everything the driver's didn't want grabbed. It took some very skillful maneuvering or praying to someone/something and possibly promises of first, second, or all born/unborn children, to get through this without running out of time.

The fifth and final gate for the Pro Modified and Unlimited divisions looked like a scene out of the movie "The Perfect Storm" as the Andrea Gail fights the ravages of the wall of water above. There were deep "swells", up and down, in the mountainside. The rigs descended into the base of the first swell attempting to make their ascent, cutting to the left and aiming for the top without tipping over. If they were successful here, it was just to be hurled into another immediate wave in the opposite direction and onto a ledge that had some level ground, before the next assault. They then had to turn left into the bottom of the next and steepest rise, make a hard right and ride the curve up and over the top to shoot out aiming for the ending gate. This was probably the tamest of the obstacles for the day in these divisions, but by the time the competitors got to it, they were so beat up, brutalized, frustrated, and exhausted from the other gates that it had to seem like it was the worst they had been through for the day.

Sideways, backwards, upside down and on three wheels.  Calrocs Reno had it all...

For the Modified Stock qualifiers, they got to prove their worthiness on some of the obstacles the other divisions had cut their teeth on the day before. With the somewhat lower clearance of these vehicles compared to the other classes, the spotters spent a lot of time trying to rock, pull, drag the rigs off the belly grabbing outcroppings of this little section. The spotters definitely had their work cut out for them here as they tried everything they could to help get the driver and rig out of the grip of doom. It's hard to say who won, the rocks or the rockcrawlers. My vote goes to the rockcrawlers for never giving up right down to the last available second.

Thanks to:

It needs to be said that the safety measures taken by Rich Klein, event organizer, and his coordinators, as well as the equipment requirements for vehicles and drivers are key factors in this event having no serious injuries to report. The medical crew was on hand at each gate in case their services were needed no matter the rollover, tip-over, or daring attempt by a spotter to save their driver or vehicle that may have caused the bruises, cuts, and abrasions. Mike Golub, medical coordinator, and his volunteers did a spectacular job of being there if, and when they were needed.