CalROCS  2001, Lake Amador, California	Short Cuts
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By: Mike Pulskamp - 11/2001
Edited by:  Randy Wheeler

JP Off-Road/CalROCS
Put-up or Shut-up Shoot-out

Chris Durham putting on a show on Day 1.(animated)

On November 17 & 18, 2001, CalROCS  (California Rockcrawling and Offroad Championship Series) sponsored the first in a series of events, the First Annual JP Off-Road Put Up or Shut Up Shootout, at Lake Amador, California. This rockcrawling competition played host to 40 of the biggest and baddest hardcore 'wheelers on the west coast. With such names as Chris Durham, Grady McLeod, Jason Bunch and the all woman's team of Kathy Crook and Renee Lebaron, this event promised to be a shoot-out of Western proportions.

Amador County put up some legal obstacles. Even with that challenge the first event sponsored by JP Off-Road and promoted by CalROCS  came off almost without a hitch.  Rich Klein of CalROCS  got this great event together in the amazing time frame of less than two months. He has been working on the sanctioning and rules package for over a year. He knew that he wanted to produce a series of events that the top teams would want to compete in, but in which the real world, work-a-day person could also be competitive. 

Dena Eskilsen trying to stay dry after her roll over on Day 1.

American Rock Crawling Association (ARCA) rules are set up so that to make it to the top a team must attend all or almost all of that year's competitions or they will generate too many points to be in the running, let alone win. This makes it nearly impossible for most of the little guys to be competitive in the points series. CalROCS , working with UROC (United Rock-Crawling and Off-Road Challenge), a sanctioning body from Utah, have come up with a system for the rest of us. At the core, the rule is that if you place in the top ten of any sanctioned event anyplace in the world, you are eligible to compete in the WORLD CRAWL OFF to be held in Las Vegas towards the end of next year. 

CalROCS  was the brainchild of Rich Klein. He was the president of the club that hosted ARCA in Cedar City and the success he had getting the word out about that event told him that he should breakout on his own. His plan is to have a package of rules, training and people that he can drop into any good rockcrawling area and put on an event. So far it sure seems to work. 

By Saturday morning, all of the competitors had been checked and teched. Each rig had the safety gear necessary to compete and had been gone over looking for any leaks. At nine o'clock in the morning as the sun came out from behind the clouds, everybody left the lodge parking lot and headed over to the competition site. Right from the start you could tell that this was going to be a great spectacle. The drivers meeting was over and the judges were all in place. The crowd started showing up and even though the traffic did jam up some, the parking was plentiful and close to the courses. Portable restrooms were provided as well as refreshments (for a limited time). Forty of the toughest teams were ready to show their mettle, and lots of them were ready to show their undercarriages. The contestants came from as far away as South Carolina and they came to play hard!

This big green Chevy, piloted by Ron Fallon, did well for how big it was.	Chris Durham smok'n it up on Day 1.	Rigs of all sorts competed at the event.

The teams that came to prove there ability at CalROCS  "Put Up or Shut Up Shootout" were all top notch and the show that they put on for the spectators was truly amazing. In evidence were Jeeps, Toyotas, Suzuki's, at least one Scout based buggy and even a full sized Chevy pick-up truck in o.d. green driven hard by Ron Fallon.

The competition was fierce and the carnage was abundant. There were rollovers by the dozen, and that awful sound that says that the axle shaft can't take that much abuse. Two front axles even snapped off everything outboard of the knuckle.

At the end of the day, after a nice barbecue burger dinner, the numbers were crunched and the top ten teams were announced. These lucky and talented ten teams would not only move on to the Sunday competition, but by making the it this far, they qualified to enter the World Rock Crawl Off next year in Las Vegas.

Kathy Crook and Renee Lebaron of JP Off-Road tackle the obstacles of Lake Amador.

One very well received aspect of this event was more women in the competition. JP Off-Road, incidentally the marquee sponsor of the whole event, also sponsored the team of Kathy Crook and Renee Donaldson, the only all ladies team. There were two other women in the running Kelly Clifford, and Dena Eskilsen. They each drove very well and Kelly missed out on the top ten by only two points. She was given the honor of competing in the World Crawl Off next year for her impressive run, which included a breathtaking three wheels in the air assent, that blew the crowd away.

Sunday's competition was, defying belief, even more intense than Saturday's. The courses were even tougher and the drivers were even wilder. No matter what part of the spillway you found yourself in you would hear the cheers coming from a different area and know that, even though what you were seeing was way out, somebody over there just did something that made the crowd go nuts. As nice as the area was you just can't be everywhere at once. 

Rich Klein, of CalROCS, David Burling, of UROC, and Dave Knight, of JP Off-Road, congratulate the top ten and pass out the prizes.

Next year the permit paperwork will be done well before the event, so that the county does not throw an injunction on the hosts and the producers like they did this year. Because of the injunction this year, many people had to be turned away at the gate to the lake, or the whole event would have been shut down. Also a warden from the California Department of Fish and Game was called out to inspect the event for oil spills in the stream bed. After inspecting the area he said that as far as he was concerned there was no impact on the habitat. This speaks well for the wonderful event staff and their leader Bob Roggy, the event marshal. They worked very quickly and very hard to right any upturned rigs that threatened to make a mess. They also made sure that no oil or other contaminants were left on the course. 

By Sunday evening everybody was tired, and ready to go home to plan the modifications and strategies for the next event. Rich Klein announced the final scores and thanked all the people who made this great event happen. He passed out over eight thousand dollars in prize money and explained his plans for the future. Every one at this event seemed to think that the overall friendliness was more apparent than at most of the other big dog competitions. It was great to hear that CalROCS  will be putting on many more events in the new year, including women's events and classes for rigs that are a little closer to stock. If you have the chance to attend one of their events don't pass it up!

If you are interested in competing in front of large crowds for cash, call Bob Roggy at (530) 626-9451. For promotional or sponsorship information, contact Rich Klein via e-mail: bigrich@d-web.com.

CalROCS  will be promoting a series of events starting in late February, 2002, culminating with a state championship to be held in October or November of 2002. Stay tuned for more coverage of this exciting new series!