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| Flo Does Cedar City ARCA | Short Cuts | ||||
| Author: Bart Jacobs June 2000 |
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I rolled into Cedar City, Utah on Thursday, May 26th, with the intention of covering the ARCA event for 4x4Wire, but also harboring a glimmer of hope that there might be an entry spot open from a competitor that couldn't make it. I didn't come very prepared but did happen to notify a buddy, Troy Gregory, that there was a remote chance I'd need a spotter for the competition.
I checked in at the KOA, unloaded Flo, my 88 Jeep XJ (yes it's a Cherokee), and headed to the Best Western Motel to see what was happening and pick up my press pass. When I arrived the parking lot was buzzing with the excitement of the competitors and vendors getting ready for the onslaught of the upcoming games. I also checked to see the status of the no-shows and was advised to get a tech inspection done on the per chance of landing a spot. This is a serious sport and tech inspections are crucial to the success of the event, making sure that vehicles meet the neccessary safety and equipment requirements.
Upon returning to the registration table I was informed that a spot had opened up and I needed to sign the release forms and locate my spotter so he could sign also. Woooohooo, this was too good to be true. I was real excited, and nervous at the same time. It's not that I was totally unprepared, I had competed in the Warn Rock Crawling Championships in Johnson Valley, California, and had finished respectably. The problem was that I had taken some spare parts there and was with a spotter I'd wheeled and practiced with numerous times. I had wheeled with Troy only twice, but knew he was a very capable driver, and was also assured because he was used to long wheel base rigs like mine, because he runs an extremely well built Grand Cherokee.
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| One way to get up final climb on Section 1A |
The feeling was electric as the event promoters, drivers, and spotters gathered in the motel parking lot on Friday morning for the drivers meeting. There were two groups of 30 that would compete on two separate courses on Friday and then switch for Saturday. There were seven stages on each course and the first 15 competitors of each group would run stages 1 through 4, while competitors 16 through 30 would run stages 4, 5, and 6 first. I had drawn #13 in group A and was in with some very good teams. Kevin Hawkins who had been a competitor, was spotting for Walker Evans in our group, and Steve Nantz from Moab Off Road was also there. We lined up outside the Three Peaks area, about 15 miles north west of Cedar City, and were escorted to our prospective courses. The adrenalin was pumping as Troy and I worked on communication and strategy during the ride out. We decided that under the circumstances we'd just give it hell, do our best, and see what happened.
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| Jeff Beach on final climb Section 1A |
Course 1A began with a technical climb through a notch, then up to a sharp left turn on top. This turn required a back up from every team except the Sniper, that was now sporting rear wheel steering. A steep descent followed the turn and then there was some room to set up for the last section. This final part required a sharp right turn, up a big V notch, through a hole, then out straddling a crack, up a final steep climb to the top, and out the finish gate. The problem with setting up for the last part was there was a tree that hampered the sharp right turn and many competitors required another stop and back up, to set up for the climb.
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| Starting section 1A |
As we waited for our turn we had the luxury to observe and critique the other teams techniques and lines. Every team in our group made the first stop and back up, but there were only a couple teams that tried to line up the last ascent without another back up. The trick was the hole just out of the V notch, leading into the final section, was tough to judge and many of the rigs were getting laid on their sides, both right and left. Once past that there were many rigs getting real crazy on the last climb. I really thought we could pull it off but after watching the carnage that was happening, was beginning to second guess the idea.
We decided to watch Walker and Kevin do the obstacle because they were one of the few teams with a similar wheel base. They did the same line I had been thinking about and managed to pull it off, but then got a bit tippy on top. I told Troy that was the line and we went for it. The first part of 1A was uneventfull, lifting the front right tire once, and taking the back up at the top. We hugged the tree and managed the right turn into the final section fine, but then got tippy in the V notch. With Troy's assurance (and muscle) we completed the V and lined up for the hole and final climb really well. The amazing thing was that Troy had spotted a line on top and got me over the last climb without lifting a tire. Cool, only 2 points on the first section, and we were tied for first in our group.
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| Getting tippy in the V notch Section 1A |
Into the hole Section 1A | Out of the hole Section 1A | Final climb Section 1A |
I think we were as surprised as everyone else when this turned out to be the norm instead of the exception, at least for most of the obstacles that weekend. In fact we were sitting at 6 points total for the first three obstacles and at the top our group. When we got to section 4A there was a hold up and we got to watch Kevin jump on the side of the Walkers Blazer, then wisely jump back off as the Blazer took a bad roll to the left. This obstacle was proving to be a formidable opponent to the competitors. Everyone we watched was having major problems and only one finished it while we were there, and that was with almost max points. To our surprise we did quite well and finished 4A with 6 backups for only 12 points, bringing us to 18 points total.
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| Getting some help from Troy |
Our excitement didn't last long as we pulled up to stage 5A and noticed that 3 of the first 15 competitors were still waiting to go. The stage was incredibly deceptive, and somewhat of a sleeper. We waited for 3 hours for our turn and had a pretty good strategy planned. When we finally started we did the first part without a back up, and took a bit different route into the upper section. Everything was going according to plan when, while trying to get by a large moving boulder, my right front, inner axle shaft decided that it had done enough and stretched a lobe big enough to spit out the u-joint. I hadn't brought any spare axles and to sum it up gently, we were toast. Our only bright spot was being able to at least drive to sections 6 and 7 and only take a max 40 points on each stage, instead of 50 each for not showing up. Needless to say we were miserable, sitting at 18 points after 4 obstacles and then taking 120 for the last 3. We ended the day at 138.
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| Starting Section 3A |
That night I drove 120 miles round trip to get a new axle from Six States in St George, only to find out that it wasn't the right length. This was the ultimate low point of the weekend. It was 9:30 at night, the front axle was torn apart, and we didn't have the parts necessary to put it back together. This was also where the camaraderie of this event really came into focus. We walked across the street and mentioned our dilemma to a couple of people and within a half hour we had located a spare shaft from one of the local guys helping with the event. By 11:00 we had the XJ back together and were ready for the next day. Life was good.
Day two was another incredible day in Cedar City and the excitement of the competition was strong once again. We were on Course B this morning and were reversed in order from the first day. This meant that our group of 15 would run in reverse order, with our team near the front of the group, and we would start on section 5B. Although we had to take a flag we did amazingly well and we were back to feeling like this wasn't beyond the limits of the XJ. Section 6B was even more fun and we found out later that we tied the Waggoner/Currie team for the lowest score of the competition with a 2 for that section.
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| Deep V Section 3A |
What was real fun was pulling up to the start gates and listening to the crowd. We heard comments like, "What is that Cherokee doing, he's got no business being here." Those were the same people that would gather around ol Flo after the section and start crawling underneath and asking questions.
We again did really well through the day and were excited about our chances when we pulled up to our second to last obstacle, the dreaded B3. This was nasty little climb, that claimed a few rigs on it's own, then continued over a steep drop off, and then through a small area to set up for THE CLIMB. We'd heard that only 5 rigs had made it up for the two days. We knew just how hard it was when we saw the Sniper having problems on it. The ironic thing was watching all these rigs struggle and then watching Gary "Jake" Jacobsen climb the hill in his beautiful purple CJ7 with all terrain tires.
While waiting an incredibly long time to start we formulated a plan for the stage. We would make it through the first part (hopefully) then get over to the right side (my idea) of the big climb. Then we'd pull up the big ugly thing as far as possible, and then simply pull out the winch cable, without taking a back up. We still had both winch tokens and it would only cost us a stop and a winch (21 points). It was a sign of things to come when we got 15 feet into the section and found out the compressor for the front locker wouldn't kick on. We found the culprit blown fuse and replaced it and were on our way within a minute.
The section went pretty much as planned until we started climbing the wall. I wanted to get further to the right than most of the competitors had been and I thought we were lined up perfectly. The strange part was we had traction, tons of it. The front right started to lift and Troy came over and asked if I wanted to back up and try it to the left a bit. I didn't want to take the back up and thought I'd lose the traction soon and we'd just winch. I crept up to where my front left tire was about to the crest of the hill, but the front right was way up in the air now. I thought it would come down when the left front hit flat ground but things changed quickly for the worse. One more inch and the left side tires broke loose and gravity took over. The right side went to the sky as the left side found rocks. We were on our side and even the winch wasn't going to get us out of this one.
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| Feeling Good (I thought) Section 3B |
Should've listented to Troy Section 3B |
It only took one winch from the right to pull us back onto all fours and we backed out of the obstacle after pointing out. The 4.0 fired up and smoked badly from all the oil that had found it's way into the head, but overall was still running strong. We managed to gather ourselves and get over to the last obstacle and finished it with only one back up. We ended up with 46 points for the day, after crediting the winch tokens, and finished the competition in nineteenth place.
It would have been interesting if we had brought along a spare axle and been able to really do the last two stages the first day without taking the 80 max points. Regardless of that I still feel that for a Cherokee to finish in the top twenty, with all the experienced competitors and well built rigs, was a major accomplishment. I owe more thanks than I can say to Troy Gregory for doing such an excellent job spotting. He was incredible and we complimented each others abilities nicely. Another great thing is there's no major damage to Flo and we're anxiously looking forward to upcoming ARCA events.
Special thanks go to Ranch Pratt and Andi Vogt of ARCA for their excellent organization and event promotion, and also to the Color Country Four Wheelers club of Cedar City, for putting on a great event. Oh yeah, and special thanks to Dave Burling, owner of Auto Trim Design in Cedar City, who lent me his spare axle shaft allowing me to compete the second day.
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