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| Farmington, NM - September 2000 | Short Cuts | ||||
| by: Joshua Superdawg Lowenstein, edited by: Randy Burleson |
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Git it, Billy!
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| Shannon flashes a trademark smile. Joshua Lowenstein |
The top dog of showmen in the Farmington ARCA extreme rock crawling championships was none other than Phoenix's 'Pinky' driver/builder Shannon Campbell.
His rig and his attitude in the ARCA events have inspired other drivers. Shannon told me, "I'm just here to have fun!" His style is nothing less than pure entertainment for the spectators and I think that he hams it up even more when the crowds are bigger. Even when he breaks or hits a flag, he keeps his Campbell smile lit up bright.
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| Shannon crests a ledge in Farmington, NM. Joshua Lowenstein |
Never taking an easy line or a winch cable, Shannon is all show... but has the go to match. He built his 350 Chevy-powered fuel-injected tube chassis 'Willys' and it fits him like a finely tailored Armani suit. He knows what it can do and can persuade it to perform right up to that edge -- and sometimes beyond it. The rig's axles are what most of us toss in the crusher: Chevy full width 12-bolt rear and a full width 10-bolt front. Why those junk axles? Why not Dana 60s or at least 44s? Shannon's response "They're cheap, and have the 3.73 gears I like in most of them." He goes on to say, "Most wrecking yards sell 'em for $50 complete, and the best part is that they are LIGHT."
In the first ARCA event, held back in '99 in Farmington, Shannon did not take the overall points lead, but he did win the third day 'crawl-off' by a whopping 20 point margin.
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| Shannon throttles up the ledge in Stage 1 of Course A. Joshua Lowenstein |
In Phoenix, Shannon broke a rear axle shaft. I was fairly shocked when I talked to his father Don Campbell about this. "In the seven years of beating the living crap out of that rig, that is the first rear shaft he's broken. In fact, I can't remember the last time we even looked at it." When I asked Don how much it cost to build Shannon's rig, Pinky he replied, "Dirt cheap!! Not counting tires and wheels and labor, the whole rig cost about $1800.00 to build." How many of us would like to spend that little?
I asked Don How much R&D did it take to make that rear suspension work right. Don replied, "Other than tossing the goofy leaf and installing the quarter-ellipse, zero R&D. Remember, Campbell Enterprises has been building roundy-rounders for years before we ever touched a crawler project, so we simply knew where to start."
Shannon came into this point series with an advantage that the majority of contestants did not have; with the exception of ARCA series winner Chris Durham. Shannon and Chris have had their respective rigs in mostly the same configuration for over 7 years. What does that mean? They have wheeled the tar out of them with few changes to suspension, engine, transmissions, axles, or gearing.
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| Shannon crawls up another Farmington ledge. Joshua Lowenstein |
Many of the other drivers can't say anything even close to that. Steve Rumore was still bolting the Avalanche Sniper together the day of the '99 Farmington event and ran the whole first day in high range because the transfer case levers were mislabeled. Many other drivers had no seat time before rolling out new and improved suspension, steering, and axle conversions right out onto the first stage of a competitions. Neil Lillard, driving the High Country 4x4 YJ, had less than 4 hours of real seat time before driving the brand new rig in the Phoenix ARCA event.
Other than fixing a few little problems, Shannon was able to keep his rig exactly the same since years before the ARCA was even a twinkle in Ranch Pratt's eye. Even Chris Durham can't say that! Chris swapped in a front Dana 60 and had to replace a blown engine during the course of this first ARCA series.
Shannon even had time in the last 60 days leading up to Farmington to build a new rock buggy that was to be debuted at the ARCA series' final event. Unfortunately, it was damaged during the test drives and could not make it. Shannon brought old Pinky out for its retirement farewell run, and he made a point of letting a few of us know that he would make Pinky's last run count.
Fellow showman, flat-fender driver, and friend of Shannon's, Mike Palmer drew back to back staging with Shannon. These two crazies let the fans have the best show of the series finale, almost upstaging the battle between Waggoner and Durham with wheel-standing, throttle-stabbing antics of their own. Shannon let everyone know how well that buggy with 7-year-old technology could still perform. (I'll take it and give it a good home!)
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| Shannon claws his way up Stage 6 of Phoenix's first course -- check out the angle of the axles!Photo by Randy Burleson | Pinky reaches for the sky while Mike Flores forces the front end away from the drop-off.Photo by Randy Burleson | Shannon leans uphill as Pinky leans downhill on a steep cross-slope.Photo by Randy Burleson |
'Git it, Billy!!' is what Shannon's old friend and spotter Mike 'Mikey' Flores says to Shannon when it's time to use the skinny pedal on the right. At the awards ceremony as Shannon and Mike accepted the sixth place trophy, the crowd of fellow drivers started chanting, "Git it, Billy!! Git it!!" Shannon has always said when accepting any awards during the ARCA series "Mikey should be getting this because he is the best and can out-drive the heck out of me."
| Pinky's Specifications |
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a custom-built buggy with 1953 Willys registration |
Shannon will be entering his new yellow and purple buggy at the February season opener of the 2001 ARCA 4-competition series. Shannon says that this new machine is lighter and even more nimble than Pinky. Its mainframe tubing is 1.5" .120-wall and the rest is all .095-wall. The frame is designed with a system that keeps the strength where it belongs. Shannon said in closing, "Better keep a string on my new rig, 'cause next year I'll be flying it like a kite!!!"
We are looking forward to the new season of Campbell/Palmer/Jordan/Durham high-flying antics. Thanks from 4x4Wire!
Check out 4x4Wire's other Showmen of ARCA articles: Chris Durham, Tracy Jordan, Mike Palmer, and Steve Rumore.
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Custom 1.75" .120-wall tube chassis
