ARCA Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship	Short Cuts
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By: Joshua 'Superdawg' Lowenstein - 12/2000

4x4Wire looks back on the 1999-2000 ARCA Season

Jeff Wood's 1960 Diesel CJ5 on Stage 1A Joshua Lowenstein

In September of 2000, the American Rock Crawlers Association (ARCA) completed their inaugural season as the sanctioning body of the Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship point series. Throughout the five competitions of this series, five different teams claimed a first place win. Even with five separate victors, by the third event in Cedar City, Utah, two teams began extending their points leads to what would become insurmountable levels.

Farmington, New Mexico: September 1999

Unlike the two-day Phoenix, Cedar City, Vernal, and 2000 Farmington ARCA events, the first Farmington contest had two days of preliminaries and a third day crawl-off.

Jeff Waggoner's only mistake in Farmington was a big one... a roll. Joshua Lowenstein

Throughout the first two days, Jeff "Rookie" Waggoner, driving his Currie-prepped 1984 CJ7, took the lead, with John Currie as his spotter. The rules at that time favored teams that knew when to quit trying and drag winch cable to make it through a tough stage. Jeff drove most stages with cool calculated finesse, but he also knew, based on his 1998 non-ARCA Las Cruces win, when to stop tearing up his rig and start winching. Team Currie took their commanding lead into the "Dirty Dozen" crawl-off and on the third day, Jeff drew second position to South Carolina's Ken Shupe.

After watching Ken beat his rig and finally winch, Jeff made his first error of the contest. With a valiant attempt at the 20-foot sand covered 40-degree wall at Stage 1, Jeff got a bit sideways on the slope. Backing down, he executed a perfect 360 degree roll-over. This mistake earned Jeff 40 points and cost Jeff the victory in the crawl-off. Shannon Campbell finished this crawl-off with the top score, but Team Currie still held the overall points lead.

The first event of the ARCA left the drivers and spectators wishing for rules that did not encourage as much winching, so ARCA CEO Ranch Pratt made modifications that took away some of this winching advantage. This rule change leveled the playing field, further elevating the importance of driving and spotting skills.

Phoenix, Arizona: March 2000

In Phoenix's desert washes, the cream rose to the top. After all was said and done, Jeff (now "Iceman") Waggoner and his new Currie-prepped TJ still stood atop the ARCA series points pyramind.

John Gilleland and his Avalanche-built 62 Willys. Joshua Lowenstein

Even with the number one series position claimed, Colorado drivers started showing what they were made of. Don Bernier, Robert McMahon, and their 83 CJ7 from Parker, CO showed their stuff with an impressive Phoenix event win! Other Coloradans -- Dana Verdoorn in his '77 Bronco and John Gilleland in his '62 Willys -- also entered the series top ten with impressive displays of driving skill. Late starter Mike Palmer, with his '52 M38 from Denver, made his presence felt in Phoenix, even though he did not compete in the 1999 Farmington event. Mike placed 5th and brought the Palmer/Noss team from 57th to 24th overall.

Dana Verdoorn and his 77' Bronco on Stage 3B. Joshua Lowenstein

Phoenix coursesetters created a course with very tight turns and squeezes. Some said it was designed as a 'Sniper Trap' -- and it nearly stopped the Sniper cold. Steve Rumore of Bayfield, CO placed his Avalanche Sniper a dismal 16th place, yet only dropped from 4th to 5th in the series standings. Nebraska's Joel Randall drove his CJ5 and managed to break into the top ten overall, placing third.

Cedar City, Utah: May 2000

The trails and course at Cedar City are a technical rock crawling dream. The drivers voted this course to be their favorite location for an ARCA event.

Jeff 'Iceman' Waggoner and John Currie continued to hold their position atop the ARCA series totals with a strong 3rd place finish. Their lead was slowly being sliced away by CJ10 driver and South Carolina gentlemen Chris 'Trigger' Durham and Kevin 'Moose' Nalley, who took first place in Cedar City.

Steve Rumore rear-steers his Sniper up Stage 7A in Vernal. Randy Burleson

Team Avalanche's Sniper took the rules by storm and showed up with rear steering. The helped to net Steve Rumore and Clifton Slay an impressive second place finish! Rich Hudson from Omaha, NE, with South Dakota master-spotter Steve 'Jeepman' Jones took 8th place and held firm as 6th overall.

The overall points leaders were pretty consistent with the exception of Mike Palmer and Greg Noss from Colorado. They continued their climb up the series score totals, taking 4th at this event and elevating them to 16th place overall.

Vernal, Utah: July 2000

The Vernal ARCA contest was the first ever non-Native American event held on Ute reservation land. The Ute tribe hosted a wonderful event -- though the course was very dusty, it held challenges that were right on speed for ARCA events.

Walker Evans steers both axles and throttles up the highly-contested Stage 7A in Vernal. Randy Burleson

Walker Evans (team Goodyear) stole first place with the his new fully-adjustable hydraulic suspended, rear steered, ultra-light S10 pick up. With Kevin Hawkins' skilled spotting and Walker's artful use of his tricked-out rig, they drove to a near-perfect show in Vernal, but not without a bit of controversy on the way.

Vernal's Stage 7A ejects Team Currie. Ouch! Randy Burleson

Driver and ARCA points leader Jeff Waggoner, even with a spectacular 360 degree rollover, held on to first place overall by only two points. Team Currie/Waggoner placed 7th in Vernal, in a tight race against Team Durham/Nalley for the championship title going into the final showdown in Farmington NM in September 2000.

Mike Palmer, who missed the first Farmington event finished 10th in Vernal, bringing him to 11th overall -- within striking distance of a top ten finish for the ARCA series.

With most of the series leaders running Goodyear MT-R tires, and a testing ground that could not get much tougher, these tires are proving they are contenders too.

Farmington, New Mexico Finals: September 2000

Joe Shaff of Glenwood Springs, CO introduced the first steering brake system in ARCA competition at Vernal, UT. His innovation sparked just about every one of the top ten teams to install similar systems for the final shootout.

Tracy 'Air' Jordan received his nickname during the ARCA competitions by averaging one rollover per event: two in Cedar, two in Vernal and one on Stage 7B in Farmington 2000. John and Kip Gilleland took the first place trophy for the Farmington event even with a rollover on the infamous Stage 7B. Solid teamwork and one heck of a nice Avalanche built rig made the difference.

Mike Palmer 'spooning it' on Stage 1A (That's what Mike calls the "pedal on the right") Joshua Lowenstein	Shannon Campbell throttles up and lifts up for the crowd on Stage 1A. Joshua Lowenstein

Mike Palmer and Shannon Campbell drew back to back positions and used their flatfenders to give the crowd a show most will never forget. With these two showmen feeding off each others' energy, they dazzled their fans with jumps, 100% vertical wheelies and roll-overs. Nothing except the shootout between Durham and Waggoner could have been better.

With only a two-point series lead and momentum clearly shifting to the South Carolina team of Durham/Nalley, Waggoner had his work more than cut out for him, especially with a new spotter. John Currie had to step down as Waggoner's spotter due a fall that hurt his knee in Vernal -- on Stage 7B.

Jeff 'Iceman' Waggoner works on Stage 6B. Joshua Lowenstein

Jeff Waggoner, with fellow Nebraskan Morris Hansen spotting, left nothing for chance and went for the title with all out abandon. The Currie sponsored team drew a staging two positions behind Durham/Nalley on day one and two positions ahead on day two. This sequence could not have been better for the crowd of 5000+ on hand for the showdown.

Jeff 'Iceman' Waggoner took the bull by the horns and jumped to fifteen-point lead after the first day, trying to secure a victory in the point series for Team Currie. The South Carolina team of Chris 'Trigger' Durham and Kevin 'Moose' Nalley had other ideas.

Who could have asked for better a showdown with $10,000 on the table and bragging rights to last for years? These two had a day-two battle that no one could keep their eyes off.

Where Waggoner shone brightly on day one, Durham the second day of competition was all Durham. With one stage remaining for each, Durham had edged the Iceman by a slim margin. The crowd was silent as ARCA CEO Ranch Pratt told the crowd through his megaphone, "The five-event series winner will be decided on this Stage 7B right here and right now, only nine points separates these two. If for some reason these two finish in a tie, we will have a two-stage shoot-out tomorrow at 9am." The scene was set, and the crowds from the other stages filed in to make this final stage standing room only!

With a hush of the crowd Waggoner and Hansen were asked by the stage judge, "Are you ready?" After a nod from Hansen, the judge started the time clock. As the first seconds of their six minutes started ticking away, Hansen and Waggoner began stacking a few rocks and rolling a couple of bigger rocks to the base of the nastiest stage of them all.

Jeff Waggoner attempting B7... nicknamed "Phil's Ego" after it's creator and local trail guru Phil Collard... Joshua Lowenstein

... but the axle snapped and ball joint popped... and the door opened wide for Durham and Nalley to win it all. Joshua Lowenstein

Morris Hanson displays an injured finger after efforts to repair the break on Stage 7B. Joshua Lowenstein

Stage 7B was a 35-degrees steep and 12-degrees off-camber wall with holes and ledges to suck in even the largest diameter tires, the climb was 15 feet of pure throttling hell that claimed three roll-overs. Only 8 rigs of 60 climbed it under their own power. Waggoner lined up his TJ and gave it all he had, nearly breaking over the top, only to loose traction and almost went over backwards into the sand below. On his second attempt, Waggoner gave a different line a shot and almost rolled it again. Hansen told Waggoner, "Stop, STOP! Lets winch it!!" Waggoner, with 5000 ravenous fans watching, shook his head defiantly and backed up again, resolute for another shot at the title. On this attempt Waggoner jammed opened the throttle before reaching the base and the red TJ began to claw its way up the stage to a possible victory. Only a foot away from clearing the top of the monster wall, a huge bang rang out, producing an audible sigh of devastation from the crowd.

The left front axle had exploded and popped the ball joints out with it. The tire, wheel and knuckle hung from only the tie rod end, and there was no way to winch it the last 20 yards to the end gate. Waggoner waved his hat to crowd and began to work on his broken rig to get it off the course. Fellow competitor Joel Randall jumped in to help. He began hammering the ball-joint and knuckle back together. Jeff received 40 points for timing out.

Chris Durham after clearing the 'wall,' mere feet away from the end gate and a "0" score. Kevin 'Moose' Nalley beginning his victory dance. Stage 7B... The crowd goes wild!! Joshua Lowenstein

Kevin 'Moose' Nalley and Chris 'Trigger' Durham with their series championship trophies. Joshua Lowenstein

Chris Durham waited patiently while Stanley Steele muscled and clawed his 500 horse big-blocked glass-bodied Blazer up and over the Stage 7B.

The crowd grew.

The tension mounted.

The rock wall in front of the team of Durham/Nalley awaited their attempt.

For Durham, this would be momentous... his mother and father waited near the end gate. The world watched in silence as the stage judge waited for the answer to the question, "Are you ready?"

With a firm "Yep" from Nalley, the clock began and Durham and Nalley began their fire drill rock stack. After nearly two minutes of rock stacking Nalley told Durham "One Smoooooth Motion." Durham quickly disengaged his rear wheel drive and applied the rear steering brake, and with no points taken for a stop or back up, Chris pivoted his 112-inch wheelbase CJ10 by Nally's direction to the base of 7B! With a 49-point lead Durham could have winched up the stage and won in complete security, but we are not talking about someone who has ever winched or taken the easy way over any stage at any point in ARCA competition!

Durham eased up onto the rocks they had stacked and Nalley yelled "Get it, Chris!!" With a snap of the throttle on the backwards-carbed AMC 401, Chris launched up, over the wall and cruised through the end gates with a "0" for the stage. The crowd erupted in resounding cheers for the new leader and series final WINNERS!! Nalley did a victory dance, bear hugged Durham's Dad and slapped high 5's to anyone near him in the crowd. The crowd yelled, "MOOOOSSSSE!"

Does it get any better than that?

Wait until next year and see what the new season of ARCA has in store....

ARCA Series Points Top Twenty

Here's a taste of pictures, but Click Here for the ARCA Photo Gallery, for thousands of other pictures!

Top truck winner from a few years back Randy Ellis rolling over on Stage 7B Joshua Lowenstein	Steve Nantz from Moab Off-Road and his new. Centipede on Stage 5B. Joshua Lowenstein	Pat Gremillion's new oil-burning Scorpion. Spotter Steve Fotion guides Pat through Stage 6B. Joshua Lowenstein
Ken Francisco and his Toyota had a hard time on Stage 1A. Joshua Lowenstein	Neil Lillard crawls up Stage 1B. Joshua Lowenstein	Dave Hickman going over backwards in "Big Iron." Joshua Lowenstein