| Story by Charlene Bower Photos by Charlene Bower & Josh England The 2011 W.E. Rock series dropped into 7 states at 8 locations for 9 events; 4 West Coast, 4 East Coast and a final Grand National Event. If you want to argue that Rock Crawling is boring, then lets fight. Rock Crawling is a lot of things, but it sure is not boring to those that come, watch and appreciate. It is an Art. It is a Sport. It is Difficult. It takes Technique. It takes Patience. It takes Communication. And it can even be described as Acrobatic and Aerobic. Yes, those last two may make you think that I have been hit by a rock, but have you ever watched how a car maneuver around the cones and how a spotter runs and carries rocks? Lucky enough to get to all but one competition this year, I can say I have seen the most amazing rock crawling in the nation. The Professionals invested in this series and gave every group of spectators a great show. Watching two seat Pro Modified cars do nose wheelies, rotate around trees, drop off vertical ledges, roll drown from the top of a obstacle to land on four tires and keep going, side hill and of course flex out the bodies maximizing every inch of suspension possible. The Unlimited class added another level of intensity as the single seat cars shot up into the air on vertical climbs, used rear steer with tires rotated every which way, rotated 360* on a single wheel and avoided hitting cones that looked impossible to miss. The Stock classes even added a lot of excitement as their full bodied rigs attempted obstacles that were tougher than anything seen on the Rubicon Trail. I understand that the drivers own the car, have the responsibility of getting it to the events, have an opinion and have a feel for the vehicle, but have you ever just stood back and watched a spotter. They bust their butt to make sure that the car and driver has every opportunity to be successful. Spotters run up and down the rocky ledges, pick up boulders and throw them into just the right spot, brush off dirt, throw dirt, pull ropes with a vehicle at the other end, push cars back over and all while listening to a driver, that shall we say, may be demanding. The relationship between the spotter and the driver has to be spot on or success is not one of the results. Below is a W.E. Rock Season Recap starting with the season finale Grand Nationals where the East met the West in Salt Lake City at Miller Motorsports Park. Brent Bradshaw set another W.E. Rock record with a two-time clean sweep winning both the Western Series and the Grand Nationals two years in a row. This year there were four father/son teams, a father/daughter team and a husband/wife team that reinforces the family atmosphere in rock crawling. It is not easy to run the full season of W.E. Rock with the travel involved to put on professional events at crowd pleasing locations, so both groups that competed in the East and West Pro Series demand a lot of respect for their dedication to the sport and series win. The 2012 Schedule is already posted…Come give your hand at competing or at least come cheer them on! Its worth it! http://www.werocklive.com/2011/2012-event-schedule/ 2011 W.E. Rock Grand Nationals After two days of intense W.E. Rock crawling where the lead changed more times than can be counted the final scores crowned Brent Bradshaw the Unlimited Class National Champion, Troy Bailey the Pro Modified National Champion and Duane Garretson the Stock Class Champion. The W.E. Rock Grand National Championships were held at the Miller Motorspors Park in Tooele, UT where the East Coast competitors met the West Coast competitors to determine the National Champion at the season finale. “The Grand Nationals is always the one of the best events of the year where all the competitors come together and put their battles on the rocks,” said Rich Klein, W.E. Rock promoter. “There were so many lead changes it made it exciting for everyone watching and involved, each course had to be executed perfectly to take the win.” The Unlimited class champion Trail Tough Brent Bradshaw and spotter Chris Poblano managed each of the 9 courses like a methodical team, but at the end of day one it was Torchmate Racing Jesse Haines ahead by 11 points. These two teams have been battling all season and Sundays competition heated up even more when Bradshaw took the lead early in the day when Haines made moves that landed him on his roof, unable to complete the course. In the meantime, Monster Energy Wayland Campbell and Shannon Campbell consistently finished each course. After the shootout that only Bradshaw and Campbell were able to successfully complete, the National Title belonged to Trail Tough Brent Bradshaw and Chris Poblano. Second place went to 15 year old Monster Energy Wayland Campbell, Third to Torchmate Racing Jesse Haines, Fourth to BFGoodrich Tires Robert McKenney, Fifth to Raceline Wheels Justin Hall and Sixth to Yukon Gear & Axle Todd Young. The Pro Modified class champion Maxxis Tires Troy Bailey and Scott Dillard would never have believed that the National Title would be theirs after day one with the intense battle from the beginning with Maxxis Tires Kenny Blume who had the lead at the end of day one. The lead changed in the Pro Modified class at least three times including having DynoMax Nick Campbell taking the lead after an amazing nose wheelie and roll saved by spotter Jason Berger. After the shootout where the points counting was important, Maxxis Tires Troy Bailey and Scott Dillard would take the National Title. Second place went to Tom Wood’s Custom Drive Shafts Kenny Blume, Third to DynoMax Nick Campbell, Fourth to Jimmy’s 4×4 Jason Fueilly, Fifth to Pro Comp Justin Lawson and Sixth to PSC Steering Shelby Gilstrap. The Modified Stock Class was truly an East vs West battle where the class champions from each series went head to head. Come Get Ya Some Duane Garretson and Jeff Spear would take on each course and complete them. Second place Krawl Tec Victor Burness and John Jacobs attempted each course and challenged the clock for the finish. The crowd at Miller Motorsports park was greeted with W.E. Rock posters that they were able to get autographed by all the drivers as they pulled of the courses. It was a great weekend for the whole group of racers and the spectators watched in awe of what these guys could do with a vehicle!
Unlimited Class
Pro Modified Class
Modified Stock Class
2011 W.E. Rock Western Pro National Series The Western Pro National four event season came to an end titling Brent Bradshaw the Unlimited Class Champion, Nick Campbell the Pro Modified Class Champion and Victor Burness the Modified Stock Class Championship. The Unlimited and Pro Modified Class had points battles to the end that made every event important. “The West Coast group has a long history of rivalry especially in the Unlimited Class between Brent Bradshaw and Jesse Haines,” said Rich Klein, W.E. Rock promoter. “Every event matters in a four event season, the obstacles and bonus lines that have been attempted to prove a true winner has been amazing!” The Unlimited Class consisted of the core of rock crawling totaling over 50 years of experience. Brent Bradshaw from Trail Tough, Torchmate Racing Jesse Haines, Matt Messer from Trail Gear, and Wayland Campbell the 15 year old son of Shannon Campbell, of Campbell Enterprises competed for season points. The heat of the competition really boiled down to Brent Bradshaw and Jesse Haines who fought for each point at every competition, with Bradshaw winning one competition by only one point! Brent Bradshaw swept the entire season with his consistent driving style, while Jesse Haines went for almost every bonus line bringing the crowd to their feet but taking second at each event. This put Bradshaw and Haines first and second respectively in season points. Wayland Campbell put quality time under his belt learning two different cars and how to rock crawl from his dad, some great scores and battles put him third in the season points. Matt Messer only competed in two of the four events putting him fourth in points. The Pro Modified class also had big names, but an interesting mix. Well known Nick Campbell from Campbell Enterprises, long time crawler Maxxis Tires Troy Bailey from Cedar City, UT, Infamous4x4 Aaron Sykes and a rookie to the discipline but not to racing; Trophy Truck driver Roger Norman suited up for Torchmate Racing. Nick Campbell, while producing a show for the crowd, consistently came out on top with three event wins crowning him the season winner. Roger Norman, in his debut appearance who openly praises the difficulty and technicality of the sport, took a win in Oroville and with completing all the events took second place in the season points. Aaron Sykes fought mechanical issues all year, but showed commitment at every event trying to get onto the podium. Troy Bailey, who has not missed a W.E. Rock event in over 10 years missed his first ever event due to a blown engine, putting him into fourth in season points. The Mod Stock class was composed of KrawlZone.tv Victor Burness. His lack of competition didn’t stop him from trying the harder obstacles and challenging himself to low scores against the local competitors. New to W.E. Rock this year is the welcomed Sportsman class. Although the Sportsman Class does not have a season points winner, the winners were each of the competitors that came out and competed for trophies including Fly-N-High in Arizona and lots of others. $100 entry fee put them on competition courses for the weekend and bragging rights on their finishing position. The Western Series also had a handful of competitors that didn’t compete for the series points but did compete at the individual events giving everyone a run for their money. Class Champions Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Event Date Location April 1-3 Tucson, AZ Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Sportsman Class
May 6-8 Oroville, CA Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Sportsman Class
June 10-12 Miller Motorsports Park, UT Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Aug 5-7 Donner Ski Ranch, CA Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
2011 W.E. Rock Eastern Pro National Series The Eastern Pro National Series came to an exciting close in Dayton Tennessee with over 2500 spectators in attendance! Congratulations to the Champions Bill Barton in the Unlimited Class, Danny Rohrer in the Pro Modified Class and Duane Garretson in the Modified Stock Class. The Pro Modified Class had points battles to the end that made every obstacle important for all six competitors going for the title. “The East Coast spectators come out to cheer on their drivers of choice and the drivers feed off that to push to the finish,” chuckled Rich Klein, W.E. Rock promoter. “They will do what it takes to win and to please the crowd, we love it!” The Unlimited Class had multiple drivers at each event, but only the father son team of Bill and Chicky Barton in the BFGoodrich single seat Unlimited car went for the season points putting them as the undeniable winners. The Pro Modified class boasted a group of drivers that included the comical and always entertaining Wombat Maxxis Tires driver Danny Rohrer, Derek West in his Jimmy’s 4×4 multipurpose rig, Torchmate Racings Kenny Blume, Maxxis Tire Mike Thompson, Pro Comp Justin Lawson and 4 Wheel Parts sponsored Jonathan Dawes in a diesel powered crawler. With none of them missing an event, the top four were within a point of each other going into the final round. Crowd pleasing courses up the hillsides of the sites gave each racer an opportunity to excel and it was all about keeping it on four wheels at each of the competitions. At the helm of consistency was Danny Rohrer in the Wombat that spread his enthusiasm winning three of the four events and the overall title. Second, third and fourth all had the same number of points, so the tie breaker went to the most wins followed by the best finish in the final event. Derek West took second in points after a couple of hard rolls that cost him valuable points and a lot of damage to his multi-purpose rig, but did take the win at the first Dayton, TN Event. Third place would go to Kenny Blume who had two second place finishes, and fourth went to Mike Thompson who had one second place finish. The Mod Stock class was pretty competitive between Come Get Ya Some Duane Garretson in a full size jeep and Digger’s Mike Smith in a Suzuki Samari. They battled at every event, but at the end it was Duane Garretson that took three of the four wins for the season title. Kelly Young was also competitive in her pink jeep built to spread breast cancer awareness. The Sportsman class on the East Coast opened up a lot of opportunity for new crawlers to try the art of competing. Although the Sportsman Class does not have a season points winner, the winners were each of the competitors that came out and competed for trophies. $100 entry fee put them on competition courses for the weekend and bragging rights on their finishing position. [ W.E. ROCK EAST PHOTO ALBUM ] Class Champions Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Event Date Location May 13-15 Dayton, TN Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Sportsman Class
June 24-26 Hannibal, MO Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Sportsman Class
July 22-24 Attica, IN Badlands Off Road Park Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Sportsman Class
Aug 26-27 Dayton,TN Unlimited:
Pro Mod:
Modified Stock:
Sportsman Class
The 2012 Schedule is already posted…Come give your hand at competing or at least come cheer them on! See You There! http://www.werocklive.com/2011/2012-event-schedule/ |
