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Course layouts for the Cedar City event

Course A1 Course A2 Course A3 Course A4 Course A5

Course B1 Course B2 Course B3 Course B4 Course B5

Update 14 May 2004 9:41 AM PST

We are getting ready for a fun and competitive day of rock crawling here at the UROC event site. A few course layouts have been quickly drawn up for reference so you can follow along with us throughout the day. The links links to those images are above.

The courses seem interesting at this stop. As you recall, the first event at St.George was somewhat of a bomb with the courses being either too difficult or contained too many cones. In contrast, the Vernal event was almost seen as too easy. The second competition though was a step in the right direction. This time, it appears that the courses are really easy. At least on the A-side they appear that way. The B-courses were hard to tell where the intended path was, so as of this writing, so I don't have all the reference maps up for you.

So there is already talk about the insane wall, "Sackachussetts", which is basically a deserted NASA missile launch pad. The wall has superb traction, but who knows if it is enough to actually make it up. Its an optional line that has made drivers such as Tracy Jordan look at it and laugh. Tracy even tried to run up it on foot, but only made it a quarter of the way up before he lost momentum. Its an interesting line. If I had to put money on it, I think the low center of gravity moon buggies will actually take it. A good suck down on the winch, some water in the tires, and a good amount of ponies to keep the momentum up should do it.

Update 14 May 2004 11:25 AM PST

Shannon Campbell on A4 almost rolled. In order to save the roll, he backed up and took a cone. The rig started smoking after the near roll, but he was able to finish the course. We talked to Shannon on what he thought went wrong. "We flaked out. We didn't put a rope on at the start and we washed out. Just the beginning of the day and everyone makes mistakes. We finished the course, but took that cone and one backup."

Shannon on his way over but barely saving it taking out a cone in the process

Walker was up next on A4 with a nearly identical rig. Taking suggestions from Shannon to use a rope, Walker zero'd the course. He had this to say, "I am just pleased and happy that Shannon could build this rig as fast as he did. New experience to zero the very first obstacle on in a brand new vehicle. I hope I keep this smile on my face the rest of the day.

Walker coming down off of A4

Over on course B3 #111, Eddie Casenueva, took a chance on the "Sack" and failed twice. In the process, they damaged what appeaeds to be their transfer case. A loud bang rang out on the second attempt, which was the end to their hopes for that run. The transfercase would no longer stay engaged to the rear wheels, so only the front tires would drive. He was able to engage the 4 wheel drive on it, but he had to hold it in to make it work. They tried to make the last gates, but it was too much to control and they wound up with a DNF for the course.
Check out this video clip of the Spidertrax buggy and what the wall of "Sack" looks like


Troy Myers was the first runner on B5. There is a 6 foot plus wall that they have to go over which immediately drops over into a mini ravine. It is a high center nightmare. Troy's rig was slick enough underneath to just slide right on over with an impressive clear of the obstacle. He had several back ups and stops along the way which ultimately will hurt his score on that course.

Troy Myers humping up the 6 foot belly dragger

Bailey's Maxxis shoed Rig, #262, made a great easy run over B2. No backups, no cones. Nothing but a zero score. He made the couse look easy for the Modifed class runners after him.

Walking up and over the crack on B2

Update 14 May 2004 12:18 PM PST

The day is going smooth. Courses are being driven really fast and I have a feeling we will finish on time out there. The sun is beating down and it is hot. Not unbearable, but running around really warms you up some more. The action is as good as always and we were able to catch up with a few of the drivers after their runs.

Don Robbins crept up to the big wall on B3. He attempted it without a spotter strap and got further than anyone else. He was within 5 feet from the top, but didn't pull the climb off. He said his engine wasn't warm enough before he attempted it and couldn't give it all he had. He called it a lame attempt. He would have given it more if it was his last course of the weekend. -2 on course.

Don Robbins giving it juice attempting B3. So close to the top, but just couldn't make it.

Dave Schneider had a fair run on course B4 grabbing an 11 points out the door. This was his first course of the day. When asking Dave how the run was, he said, "So far so good. We weren't sure if we were going to make the burn down the hill and line up square. So we chose to take the cone and get a cleaner line on the vertical on the other side to get out of it. I'll take our run and be happy with it. We are here to have fun this weekend, not necessarily win it."

Dave Schneider crossing the boulders for 11 points on B4

Jason Bunch timed out on B2. The first wall gave him a lot of trouble. He had this to say about it: "It's a pretty straight up and down wall. We need to make the car a little bit lower, a little more bite to it to make it climb up like that. We will play with it some more. Probably a little too hard on the air pressure. Thanks to Darren Runyon for letting us run his rig this weekend."

Joel Randall pulled a -2 on B3. He attempted the "Sack" wall in second gear and got about 3/4 of the way up, but didn't quite get it. He said it was a little early in the event to give it an all out go for it. Third gear might have been grabbed if it was the last course of the weekend.

Joel on rope attempting B3, but with no luck

Shane Waechter timed out on B2 because he broke his driveline. However, he still gave it a hell of an attempt in 2 wheel drive. Shane runs in the modified class. Shane said this, "We could have done that wall easy if we had 4 wheel drive, but we only had 2." They should have it all fixed before the next course.

Shane twisting his way up B2 before his driveline let go

Update 14 May 2004 12:40 PM PST

The Day 1 Competition Gallery is now open with a few shots. Check out some of the awesome action that we have snapped up so far.

You can check out the pictures here:
UROC Day 1 Competition, Cedar City 2004

Some scores should be coming in the next 20 minutes roughly. The UROC trailer lost power so we weren't able to grab a printout yet.

Update 14 May 2004 12:55 PM PST

Late Breaking News:
Larry McRae, driving the Tiny rig, was just on obstacle B3 attempting the "Sack" line. He was at the top of the climb with his front passenger tire in a small hole next to the cone. In an attempt to save hitting a cone, he turned driver's side and proceeded to lose control. He wound up barrel rolling the rig all the way down to the bottom of the climb. They were able to push it back over and complete the course. What an amazing roll though and as it stands now, the closest person to the top of that hill today.

Jason Bunch was next on B3, but opted to not take the "Sack" line that has denied so many. However, they weren't impervious to a roll over. While attempting the regular line out of the course, they proceeded to flop it on over.

Update 14 May 2004 1:59 PM PST

Some scores are up. Click on the pictures for a larger image:


Matt Peterson in the Rock Ware rig made a smooth run through B1 and took only 8 points for that course. He crawled through it like it was nothing. Matt had this to say, "I think we goteverything all ironed out. New radios allow us to have better communication."

Matt making a clean run on B1

Dustin Webster with his last minute repaired rig made a good stand on B3 with only a -1 score. After he finished, we caught up with him. "We had a pretty ugly start. Actually the ugliness started on Monday when we decided we were going to make this car be ready for the competition. We of course busted on the very first obstacle. That's after the ticket and the accident in the middle of the night while driving. We got here at 5:45 in the morning. But hey, you know what, we're happy. That obstacle was the true start to our day.

Dustin heading up B3

Eddie Casenueva got a zero on A4 when we got on the scene. "It started out great this weekend. We got a -12 on the first course then the next two kicked our butts. We don't know what happened. We know what happened on A3. Like everyone else out here, we got hung in there and we were dead in the water. Then you just sit there and time out. So, it was good to redeem ourselves on this one for sure."


Mark Berger in rig #777, decided to drive the course with his spotter. It was a little more difficult than he thought. He underestimated it a little bit. Mark had this to say, "The day is going well, trying to play it safe and not take too many chances, but you gotta take chances sometime. I think we are doing alright."

Mark Berger driving with his spotter.

Ken Shupe had a little bit of a hard time in the crack on A5. He was able to pull it through though getting 6 points which by most standards, is pretty damned good. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to talk to Ken. He had this to say, "I kind of hosed a little bit back there. Cracks aren't my fortay anyway. The weekend is going good for me. I felt good about getting out of that perdicament getting out of A5 with 6 points. Other than that we have had all negative scores this weekend. This modified line on B3 is going to be the deciding factor for the weekend. We are going for that one."

Shupe twisting it through on A5

Update 14 May 2004 2:49 PM PST

Johnny G did it!!! Johnny made it up the B3 wall. With the power up and pull on the rope from his spotter, he was the first one today to pull it off. He took a cone at the very top which will only give him 10 points for that bonus line. We have a video clip uploading now. Stay tuned for it.

We also have several new pictures loaded up in the Gallery. Have a look there for more of the action that has been going on today.

Update 14 May 2004 2:58 PM PST

Team Shaffer just made B3 as well. Mike and Lance pulled it off clean though. The #5 buggy is working really well this weekend and they just walked up course B3. At the top, they were able to avoid the cone and get the full 20 point bonus.

Update 14 May 2004 3:32 PM PST

Some scores are up. Click on the pictures for a larger image:


As we said earlier, we got footage of Johnny G getting up the B3 wall. Since then several others have made it up as well including Mike Shaffer, Jason Paule, and Matt Peterson. To see how insane this climb is, check out this video clip of Johnny G's ascent.

Johnny G rocketing up the B3 climb

Update 14 May 2004 5:00 PM PST

As said earlier, Mike and Lance pulled a clean run up B3 as well. They feels good about the day. Lance said, "The rig is working so awesome the BFG tires are hooking up. The Superior Axles are keeping everything where they are supposed to be." If they continue onto Saturday with the same results, they most likely will take this event for sure. The teamwork is back and the scores are showing it. They came off of the victory from the CalROCS event and the energy between them hasn't let off.

Mike climbing the first rocky ledge on course B3

Mitch has been having a real tough time this weekend. It's not often that you see moon buggies turtled up, but this weeken we have seen a few. Mitch was one of them as he flippedover on B2. When asked how he felt about the weekend, he only had one response, "Fucked". Well, despite the hard first day, his rig is still running pretty good. All he can do is hope for a good run tomorrow to bring him back up in the points.

Mitch belly up on B2

B3 has been a take it or break it sort of course. The most exciting to watch for sure. Charlie, hailing from New York, brought his portal'd buggy out west for just such an opportunity. He took several attempts up the slope always coming up short. Unfortunately, on one of his returns back to earth, Charlie landed hard on the back left wheel and snapped off one of the links. This ended his run up the course and hurt his overall score for the day. Charlie said this, "I thought we had it pretty close here, just the last one coming down that steep was a little too much for it and ripped that mount off the axle. I was actually about to take the other line, but if I didn't make it on that one, we weren't making it. We were pretty close, but we needed a little more oomph. The weekend is not going too bad, but we will be back tomorrow after we make repairs."

Charlie's link dangling after a hard landing

More pictures have been added again to the Gallery. Check them out.

Update 14 May 2004 6:00 PM PST

The near final scores are up. One score that is missing is Joel Randall's final run. He took a 14 score on B2 which puts gives him 29 points for the day.

Tracy Jordan spanked the A side of the courses today in the # 112 rig. Although doing well, it was not without a bit of controversy over on course A3. He completed his run which when tallied by the judge, yielded him a -1 score. However, Tracy felt he was dinged for a reversal that did not occur. He states he was in his forward gear with the tires rolling forward. His rig was on the edge of a ledge and the vehicle slid backwards. The judge however didn't see it this way and gave him a reversal penalty. A frustrated Jordan had this to say despite the calling. "We are doing good. We are having a good time like we are home on the rocks. We're not getting tied up with all the competition stuff anymore. Trying to get out of it. If you know anyone who wants to buy my whole setup, let me know."

Tracy on course in Cedar City

Not everyone has been having such an easy day out there. Several people have been trying really hard, but the equipment just won't hold up. Some of it is weak components, others its abuse by the driver while others just get a bit of bad misfortunte. Rob Bonney may have been one of those unlucky individuals who broke his rear ring and pinion on A5. Many of these guys come prepared of course for the worst. A ring and pinion is sometimes a standard spare part for most of these rigs. Lets see if Rob can put it back together for tomorrows final day.

Speaking with a few of the drivers, they enjoyed the days event. Joel McClure in the #248 rig was one of them. Joel said this, "The courses this weekend so far have been pretty good. They are a little bit technical, but very good. Vertical, off-camber, grab it and roll, just a good all around course. So you don't need a whole lot of horsepower, just a good spotter and good driving and everything is going to be fine. Actually this is the best weekend we ever ran." Many others would agree with him. The A course drivers seemed to have a pretty easy time today as represented by their scores. On the B side, the scores were much higher probably making most of them a little less enthusiastic for the day.

Joel McClure having a blast out on the UROC courses

Becca Webster finished the day with a 63 on th B side of the courses. She was having a good time out there today. Becca said this about the day, "On the first course we had technical difficulties and unfortunately we were not able to finish the course in the amount of time allotted. We got a 40 on that one, but the rest of them have gone real good. We have been taking some of the Super Modified lines rather than the Modified lines so we are happy with ourselves for goin for the big lines and making them." She put on a great show all day making some impressive climbs and finishing them with a smile.

Becca climbing up a HUGE ledge

We should have more video up online tonight or tomorrow. We have several shots including the infamous Tiny roll on B3. We will be again tomorrow to see if Tracy can continue his good streak on the B side and if Mike and Lance get a fun break running the A side.

So to finalize, the SuperModified courses are led up on the B side with Mike Shaffer at -2, Larry McRae with 13, and Joel Randall holding onto third with a 29. On the A side, there are really scores with Tracy at -29, Ken Blume holding -26 points, and Mark Berger, Peter Wells, and Jon Nelson all tied at 25.

On the Modified side, Bob Standage is once again back on top, but with a tie with Dean Bulloch. Both guys have a -49 on the A courses. For the B side courses, Mike Bailey is in the lead with only 37 points and Chris Holley a modest 14 points behind him.

Tomorrow should be another great day here in Cedar City. A big thanks go out to Superior Axle, Drivetrain Direct, and of course RP Films for sponsoring this coverage today. Without their help and support we would have nothing. So thanks again.

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