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UROC SuperCrawl IV Scores
UROC Information:
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2005 Pro Series Standings
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UROC SuperCrawl 2005 Running Order
Update
11:00 AM PST
Welcome back to day #2 in this brutal and action filled SuperCrawl IV. We are here in the humble little city of Las Vegas, Nevada where the lights shine bright all day and all night. We ended last night just after midnight and were still able to go out and take in some nightlife and dinner.
Yesterday’s action was an eye opener for many teams and fans. The courses here at SuperCrawl were built in the middle of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s parking lot. As big as the parking lot is, there always seems to be a need for more space as was commonly said amongst teams. The courses are free formed mounds with steps, ledges, bumps, twists, gaps, and everything in between to create an array of obstacles for the teams to figure out. The courses are very intimidating to both rookie and veteran drivers. When you look at the courses, you have to wonder how the heck we can get vehicles over the tops of these things. If you have never seen rock crawling before, then you will be left in a state of awe. Whatever the talk is about how hard these obstacles are, people are making them.
We left the first day of action with only the Super Modifieds running and a huge difference in scores. There isn’t one easy course out there, but some drivers made it look easy. On the A side of the course (courses #1 thru 4) we had the following top 5 drivers:
1) Jason Scherer #13 – 12 Points
2) Tracy Jordan #112 – 28 Points
3) Walker Evans #20 – 44 Points
4) Marty Hart #416 – 48 Points
5) Cody Waggoner #117 – 51 Points
On the B side of the course (courses #5 thru 8) we had the following top 5 drivers:
1) Charlie Melchner #101 – 40 Points
2) Jason Paule #000 – 55 Points
3) Mark Berger #777 – 56 Points
4) Brad Styles #27 – 58 Points
5) Jody Everding #619 – 92 Points
(note: some scores were not in at the time we left last night, so some scores may be different this morning)
You will notice a huge bias of points on the B side. There were several 40 points handed out on both course# 5 and 7. Some might say that is too difficult, but when you have someone actually pulling a great score on the course, what does that say to you? Someone had the formula to get it through the course. Does that mean the courses should be stepped down a bit or should drivers take it as a learning lesson? In the case of course #5 known as the Water Fall, this is one obstacle where a few people made it over the top, but were still not pleased with it. Then you have someone crazy like Brad Styles who said it was fun. Whatever your thoughts are on these courses, there is one thing that can be said. This is the ultimate rock crawling event and the courses are not going to be easy. You have to work for the win because everyone is running the same course (for the most part)
We will see how things progress later today when we step up to the Modified rigs when they take their first run out. One half of the Super Mods will also be completing their weekend which will give the other half something to shoot for on Sunday. The event begins at 5:00 (so I have been told anyway), so we will see you then.
Update
4:59 PM PST
The sun is starting to settle and the competition for day #2 is about to begin. While they blast Bon Jovi over the loud speakers Big Sarge commentating, we are getting really excited for the event to begin.
The Mod rigs are all lined up and awaiting the singing of the National Anthem. The weather is a bit cooler than yesterday and we re ready to get going as we are perched high up on the Maxxis trailer. Thanks to the them for this Penthouse view of the courses this weekend.
We are ready to go!!!
Update
5:12 PM PST
The modified rigs are on course and running strong now. Starting on course #1 we have #31 Lee Smith, on course #2 Rick Beard in the slick looking #522 yellow and black Maxxis crawler, then one of our favorites of #211 Steve Bulloch taking on #3.
Over on the Super Mod side, Mount Logan Off-Road team of Johnny-G in the # 722 rig took 2 runs up the Water Fall. His first attempt looked really good and seemed like with a little more gusto, he would have made it to the top. However, on the second attempt, he hit the initil transition of the climb and took out his rear driveshaft. That is going to be a tough start to his first climb.
Back over on course #3, Steve Bulloch made quick work of that obstacle section. He finished the whole thing while the airborne action of Johnny took place. Steve was congratulated by his spotter Ashton Hemphill on a clean run.
Update
5:28 PM PST
Some bad luck for Rick Beard. He was doing so well over on course #2, but on the third rock hill, it appears he either broke something or just go into some trouble. He is now being recovered off of the course.
You might remember the #666 rig owned by Bob Standage which was a winning rig in last years series. This weekend it is being drive by Tom Ahern. He took that sweet looking crawler up and over course #3 in a similar fashion as Steve did on his run. The only difference was a hard grinding on the way down. Course #3 looks like it will be finished quick today. For courses #1 and 2, the extractions are still happening.
Back over on the Water Fall again, another rear engined buggy was denied on the super hill climb. This time it was the rig of Jason Berger in the #414 crawler who got denied. He made some awesome assaults on the climb getting some serious front wheel air for the crowd. Something happened with the motor though because shortly into his climb attempts, the motor started sputtering and backfiring madly. He wound up having to call it quits when they couldn’t get the rig to run right. Will there be a rear engined buggy to make the wall and disprove the front motor theory on the wall? Marty Hart is coming up shortly to try and disprove it.
Update
5:42 PM PST
Ken Blume is one of our Eastern favorites out here. Ken is one of those guys that is always excited to be on course and bite the challenge of any obstacle fearlessly. Today he got the crowd going on course #6 where he was battling the foam filled courses. The challenge wound up getting the best of him as he got sucked into the hole real hard. He couldn't get the rig to climb out of the hole and wound up timing out.
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| Ken Blume getting eaten in the mouth of the rock crack on course #6 |
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Update
6:11 PM PST
Marty Hart did it. He disproved the thought that rear engined buggies couldn’t make the Water Fall. Marty took several runs at the wall and looked like every other moon buggy out there in not making the climb. Then one more assault and he was hard charging over the top. It was awesome to see. He paused at the top to soak in the load cheers from the crowd. Dropping in over the backside, he propelled his way on down to set himself up for the climb out. He attempted the back wall, but was unable to make it happen. Congrats to him for being the first today to make the climb.
Woah!! As we were talking, Walker Evans made an unbelievable save over on course #7. He launched over the wall and all we could see were the rear tires pointing vertical in the air. A little front endo pirouette into a 180 spin around and he was back on his wheels. It was an awesome save that the crowd just ate up.
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| Walker Evans mid pirouette on course #6 where he spun around and lined up perfect for the exit out. |
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Mike Cole just got dragged off of course #1. On his entrance in, his rear tire got sucked into the crack. He tried to power out of the pickled situation, but something went pop. Not sure what the noise was, he continued to growl the tires through the course, but the next thing you know, sparks were seen flying as the front passenger hub blew off the axle. Just a few feet into the course and he was forced back to the pits for repairs. Definitely an unfortunate first course for him today.
Update
6:17 PM PST
The first scores are in and it looks like Jeff Mello is currently the leader on the Modified side with -8 points on course #3. Just behind him is Tom Ahern at -2 and RJ Brown and Steve Bulloch both pulling in -1.
On the SuperMod side, Walker Evans pulled in a 2 pointer for his pirouette course and has Jason Scherer close behind with 5 points for today. Marty Hart was able to pull in 18 points on the WaterFall pulling him in a third pace for the day. The rest of the pack pulls back pretty far from there. These points above are only those for today and are not including yesterday’s scores.
Update
6:30 PM PST
Some scores were just posted above at the top of the story. Check them out!!
Update
6:40 PM PST
Jason Scherer became buggy #2 today to make it over the Water Fall. Aaron padded up the entry of the climb to allow him good smooth transition to the wall. The first 2 attempts were sluggish and testing of the wall. He then took his third full lanch attempt and smoothly rolled over the top. On the way down though, the rear end sprung open like a book and he took a tumble cart wheel style all the way down. They called it good, shut it off, and walk away with 18 points for the course. The toughest climb is done.
Greg from Allied Wheel put up a $500 bounty on the head of the first person who can climb the Water Fall both directions. All the heavy hitters have took their attempts with no success, but we have several more to come. Will that $500 make it to someone’s wallet? We hope it will.
Update
6:59 PM PST
Becca Webster is one of the crowd favorites because not only she a “She”, but she can drive the pants off of pretty much anyone else out here. She has the cool calm and finesse that so many drivers wish they had. Becca jumped on course #2 and pulled a great score of 19. This is one of the hardest courses with 3 moguls to go over and she did it fairly clean. She then set her eyes on course #3, but didn’t have the same finish. She worked her way up to almost the top of the obstacle, but then got shot off to the side. This put her in a bad position which made her have to reverse out. The reverse wound up leading to a rollover and an early finish. She will brush it off and move to the next course with a plan to improve as she always does.
Don Robbins was just running on course #8 and put on a great show. The course is tight and difficult to squeeze through. Literally, Don had to squeeze the #100 rig through the course in order to make time. Don raced through to the screams of the crowd cheering him on as he left body paint behind. Don finished with merely seconds left on the clock. We pulled him to the side to get his take on it. He said, “ Do you like how I almost left my body on that obstacle? Hey, it’s the only way to get through there is to rub your drivers side, rub your passengers side, and leave a little bit of fiberglass behind to let everyone know you were there, as long as you finish." Don finished with a well earned 13 points for the course.
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| Don Robbins rubbing paint off his rig in the tight course |
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Update
7:16 PM PST
Scores have just been updated. Check them out at the top.
Update
8:02 PM PST
We ran over to talk to RJ Brown when he finished #4. RJ is running on some fresh Toyo sticky tires fresh off the boat from Japan. Tonight was the first time they were on the tires. The tires were so sticky that they when they were doing a front dig, the tires were wrapping around on themselves and on the rim. RJ said, “Overall, as long as we are out wheeling and having fun with our buddies, its good. We thought we had lost some of our steering, but we think the tires are so sticky that it is affecting the turning. We believe we are first place contenders and are calling all the other drivers out this weekend.”
Dean Bulloch in the #9 yellow Samurai is hard charging to make this #10 on the win list for this year. Dean has won a record 9 times this season alone making him the most winningest driver in either the Modified or SuperMod class. So he is hoping to make the event of all events, the 10th win. Despite wanting the win so bad, Dean wanted to wish all the teams the best of luck this weekend.
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| Dean crawls his way slowly through the course showing why he is the Iceman |
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Brian Errea and Joachim Schweisow are both the biggest threat to any team out here this weekend. This duo seems to blow the doors off competitors every time they come out to an event. Brian said, “Our first run of the night was a clean run. We had an excellent start. The past super crawlers we had one 6th place finish and two 5th place finishes. We want to do better this weekend. We are happy with the courses and the layout, but we believe the wall is unnecessary danger, but we are going to go for it. We love the exposure of the event for our sport.”
Brad and Roger Lovell were happy to see the course changes for the mod classes. They feared that the courses were going to stay the same from the SuperMod Class the night before. They said, “These courses are very technical. It’s what we enjoy. No rope means no room for errors. It is critical to make sure every move is thought out. We believe we have what it takes to be first place contenders at this event.”
Update
8:05 PM PST
The first images of Day 2 are up in the Gallery now. Check them out!!
Update
8:30 PM PST
Walker Evans is a natural when it comes to hill climbs. On the first Matterhorn run in Salt Lake city, Walker took his rig over it multiple times and wanted more. We figured that if there was anyone that could take the $500 challenge on the Water Fall for completing both sides, it would be him. Walker was hyped to take the line up and he took one setup run to feel out the base of the hill. The second run he pushed it to the floor and blasted his way up the lip of the hill and went into sub orbital flight. With 4 wheels in the air he only had momentum to keep him going which wasn’t enough to get him over. The truck was pulled back down by the pull of the earth and he hit hard on the return. The passenger rear top suspension link took the brunt of the loading and forced it into a pretzel like shape ending his attempt at the monster.
Earlier on, Team Shaffer made a similar attempt but came up short when their front wheel broke off at the knuckle. Settling back down on the ground, with only 3 wheels and a broken leg, they were in no shape to continue on and had to limp back to the pits.
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| Team Shaffer loses a passenger front tire on the Water Fall |
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Update
8:56 PM PST
Scores are back from the presses and we are looking at a great race. On the SuperMods, Tracy Jordan was in second yesterday and with only 4 points to Jason Scherer's 23 points today that moves him ahead although they have ran different courses. Jason's biggest it for today was obstacle 5 which Tracy is about to run right now.
On the Mod side, the Skyjacker team of Jeff Mello and Kevin Yoder are blowing away the field in the "Struggle Buggy" aptly named for the motor's recent power deficiencies. With only -14 points he is ahead of Dave Schneider and Brian Errea by 12 points. The Struggler is showing its colors out here tonight.
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| Jeff Mello and Kevin Yoder are dominating and congratulate each other on yet another great course. |
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Just in, Tracy Jordan just flipped over on course #5. They have 3 minutes on the clock to flip it over and give it another go. We will watch and see…..
….. well…. It didn’t happen for them. Team #112 couldn’t get the Scrapper buggy back on its wheels. They struggled, pushed, and grunted to get it over, but the weight was too much and they couldn’t right the vehicle to make another attempt before time ran out.
Update
9:19 PM PST
You don't think we only come to these events to see rock crawling do you? There is other scenery to viewed as well. Look who we came across. Briana Walker, girlfriend of Clay Egan (team #90 at www.ClayEgan.com, was out cheering her man on this weekend. She is sporting a sweet ride of her own made by Colours which is also the same company she models for. Hey Briana, you can model for Pirate4x4 anytime too. The wheel chair has custom billet aluminum rims with spinners. Briana is a rock crawl enthusiast herself and was just out at Cougar Buttes doing some wheeling of her own.
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| Briana's wheelchair sporting spinners. Who can resist a blingin rims and a blingin smile like that. |
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Here were some others from the day:
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| Now that's a great use for that shirt. |
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Update
9:51 PM PST
There are a lot of extractions and stuck rigs right now, so we took some time and uploaded some new images. So while we get Don Robbins and Tommy Ahern extracted, check them out now in the gallery.
Update
9:56 PM PST
Nate Williams, sponsored by American Racing ATX wheels, the newest line of wheels, just blasted over the Water Fall on #5. That was some amazing driving because those hits on the initial blast up the wall were hard on the body. He stayed in control though and was able to bounce it up to the top. Unlike many others, Nate dropped the rig off the other side smoothly and in control. With time to spare he is trying to get up the other side…….
Update
10:00 PM PST
Well, the unfortunate news is that Nate broke on his attempts up the backside wall. There is a bounty on the back wall and it has been raised from $500 to $1000 now. The good news is that he was able to clear the first side of the wall which will give him 18 points. Not many drivers here this weekend can claim that victory.
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| Nate coming down the back side of #5 |
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Update
10:41 PM PST
Shane Yost (a.k.a. RudeZuk) was out calling Lance on his cell phone to see if he wanted to go along for a spotter ride on the Water Fall. They would be the first spotter ride for the evening. Lance asked why he was asking him to go along with him on the ride when he has a spotter. Shane said that his spotter was too afraid. Lance told me that he laughed and said he was afraid himself. Shane wound up getting Mike Weaver to come along for a fun run up the hill.
Shane spent a few runs trying to get up the hill and they were banged around in the cockpit. They just couldn’t muster up enough momentum to get up and over the hill. With the spotter ride though, Shane will pull down some bonus points for the course.
Update
10:49 PM PST
The big story right now is Cody Waggoner is making a huge comeback. The scores just came in and he is sitting at -5. He finished yesterday with 51 and is making up points quick. Jason Scherer is doing great today too, but is sitting at 16 points with one more course to go. If Cody can pull off one supreme run over the wall, he can possible catch Jason.
Cody is lining up for the wall now…
The crowd is cheering faster faster as Cody goes repeatedly up the wall. Pushing harder and harder, he continues to make desperate attempts to clear the wall. Each attempt though jostles him quite a bit as he too gets knocked around on the lead in at the bottom of the climb. Mike Berard, his spotter, dives right in to fill any of the holes that are dug out when Cody hits the wall. In the end Cody had to give up the climb attempt. It was awesome to see him make so many tries at it and despite the hits and bounces, he kept going. Great job and great show from Cody. Jason Scherer seems to be safe on the points race for now, but has one last course himself to finish.
Update
11:12 PM PST
Ted Grady in the #464 rig is just on the outskirts of the points race. With a few good runs, he can be right back in it again. As we speak, he is entering course #1 which has literally eaten rigs all night. There is a crackline that you have to first get through. Most have dropped tires in the crack and wound up flipping over or timing out with their rear axle stuff on top of ledge. So far, Ted is making it look like a pre-school math test, he has it in ultra low gear gingerly walking the course. Once past the crack they have to drop down the other side, make a u-turn then come back over leaving the course just to the left side of where they started. Ted just got over to the top side and moving the rig inch by inch with precision. Not the quickest run, but definitely the best I saw today. He has one last optional line up the bonus which people have tried, but nobody has made. Most only have one attempt at it and gave up. The bonus is a double wammy climb that has 3 and 4 foot ledges to get up. Ted took a step up to the wall, then just backed off and called it good. No bonus, but a great run for Ted.
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| Ted making a difficult course look easy |
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Update
11:33 PM PST
Brian Errea and Joachim Schweisow followed Ted Grady through course #1. They were able to make the initial crack line pretty well, but then got stuck on the second crack line. Turning the steering and burping the throttle, Brian was able to wiggle the Matrix painted crawler out and down the other side of the hill. They successfully navigated their way back to finish the course and with time on their side. They opted to take the bonus line with a minute left on the clock. Trying different lines, they used their wheelbase to an advantage and were actually able to crawl up the hill with seconds on the clock. In the heat of the moment though, Brian lurched over the top and rolled all the way down the other side. There appeared to be a controversy going on at track side as if they were denied the final points. We will try to catch up with them to get the low down and the final point standings. Great job to them for being the first to make that climb. Brian and Joachim are currently in second place and this run could push them in the lead if the points go their way.
Update
11:58 PM PST
The scores have just come back and we are done with the SuperMods for the day except for Jason Bunch’s last score. It looks like we are going to have an awesome shootout with the scores being a lot closer. There is still another day of wheeling for the B Division of the SuperMods to finish, so we will have to see how that half of the class pulls in their numbers.
On the mod side, we are down to the final courses and we have Jeff Mello and Brian Errea tied for first at -17 points. They are both due up to finish out on course #2 when the track clears.
Check the scores now. They have just been updated
The event ran past 1:30 AM with Dean Bulloch and Brian Errea finishing their day on courses # 1 and 2. They both had good runs which should align them both up for the finals given good results on Sunday. We will have the final Modified scores up for Saturday in the morning.
Until then, we will see you tomorrow.
