XRRA East Jellico, TN
Eastern U.S. Nationals Event Two,
Photos and Story by the Rock Midget

Xrra Jellico Tech

We left Mississippi's 80 degree weather to arrive to temperatures in the low 50's and light rain in Jellico today. The skies were gray and the mountains were shrouded in mist as we pulled into Veteran's Park in beautiful Downtown Jellico Tennessee.

The weather has been bad all week. According to XRRA series promotor, Mike Weaver, it ALWAYS rains right before an XRRA event in Jellico. We are looking for the weatherman to be correct in thier forcast of sunny skies and mid-70's tomorrow.

Just after 3 oclock, the first team to pull in was Fat Boy Racing of Houston Texas. They were quickly followed by Ken Blume and Derek West. Ken was sporting some 40 in Creepy's for this event, leaving the 37"" Trepadors at home in Arkansas. Derek West is fresh off another MoRoc win at Hot Springs and is looking for win number 2 in the XRRA East series.

Doug Bigelow and his brother limped in with trailer problems and quickly buttoned up their tech inspection to head to NAPA in search of parts.

Doug's high-tech air filter cover

Soon the parking lot was full of familiar teams from XRRA Gray Rock. Along with these repeat competetors, there were some new faces mixed in to slug it out in the Tennessee mud. Team Wombat has their rig sitting pretty and low with fresh paint and skins. They said it was stripped to the tubing just yesterday.

RockWare is rolling deep all the way from Colorado Springs with 2 rigs for the event.

Team Lucky Dog pulled in with their 40+ foot trailer packed with 3 rigs. Levi Shirley has his buggy back in tip-top shape and is ready for action.

According to Mike Weaver, the course is short and fast as long as the ground dries up some before tomorrow. There are some fast sections as well as a serious hill climb that will be a bear in the mud. We are looking forward to some serious action tomorrow!

[ PHOTO GALLERY ]