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Norm “LEADFOOT” Thompson piloting his way to a first place finish.
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Andrew Hill rolling coal on his way to a second place finish.
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Third place finisher Moe Kilmer working his Suzuki based custom buggy.
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Event volunteer Adam Bullock bouncing his way to the top.
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Sean Smith churning it up in his Autoworks Off Road built Bronco buggy.
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EugHor aokPSYCHO
Words by Tim & Mike Rogers, photos by Eugene Horvath
This past May long weekend competitors and spectators gathered at Trudeau Park in the small town of Tweed Ontario for the third annual CrawlFest. The event runs over the long weekend and includes recreational wheeling for those interested, as well as the TMR Customs sponsored rock race on Sunday.
Ken Montgomery is the event organizer and each year he and his team put together a better event. This year they extended the rock racecourse and included multiple lines,
making strategy a key part to winning the event. Ken did an amazing job putting together a course that would challenge anything from 33-in tires all the way up to the 40-in and larger crowd.
The course is extremely fast, with technical rocks and short open bursts with ample use of the rev limiter. It’s the closest thing to Ultra 4 racing in Ontario you’re going to find. The smaller trucks can choose to run easier lines, bypassing many of the hard obstacles, but the easier lines require them to travel the farthest distance. The larger trucks and buggy’s chose to run the harder lines that proved to net the fastest times. Course times ranged from two minutes to four minutes per lap, with one competitor on course at a time. Each driver has the option of running the course as many times as they would like. The winner was crowned based on the fastest single lap time. Many drivers drove multiple laps, testing different lines on each lap to determine what made for the fastest route.
This year’s podium consisted of the following:
1st Place – Norm “LEADFOOT” Thompson in his TMR Customs sponsored custom buggy
2nd Place – Andrew Hill in his diesel powered custom Suzuki buggy
3rd Place – Moe Kilmer is his custom Suzuki buggy
In total, 14 competitors ran in the event and multiple vehicles assisted in course recovery when required. Carnage at the event included broken coil overs, axle shafts, pan hard bars, traction bars, and numerous flat tires and bent rims.
The event was a huge success yet again, with every competitor and spectator leaving with a smile on his or her face, regardless of the carnage their rig incurred. Ken is already planning CrawlFest 2015 with plans to make it even more successful!