Crawlin No. 10
By Rich Walker
It has actually been quite hard to sit down and get some writing done lately. Don’t get me wrong it’s a good thing. It figures I would pick the busiest time of the year to also try and juggle a home renovation. But as I sit here to finally put words to paper (trying not to stare at my un-completed fire place and living room), I have no regrets.
Thanks to my good friend Matt Nieman and the crew at Big Country Customs I have been on the road and in the air quite a bit hitting up some Ultra4 races. I spoke briefly in the last Crawlin’ Column about races named Glen Helen and Vegas to Reno. Well both of those are now in the past and you can read features on them very soon (maybe even in this issue). Let’s just say that some very good news came from all the long hours and dedication.
In the rock crawling competition world there has been more action at Donner Ski Ranch. Round 3 of the Cal-Neva Extreme series was held there on August 18-19. This time they had access to the upper section and in my opinion that is a good thing. The obstacles up there are far better (and by better I mean bigger) and more challenging. One of the better stories from this event was from Team #01 (Ross Glave) in the Super-Mod class. During their third course on Saturday they blew a hole in their motor. Not only did they finish that course with a hole in the block, but they drove it to town that night to get it fixed. They used foil and JB Weld to fix the hole in the block, removed the pieces of broken rod, and welded the hole in the oil pan from the crank shaft. They went on to finish all 5 courses on Sunday. Unreal guys, way to go.
As of right now, I’m hearing rumors that Cal-Neva may have to cancel their last (4th) and final event for the 2012 season. They are having venue issues with the planned location and may be forced to cancel if the competitors don’t want to finish their year back at Donner. I will report as soon as I have an answer set in stone.
Round 2 of the Nor-Cal rock racing series also finished successfully. Canadian Robb Kaufman in the #22 Trent Fab car was able to finish in a very respectable 4th place for the second race in a row. These consistent finishes are holding him in 2nd place overall in series points and just one point away from 1st. The final round of racing will be September 29th and I would like to wish Robb the best of luck. Go get ‘em!
Rock crawling has hit the big time. The Discovery channel ventured over to Big Country Customs to do some filming (for Extreme Week) in the shop as well as out on the trail. The boys at the shop showed them what it takes to build one of these machines and pointed out some of the finer details about suspension and fabrication. Then they hit one of the local trails where they showed them the finer details of what these rigs can really do. Before long, the host of the show was strapped in the driver’s seat and sent down one of the “bonus lines” from a competition of the past. Check www.discoverychannel.ca for airing times in your area or wait for it to be available online.
2012 is far from over and we have a ton of racing and crawling left to do. Till next time, stay safe and see you on the trails!