<< News & Headline Main
On Donner, On We Rock, On Carnage!
By Kimber Wheeler
Donner, Nevada - Part I - August
27, 2006
Big Rich Klein and his West
Coast Division of the W.E. Rock Series rolled back into California
the weekend of August 25 & 26. All the usual suspects
showed up to this pristine site to battle it out, rock crawler
fashion. With only one event left before the division crowns
its highest ranking teams as Kings or Queens of the Rocks
for the ’06 season, those near the top in points were
running numbers in their head to see what it would take to
come out on top. Like a football team that was one touchdown
away from playoff qualification or a Tour De France rider
who’s last race was under his pedals, they were all
going for broke and taking risks to shave points off their
scores and praying that the rig would hold up.
We watched as Jeff Mello’s dreams of championship crumbled
with a seized motor on his second course, only to be reborn
as a deep underdog coming from behind when they discovered
that a hasty engine refresh job prior to this event had left
a rag in the oil pan upon rebuild. Removing the evil piece
of linen had them back on their last course with a noticeable
engine clatter and a will to just hang on. While Dean Bulloch
tiptoed through the very course that had served up Mello’s
near doom, others such as Glenn Bonner, Becca Webster and
Ashleigh Andrews tumbled onto their lids never to recover
on course B2. The two brothers that make up FabTech sponsored
Team Lovell had the most impressive recovery on this course
as they tumbled into the trough that swallowed their fellow
competitors only to use two man, hands on manpower to shove
it back onto all fours and finish the course with a very impressive
score of 11!
We also got to take in some skillful driving by first time
competitor Nate Oyler as he walked up the boulder strewn rock
wall of course B1. After struggling to find the working line
to the right, left and even up the middle of this unabridged
mini canyon, he found a line that had a little of all three
with just a shade more right side traction to give quarter
to his escape. Bob Standage also did a strikingly skilled
job of conquering this course after having recovered from
his previous day of socializing and it’s after effects
from which both he and Dean Bulloch walked away with significantly
lighter pocket books and challenges met.
Course A2 also laid claim to casualties such as Shane Yost.
Shane assaulted this course’s 5ft wall in an attempt
to squeeze through its narrowed top section only to have the
impact bend the rear links upwards with a cracking sound leaving
spectators yelling about its broken demise. A closer inspection
by spotter Todd Young revealed no breakage but a pinion angle
that was so far heavenward that progress was questionable.
The team decided to give it a try but as soon as pressure
was put to the yoke, the driveline descended to the depths
of Hades and their run was over. Later in the day Shane’s
run was stopped yet again by a hard rollover off of the top
of course A4.
Scott Ellinger had rear locker woes kick in on his very first
course. After careful attempts to correct the problem, they
continued the next three courses minus said locker. To watch
this team work through courses that ate fully equipped teams
for lunch without additional carnage was simply “inspiring”.
In fact it was so impressive to watch that we recommend that
he never compete with a rear locker for the rest of his days!
We don’t think he’s going to take our advice despite
his scarily low scores given his rigs handicap.
While some were struggling throughout the “A”
courses, others in the Unlimited class, such as Jason Paulie,
Tracy Jordan, Cody Waggoner, Bruce Zellar, John Hall and Shannon
Campbell were plowing through these carnage riddled courses
with relative ease and ending with scores in the negative.
By the end of the day, Team Waggoner had finessed there way
to the lowest score at -13 for four courses. Hot on their
tail was Shannon Campbell with a score of -12. Tracy Jordan
was keeping them in his sights with a -10 and Bruce Zellar
brought his -6 to the table. Following these negative contenders
was the 5th place score of 12 put up by John Hall. With scores
this tight, day two has all the ingredients for a Battle Royal!
As mentioned earlier, the Pro Modified class was suffering
major carnage on the B2 course with only 3 drivers turning
in low digit course scores. This course alone was the deciding
factor in the final scores for the day. The completion scores
at the end of the day for those three teams were 4, 5, 6!
The drivers that turned in the amazing scores were, in order,
Brad Lovell, Dean Bulloch, and Bob Standage. Becca Webster
came in a distant 4th at 37 pts for the day. Glenn Bonner
was not far behind her with a 45 in 5th place.
The day was perfect. The scenery was unrivaled. The weather
was sheer perfection. The spectators were plentiful. All of
this made up the ingredients for one of the best days of rock
crawling to be had. Judging by the grins of success well earned
on this first day of competition by the Big Rich Family, rock
crawling will continue to return to this venue. We had 5 cameras
on site to catch the action and would like to thank the additional
photographers Kevin Sellstrom, Michael Morris, Gary Sellstrom
and Gwen Matulich. Be sure to check out our photo gallery
for all of the action we caught of the first day of rock pounding.
Part
I
Part
II
|
