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Cody Waggoner Reins in the Win at Donner!!

By Kimber Wheeler

Donner, Nevada - Part II - August 29, 2006

Day two proved to be the dawning of a battle that involved strategy at its fiercest level, guts of monumental proportions and repeated carnage if you didn’t have the right combination of the previous two items. Strategy in the form of whether or not to take the insane bonus lines that Lil’ Rich had tossed before the teams. Do you risk it all for those extra 10 points shaved off the score IF you make it? If you go for the bonus, how many back-ups are you willing to take, sacrificing 1 point each time you do so? Guts because what if you plummet onto your lid in the attempt and sacrifice 30+ points just because you THOUGHT you had a rig that could do it?

Jason Scherer and Lance Clifford showed they had the biggest quantity of strategy AND guts as they rallied all day to come from a 6th place at the end of the day one to finish 2nd! They were the first to conquer the bonus line on B4 and one of only a handful to do so. They tackled every bonus they could with a dauntless grit that rivals any underdog. Bruce Zellar also tackled the bonus lines with success while Cody Waggoner played it safe and only went after the ones he was sure would play to his favor and not give up points by backing up. That strategy paid off in the end and carried him through the shoot out and landed him firmly in 1st place ahead of the previous day’s leader “B.Z.” Zellar actually ended up third after tieing for second during the shoot out. The tie was decided by the scores on course A1 which gave Jason 2nd place honors.

To get to the top these guys climb 80’ walls that were angled close to 70 degrees and had virtually no crevices or cracks for traction. Simply put, the Maxxis, Pro Comp, and BFG’s had to stick or the teams were going no where . . . fast. We watched amazing spotter feats of strength and wisdom such as when Scott Ellinger’s spotter Chad Kukla righted the rig by himself after a tumble off of B2. Once over Scott got to work and had to get back up to where he just flopped from to go through the gate he had missed in his tumble. Good news is that he didn’t roll over again when he came down this time but timed out on the course just before reaching the exit. When last we spoke with Scott he had rolled on 3 of his 4 courses. Probably because they repaired that rear locker!

Course B1 was munching teams left and right as apparent appetizers. Shannon Campbell garnered enough points in this event to place 5th in the event and clenches the series Championship, but first he was spit out by this course after he and his spotter Mike Dieu stacked rocks for several minutes to make the climb possible. They launched themselves at the cliff and nearly made it to the top but a small out cropping grabbed the front tires and shoved them brutally back to where they started and with 4 tires getting up front and personal with the gorgeous Donner sky. Shane Yost was another casualty of this intrepid course as he tumbled to the bottom to add to a horrid weekend. Not to be outdone on the carnage crew, husband and wife team, Ron & Melanie Schneider, gnawed at the wall continuously until one last mighty shove put the fan through the radiator and ended their attempts.

Other incredible action included Bob Standage suffering a roll of his own off of one of the “A” course wall climbs. Though Bob qualified for the Shoot Out, this last insult to injuring had him packed up and heading for home be the final elimination began. Third time driver and college student/driver, Ashleigh Andrews, and spotter/owner Dave Schneider did an incredible job of driving their way into the Shoot Out where Ashleigh work her rock wary rig over and through some steep, off camber climbs with just enough time to launch herself out the exit gate. This team was so impressive this weekend that after her final run she got an offer for sponsorship for next year! First time driver Nate Oyler and spotter, Tyler “Baggy Pants” Krebs wowed the crowd with skills that screamed of practiced seat time despite the lack there-of. Their performance gained them admission to the Shoot Out, as well.

Not to be shirked, the Stock class was stepping up and flexing up. Dan Patterson and Bob Roggy turned in a scary-great run on course C2 as they bounced their way, under full throttle, up a 40’ wall and cleared the top with not on wheel touching the ground! As spectacular as it was to watch, it ended in disappointment as they team timed out just before reaching the exit gate. Richard Bronsema and his Spotter twisted and crawled their way through course after course to earn not only the event win, but also the title of Series Champions in there Dean Bulloch influences Suzuki Samurai. Eric Hackney and David Lubiszewski brought their Toyota truck to the event and put that long wheel base through the ringer. Before the weekend was done it had been bobbed on every end and corner by the granite landscape of Donner Pass!

If you weren’t there, you missed one of the best events. Words can not fully describe what we witnessed on that mountain. Perhaps you can get an idea by checking out the day’s action in our photo gallery. You’ll also find bonus pictures of some insane “exhibition” action by Team Lovell and Team Red Bull. We also caught Jason Berger in his rock racer buggy doing a 2 wheel drive hill climb made via a front end wheely. All thanks to a little blue bottle that starts with an “N”!

We want to thank Kevin Sellstrom for his additional pictures of day two’s action. One photographer could never cover every course and Kevin’s picture show what we missed while tending the top side! In the meantime here’s some final scores:

UNLIMITED

Cody Waggoner -42
Jason Scherer -38
Bruce Zeller -38
Tracy Jordan -36
Shannon Campbell 16

PRO MODIFIED

Dean Bulloch 36
Brad Lovell 56
Nate Oyler 113

MODIFIED STOCK

Richard Bronsema -22
Dan Patterson 10
Troy Bailey 21

For full scores and future competition dates check out we-rock.cc.

Part I

Part II