2007 Axial West Coast Championships Text by Skeeno

Drivers were treated to beautiful views and fresh air each morning. Photo by Tanis After waiting over a month, June 29th finally arrived.  Over 80 of the West Coast’s finest drivers made their way to Donner Ski Ranch, located on historic US Route 40 high atop Donner Summit, for the 2007 Axial West Coast Radio Control Rock Crawling Championships which were held in conjunction with WEROCK’s Western Championship Event.  The drivers began to arrive as early as Thursday to prepare for the event only to find that the BPRCA and CKRCCrawlers.com crews had already been there a week preparing for the event.  Registration began on Friday at 3 p.m. with a pre-registration list that read like a who’s who list of RCCrawler.com members.

Each driver was teched, pulled their chip, stickers, and received their t-shirt and driver’s packet containing a raffle ticket for the enormous raffle that was held on both Saturday and Sunday.  Many sponsors and vendors also were getting set-up and prepared to promote our hobby and support their drivers.  In attendance were Axial, CKRCCrawlers.com, RCPCrawlers.com, PTI Racing, and TCSCrawlers.com.  Xtreme RC Cars magazine, RC Driver magazine and RC Car Action magazine also sent editors out to cover the event. Matt “Pills” rocks his BPRCA Hula gear with pride. Photo by airtoy

Rear dig in a 2.2? Nope, another victim of DRIVNMF’s killer courses. Photo by Johnson420 After a quiet night, drivers began to arrive Saturday morning at the top of the hill begin their long, difficult day.  The ascent was steep.  Thin mountain air, steep grades, and avoiding 1:1 crawlers made hiking an arduous task.  Luckily, the BPRCA and Sierra Sport and Marine had several Polaris Rangers available to jump in the back of and hitch a ride to the top.              Once on top of the hill, the drivers were greeted with a beautiful view of the Sierras and what appeared to be a serene alpine lake. Before the comp Brain Parker aka DRIVNMF gave the driver’s meeting and introduced his ladies.  These three suckers lost a bet at the last comp and had to wear hula skirts and coconut bras all day.

Everyone knew from that point on that it was going to be a fun day.  Famous BPRCA obstacles such as Bitches Bridge and the Cables of Carnage were seen by the early arrivers.  What they didn’t know was that the early arrival of the BPRCA crew meant that the courses set for the day were some of the most difficult that many of these drivers had ever seen.  From the get go, many drivers questioned if the courses were even doable.  Many more began to wonder the same thing as rig after rig struggled to get past the first few gates.  The sounds of moans filled the air as dozens of competitors broke their equipment trying to navigate the difficult courses.  Alas, they were doable as every course was completed.  At the end of Saturday, the truly best 15 drivers had risen to the top to return the following day to continue. Thousands of spectators received their first glimpse of RC crawling.  Many drivers and spectators stuck around for the raffle that followed immediately after the conclusion of the first round.  Lucky winners took home thousands in prizes.  One lucky winner took home a NIB TLT kit while another took home a PTI GRC kit. King Bling navigates the Cables of Carnage. Photo by OGmicromonster.

Side hills like these eliminated any posers. Photo by Johnson420 That evening much fun was had by both the RC and 1:1 pilots.  Burnouts, donuts, and wheelies could be seen and heard in the parking lots by every type of vehicle imaginable; 1:1 crawlers, dually diesel trucks, Polaris Rangers, mini bikes, and rental cars.  If you ate outside, your food tasted like burnt rubber and diesel exhaust…yummy.  Libations continued long into the night, but the top 15 drivers were up early to continue their quest to be crowned 2007 Axial West Coast Champion.             The next morning the top 15 drivers in both the 2.2 and Super class arrived to find two more difficult courses.  DRIVNMF must never sleep because these were more of the same style; difficult and spirit-breaking.  The top five survivors of these two courses would continue on to the final round.  Many eliminated drivers gathered around to watch these talented drivers do things with their trucks that many never knew was possible.

After the second round, the truly five best drivers west (and east) of the Mississippi were left in the hunt for the glory.  One last course was all that stood in the way for these drivers.  In the end, Autin, aka GateKeeper, (who came all the way from Alabama) dominated the 2.2 class to take home the win by an astonishing 50 point margin. The Super class was much closer with Ryan G, aka rbgerrish, edging out Kevin G, aka KevinLongIsland, by four points for the win.  Rbgerrish and GateKeeper both took home a beautiful trophy and over $400 in cash and prizes.  The BPRCA knows how to make its winners happy, good old fashioned cash!  Those that remained for the raffle also took home over $1000 in swag. Everyone was a winner.  The BPRCA’s first foray into major events was a complete success.  I can’t wait for next year.  Huevos Ariba! Here is a quick gallery Badger shot while at the event.   The next National Champion?  GateKeeper walked away from the field to win the 2.2 class by 50 points! Photo by Skeeno.

Photo by DragonTurbo3

FINISH DRIVER Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Course 4 Course 5 Shoot-Out FINAL 1 Austin D. (-11) (-9) 20 (-7) (-2) 2 (-33) 2 Dustin W. 20 8 26 (-10) (-27) 0 17 3 Naithan E. 12 (-7) 26 6 (-19) 17 35 4 Arthur B. 32 (-6) 26 (-1) (-13) 22 60 5 Dean J. 12 (-4) 28 28 (-19) 26 71 6 Todd S. 34 (-6) 26 (-8) (-16) 50 80 7 Brian J. 22 (-9) 26 20 (-9) 50 100 8 Ryan G. 34 (-9) 24 32 (-25) 50 106 9 Daniel F. 28 0 20 26 (-16) 50 108 10 Kevin G. 22 24 8 28 (-14) 50 118 11 Lance M. 26 (3) 28 8 10 50 119 12 Jared L. 22 24 24 24 (-22) 50 122 13 Aaron J. 28 (-6) 26 11 26 50 135 14 Jake H. 34 (-8) 24 34 26 50 160 15 Jerry T. 22 (-4) 28 34 30 50 160 16 Ken L. 26 22 28 50 50 50 226 17 Matt P. 34 15 30 50 50 50 229 18 Chad H. 34 26 20 50 50 50 230 19 Corissa R. 30 26 24 50 50 50 230 20 Shawn F. 36 22 24 50 50 50 232 21 Travis D. 34 26 26 50 50 50 236 22 Matt S. 34 20 32 50 50 50 236 23 Matt K. 32 26 28 50 50 50 236 24 Randy N. 32 26 28 50 50 50 236 25 Jason G. 34 26 28 50 50 50 238 26 Tommy R. 38 20 30 50 50 50 238 27 Tom J. 32 26 30 50 50 50 238 28 Broc E. 34 26 28 50 50 50 238 29 Paul F. 32 26 32 50 50 50 240 30 John O. 26 32 34 50 50 50 242 31 Dave P. 34 26 32 50 50 50 242 32 Parker 34 24 34 50 50 50 242 33 Joe M. 34 26 32 50 50 50 242 34 Jacoby D 36 22 34 50 50 50 242 35 Curt H. 36 22 36 50 50 50 244 36 Dillion 34 26 34 50 50 50 244 37 Brian R. 38 28 28 50 50 50 244 38 John A. 36 28 30 50 50 50 244 39 Trevor M. 32 28 34 50 50 50 244 40 Dominic 38 28 30 50 50 50 246 41 Bob E. 34 26 36 50 50 50 246 42 Mike M. 34 28 36 50 50 50 248 43 Jake W. 32 50 28 50 50 50 260 44 Rosa P. 36 38 36 50 50 50 260 45 Noel I. 36 24 50 50 50 50 260 46 Victor A. 36 50 50 50 50 50 286 47 Leo H. 36 50 50 50 50 50 286 48 Gary P. 50 50 50 50 50 50 300 49 Nathan T. 50 50 50 50 50 50 300 50 Paul R. 50 50 50 50 50 50 300 51 "RCP" 50 50 50 50 50 50 300

FINISH DRIVER COURSE 1 COURSE 2 COURSE 3 Course 4 Course 5 Course 6 Final 1 RYAN G 6 (-13) 20 24 (-10) 4 31 2 KEVIN G 9 (-20) 24 30 (-9) 1 35 3 JASON G 22 (-8) 20 20 (-15) 1 40 4 JAKE H (-8) (-9) 34 5 32 (-7) 47 5 CHAD H 30 (-14) 3 30 13 (-3) 59 6 SHAWN F 20 24 20 19 (-1) 50 115 7 RYAN R 4 (-19) 38 30 20 50 123 8 MATT P 22 26 30 26 0 50 154 9 AARON J 22 28 36 34 (-2) 50 168 10 STEVE D 30 7 28 20 38 50 173 11 JOE M 22 28 30 24 20 50 174 12 JEREMY 30 3 38 30 24 50 175 13 TRAVIS D 22 26 30 30 26 50 184 14 RANDY B 36 7 30 30 34 50 187 15 JOHN M 28 28 26 32 32 50 196 16 RICHARD F 24 26 38 50 50 50 238 17 BRIAN W 30 26 36 50 50 50 242 18 BRIAN J 30 30 34 50 50 50 244 19 BILL C 32 26 36 50 50 50 244 20 PHIL H 40 28 28 50 50 50 246 21 TREVOR M 32 28 38 50 50 50 248 22 KEN L 30 30 38 50 50 50 248 23 NOEL I 30 28 40 50 50 50 248 24 LARRY T 32 34 38 50 50 50 254 25 RY MITCHEN 36 32 38 50 50 50 256 26 TOMMY R 50 28 36 50 50 50 264 27 BRIAN P 50 32 32 50 50 50 264 28 ARTHUR B 50 30 40 50 50 50 270 29 ERIK G 38 50 40 50 50 50 278 30 KURT H 50 50 32 50 50 50 282 31 JOHN O 36 50 50 50 50 50 286 32 LEO H 50 50 50 50 50 50 300 33 NATHAN T 50 50 50 50 50 50 300 34 CHARLIE K 50 50 50 50 50 50 300 free hit counters