Thanks to everyone that made it out Saturday for the Third Annual King of the Crawlers event. We had some great weather and a great showing for the race. I also want to take the time to thank our sponsors who graciously offered some great giveaways.
Thanks to:
Axial - for the XR10 that the winner of the day brought home, the Sweet hand tools, and all the other great crawler parts.
Castle Creations - For the Micro Sidewinders, our Second and third place winners were stoked to bring these home. The BEC's and T-Shirts were great too.
Horizon Hobby - For the Work Mats, Hats, Shirts, and other great items.
This year we had a great course set up, with a fantastic mix of technical terrain and flat out speed areas. Drivers had to show their skill at negotiating tough rocks but also keeping the rig on it's feet and pointed in the right direction on the fast stuff.
As we have seen over the years these courses are brutal on the trucks. 5 Trucks took a real beating this year. 4 of the 5 beaten down trucks managed to make it across the finish line. One even managed to break the front wheel off their rig blasting through the finish line.
So lets get to the good part. Who stepped it up, who made it to the podium.
Dan Ross pulled down first place with a time of 6:43
Bob Ferria was edged out into second place by 13 seconds, 6:56
Jeff Frey rounded out the top 3 with a time of 7:29
The day was a blast and I already can’t wait to do it again next year. Keep reading for the inside scoop on the day and the course.
Race Details:
The races lined up at the staring grid in pairs and were sent off head to head in 30 second intervals. As you left the starting gate there was a short sprint down the trail and then a turn into the woods where significant leaf coverage made the maze of rocks even more challenging to navigate.
Once you made your way out of the woods you were introduced to a short climb into a very narrow passage, like not wide enough for two people shoulder to shoulder. This was the first bottle neck in the course and also the first feature where there was some serious technical features.
After you managed to push your way to the front of the pack and find the line through here you were presented with an option, go over the bridge or take your chances on a slicked out climb. Low and behold after that choice was another one. Point your truck straight up hill and take the technical route, or pin it and go the long, but flat route.
You've made your way to the top of the hill, time to go through the notch in the rock and back around. Time to head back down, take the high road or the low road. Hitting the bottom left you with another tight technical climb, and another chance to get tangled up with the other drivers.
After that, time to run, this was the long sprint. And after that sprint you got to sprint uphill. Rocks, roots, gravel, leaves, moss, all making it a slower climb than anybody thought.
Make it to the top and.... you get to come back down. Setup and brace for impact with two pretty hefty drops. Once you had your truck back on all 4 wheels it was time for the final haul. Drop the hammer and sprint down towards the finish. Another hundred feet and a couple more rocks and the Win is yours. Launch your rig though the finish line and its all over.
Here is how everybody fared
0:06:43 Dan Ross
0:06:56 Bob Ferria
0:07:29 Jeff Fray
0:09:01 Kevin Ducharme
0:09:56 Dan Piepel
0:10:04 Jeff Macomber
0:11:01 Brian Duval
0:11:53 Brendan Cavanaugh
0:13:25 Brian Doughty
0:16:30 Tony Scorzafava
0:19:50 Jamie Wicks
