Stay Tuned for Daily Updates from March 14-16th A few months back, Team Currie crawled its way to the top of the Goodyear Skyjacker Rock Crawling Championship mountain in the rock-annihilating "Fire Ant", taking home the title of 2001 Rock Crawling Champion -- this after finishing a close second in ARCA's 2000 inaugural season.

On March 15th, John Currie will begin defending the coveted championship on the crags of Choke Cherry Canyon. He, along with spotter Jeff Waggoner will go up against a class of competitors who go unmatched in the rock crawling world, and Off-Road.com will be there, providing you with the ONLY daily coverage available anywhere. Among those fighting for top honors at the notorious Choke Cherry Canyon in Farmington, New Mexico, are the likes of Walker Evans, the 2001 Cedar City winner, aboard his rear-steer Chevy S-10 clad with Goodyear MT/R's.

There's also the Assassin, the BFG-backed tube-framed buggy, and a whole slew of custom-made rigs running Super Swampers, Mickey Thompson's and just about every other major brand of tire.

Don Robbins had to be one of the big surprises last year as he quietly moved up after each event and finished in second place overall. Shannon Campbell and Mike Flores fought hard all season long and had a shot at the 2001 overall title, but finished the season in eighth place. Rounding out last year's Top Ten were; Jason Paule in 3rd, Joel Randall in 4th, John Gilleland in 5th, Mike Shaffer in 6th, Walker Evans in 7th, Rich Hudson in 9th and Randy Ellis in the tenth spot. Mike Shaffer kept busy during the ARCA off-season by competing in, and winning last November's CalROCS, Put Up Or Shut Up Shootout at Lake Amador, CA. Also competing at Lake Amador were ARCA-series competitors Chris Durham, taking 3rd place (11th overall in 2001 ARCA series), and Jason Bunch, who took 5th place (13th overall last year).

It's time once again, for us to head out to Choke Cherry Canyon in New Mexico to cover RCAA's first event of the season. Based on the outcome of the 2001 season, it's evident that not only do this year's teams need exceptional driving skills, they're also going to need consistency all year long if they plan on dethroning Team Currie. The big question at the moment is "Who is going to come out on top this year?"

Will 2002 be Walker Evans' year to finish on top? Walker was in the running during all of the 2001 season but came up short at Farmington last September, coming into the final event in fourth place overall, but stumbling at the finish. Has he mastered his rear-steer, Chevy S-10? Can the winner of past Baja desert races finish first on the rocks? Can he race past the likes of Currie, Durham, and Campbell? Evans, like Shannon Campbell, would prefer a little "Rock Racing" action thrown in with the crawling. And while on the subject of racing, rumor has it that AMG Hummer desert racer Rod Hall is making plans to jump into the rock crawling arena. Will Rod build a Rock Crawling Hummer? We'll soon see... Will Team Currie successfully defend their 2001 title? Can Chris Durham reclaim his title as Rock Crawling Champion? Or will the 2002 champion be one of the "unknowns".

Sure, everyone knows the Evans' and Currie's of Rock Crawling, but what about those guys that don't have the near-unlimited resources that the big boys have? The Shupe's, Paule's, Hudson's, Brown's and Shaffer's of the Rock Crawling world are slowly creeping up on the big names, mostly due to their reliance on exceptional driving skills and consistency. Every one of these teams has a shot at the title. Their fixed-budgets have turned them into more- consistent rock crawlers because they can't afford to make as many mistakes or break as many parts. Mike Harmuth will be piloting a new competition-narrowed CJ-7 this year and Dave Knight (Mr. Rollover) will jump back into the driver's seat to compete in a new, CJ-5 custom rig, that is, if he can put the finishing touches on his rig before March 14th. Last year, Dave was considering the move to rear-steer, but with RCAA's new point deduction scoring for rear-steer use, he decided against it. "Most people are moving away from rear-steer because of the rule change - drivers these days are finishing the day with as little as 20 points, so 8 points for using rear-steer might take a driver out of the running" said Dave. (see rule changes below)

Will 2002 be the year the women crack the RCAA Top Ten? If so, which team will it be? Late word has it that Kathy Crook will forego the RCAA series this year and compete in CalROCS and PROROCK events only. So maybe it will be Amy Bullock, who's incredible showing at Farmington on B-7 last year, a two-wheeled ascent of the hardest obstacle of the event, showed that she has what it takes to compete side-by-side with the big boys. Or will it be the relative newcomer Cathy Baucom, who started off road driving just last year? And where are the rest of the Lady Crawlers who compete in the All-Women's events? When will they step up and take on the best rock crawlers in the country? With a lot of skill and a little luck we'll see one of these ladies in the top ten before long.

Rule Changes
"One of the biggest changes would be the controversial rule with rear steer. In 2001, Competitors were fined three points per obstacle for the use of rear steer. The rulebook for 2002 states that competitors will now be awarded eight (8) points per obstacle for the use of rear steer."

One Class Fits All Classes - There is one class available to competitors in National Series. Further classes may be available on a regional or state level and follow separate rules. (Many of the new rock crawling orgaizations are grappling with the idea of multiple classes) It's Official
ARCA's second event will be held in Vernal, UT, May 16-18, 2002. Goodyear announced the addition of a 15" MT/R to its lineup. The new 37x12.50R15 tires should be available in April. Just their way of saying "Goodyear owns the rock crawling world." The 2002 RCAA season is not yet under, but the excitement is growing already. Many questions are yet to be answered and the biggest one of all, "Who will win the 2002 RCAA Championship?" will not be answered for some time, so stay tuned to ORC's RCAA coverage for the latest rock crawling information. Once again, Off-Road.com will be the only publication in the world to bring you daily coverage from every RCAA event this year, which will include top-notch, all-digital photography and commentary from our ORC staff.....

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