March 16th: Day three of
our coverage (Saturday's action)
Mike Shaffer Rules Farmington! 
The first RCAA event of 2002 is in the
history books and the winner is Mike Shaffer and spotter Lance
Clifford with an unbelievable score of 6 penalty points. With
the help of his spotter, Mike piloted his 2002 Samurai past
competition and straight to the number one spot. His Samurai has
been stretched 11 inches, to give him a little help on the steep
climbs and long drop-offs that are normally found on RCAA's
obstacles.
In addition to the stretch job, Mike also threw in a
1600cc Side Kick engine and a couple locked up Dana 44's. With a
low range of 172.1, Mike proved once again that it's not only about
horse power - it takes driving skills and lots of practice. As
reported in our RCAA preview story, Mike has been keeping busy
during the RCAA off-season by competing in various rock crawling
events including his first place finish at CalROCS in Lake Amador,
CA late last year.
Rounding out the top five places were: -
2nd Place - John Gilleland, 13 penalty
points
- 3rd Place - Joel Randall, 17 penalty points
- 4th Place - Ken Shupe, 31 penalty points
- 5th Place - Jason Paule, 35 penalty points
For the second
time in as many days, there was an ankle injury on the obstacle
course as Ian Liljeblad rolled his Jeep on Obstacle A-3. This time
however, Ian's spotter Eric Filar scrambled to get out of the way
of the rig and jumped backwards to avoid being planted by Ian's
rig. However, in avoiding the rig, Eric ended up going over a 10
foot drop and shattered his right ankle. Aside from that injury,
day 2 went much more smoothly than day 1 and the competition was
completed by mid afternoon.
The Winner's Circle program that RCAA
had planned instead of an Award's Ceremony would have gone off
without a hitch had it not been for the high winds that kicked up
just as the last competitors were finishing up for the day. The
weather forced RCAA to postpone the Winner's Circle until a
suitable indoors location could be found. The weather did not stop
a few competitors from showing off a little "freestyle" rock
crawling. Obstacle B-7 was the location for the freestyle show. The
nearly-vertical wall was the perfect place and the crowd gathered
quickly to watch these drivers ascend the 40 foot wall. After a
warm Farmington morning, the weather soon turned hostile as snow
flurries began falling as the event was drawing to a close. As if
the few snow flurries weren't enough, the high winds kicked up dirt
and had RCAA volunteers scrambling to keep their paperwork from
blowing into the next county.
For the Kids, For the Fans 
Upon completing
the final obstacle on course B on day 2, Jeff Baucom parked his
alien-looking tube frame rig (officially named the "Purple Hooter
Shooter", which he says that's the name of a bar drink), under the
announcer's perch and cimbed up to tell the announcer that he was
conducting a spur-of-the-moment trivia contest for all kids 12 and
under. The question? "What is the nickname of ken Shupe's spotter?"
One lucky kid had the right answer (Moose) and won the big prize -
the hood scoop (autographed) from Jeff's new rig. The winner
proudly displayed his prize and even got several other drivers to
sign his trophy. Upon seeing the big smile on the boy's face, Jeff
began dismantling various pieces off his rig and handed them out to
other kids, who quickly began collecting autographs as well. Is
this going to become a tradition after each event? "Yes" said Jeff.
"It's for the kids. I can easily replace the body parts. This just
gives something back to the fans", he said. Judging from the
reaction of the fans, I'd say Jeff was 100 percent right. A real
class act. 
The Moose is
Loose
"Moose" Nalley, one-half of the Durham/Nalley
Championship Team of 2000, made his return to rock crawling this
weekend, but not as spotter for Chris Durham. Instead, Moose is
spotting for 4th place winner Ken Shupe. He didn't elaborate as to
why he was no longer spotting for Chris Durham, nor if he would
return for RCAA's second even in Vernal, UT in May. The crowd
remembered Moose as if he'd never left, and cheered loudly when the
announcer called out his name.
Winners Take All Here's what
the Top Three finishers take home: In case you were
wondering....
1st Place - $1,000 from Skyjacker, $500 from Advanced
Adapters, $1,000 from Summit Racing, and $7,000 from RCAA 2nd
Place - $750 from Skyjacker, $300 from Advanced Adapters, $750
from Summit Racing, and $5,000 from RCAA
3rd Place - $500
from Skyjacker, $200 from Advanced Adapters, $500 from Summit
Racing, and $3,200 from RCAA 
Coming
Soon
Look for the RCAA Farmington wrap-up in our April 1st
issue.
Complete photo galleries from Farmington will be posted soon
Next up for RCAA - Vernal, UT in May. See you there.
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