Goodyear/Skyjacker
Extreme Rock Crawling NationalsAgony Of The Unknown
Day 1 Action
Johnson Valley, California
September 19-21
by Fidel Gonzales
It's the agony of the unknown
that the crawlers endured today. Upon the hundred-degree heat of
the wicked Johnson Valley rocks, they were plagued by the growing
intensity of competition and the notion that there isn't much time
to make there name synonymous with the word champion. Who will win?
It comes down to how it all plays out tomorrow - the final day of
2002 Goodyear/Skyjacker Extreme Rock Crawling Nationals.
A few teams worked their way up into the
spotlight. Joel Randall jumped ahead of the game with a -16 for an
impressive day of crawling. The word finesse comes to mind. Walker
Evans even made his move with a -11 in his Chevy-backed,
Goodyear-clad truck. He's due for a comeback. Tomorrow will
tell.
Stress painted a mural on the faces of many
competitors. It told the story. Here, Ken Shupe is no exception. He
finished with -4 on the day. Not bad. But, not the best either.
He'll need to turn up the heat to take home the championship
tomorrow. He ties with Mike Shaffer, who going into the event is
man to beat. Shaffer worked the rocks quite well and is cool under
pressure, but will it be enough to earn Summit Truck Style their
first championship?
According to RCAA results, Chris Durham is in his
element. He finished -13 and crawled the obstacles with authority.
He ties with another favorite, John Gilleland in his Jeep Liberty,
who's well on his way to a championship if he takes on tomorrow in
much the same way as he did today.
It was hot, and they were hungry. Spectators kept
the line for Utah's Rico Tacos non-stop.
Tri-County Gear's Jason Bunch was working his way
into top position until he began breaking parts within his front
end. The bunny hop up one of the nastier obstacles on Course B
landed a winch cable in his hands. Winching would have saved him
from timing out, but the winch cable snapped and ended his hopes of
making it out on his own power.
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