Triple on the Rocks

Rock Runner Racing has drawn three positions for the highly anticipated 2009
King of the Hammers race and plans to fill all three with Rock Runner Racing team vehicles, including new machines for veteran rock crawling champion Jason Paule and team member Joachim Schwiesow.

Paule has drawn the number seven starting position, putting him toward the front of the pack in his newly designed Twisted Customs buggy.

“We are keeping the details [of the new vehicle] under wraps right now” Paule said, “but it will have Trailready rims, Spidertrax axles, and BFGoodrich Krawlers. And of course rear steer as well.”

Schwiesow will be starting further back in the pack, in 77th. Schwiesow started at 40th in last year’s King of the Hammers race and moved up to finish in the top five.

“The key is passing people in the desert and trying to avoid the bottlenecks in the canyons,” Schwiesow noted.

To that end, he will be campaigning a new Twisted Customs buggy designed specifically for rock racing with increased horsepower and cooling compared to the buggy Schwiesow drove last season.

The third Rock Runner Racing entry, the team’s renowned yellow Twisted Customs YJ buggy, will be starting in 89th and will be driven by Belgium’s Dieter Duytschaever a seasoned competitor who participates in winch trials throughout Europe. Duytschaaever is not concerned about the
high starting position, as he knows that Joachim Schwiesow did very well starting deep in the field in the same buggy in last year’s race, and 2008 winner Shannon Campbell started second-to-last but was able to pass every other competitor.

“We learned a lot last year,” Rock Runner Racing manager George Wadeson shared at the 2008 Off-Road Expo, where the starting positions were announced. “By fielding three Twisted Customs buggies we improve our odds of winning, yet we can share resources amongst the team. Rock Runner Racing is taking the King of the Hammers very seriously and aims to have the best logistics and pit crew possible for this race.”

While the race will be closed to spectators, heavy media coverage is expected from DirtSports, Crawl Magazine, Petersen’s 4Wheel & Off-Road, Xtreme 4x4 television, Pirate4x4.com, Dirtnewz.com, Race-Dezert.com, and Totally Off-Road radio, amongst others.

Rock Runner Racing is busy spending the winter preparing for February’s King of the Hammers, though they will be pulled away from their welders and tube benders in order to attend the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.