Excitement was in the air as engines fired and the 2008 points race began. “We were both a bit nervous,” said Roger, “We have not pushed the new Ranger to extremes in the rocks yet and were unsure of how it would perform.” To the team’s delight, the newly developed vehicle remained stable and predictable throughout the day. Driver Brad recalls, “I never felt that I pushed it harder than I needed to. I quickly developed faith and felt right at home in the driver’s seat. My biggest concern was our competition. We had been following Tracy Jordan all day and developed a lead, but the running order would favor him on the second day.”  

As the first day wound down, Brad lined the Fabtech Ranger up for a tough climb on course B1. He pushed a front tire into the rock and the BFGoodrich Krawler obediently crawled to the top. As the second front tire approached, Brad repeatedly stabbed the gas pedal looking for traction. The right bounce finally launched the Ranger up the ledge but while Brad stayed focused on traction and throttle, he abused the power steering pump causing damage. “We finished the course and immediately had the help of Howe Performance. Then, Jason Scherer literally ran trough the pits to loan us a spare pump. With a little help from our K&N Filters pit crew; we were ready for the next course. Everyone that helped us deserves a lot of credit.”

The start of the day two saw the brothers with a strong 21 point lead on a tie for second place between Tracy Jordan and Troy Bailey. Unfortunately, the Lovells were first to run A4 and needed to decide whether or not to tackle the huge 20 point bonus ledge. Brad recalls, “You have one chance when going down ledges - you either land on your tires or your roof. I don’t think a driver out there wanted to do it but we knew we had to if we wanted to protect our lead. It was roughly equivalent to driving off of a house with only a bail of hay to break your fall. I was pretty nervous as Roger lined me up, I kept telling myself to trust my spotter and have faith in my suspension. Down I went and opened up all 400 horsepower as the front tires landed. Without a bounce the rear tires contacted the ground and I knew we just raised the bar for everyone behind us.”

Team Lovell twisted, turned, and climbed their way through the rest of courses and widened their lead to 26 points over Tracy Jordan and nearly 100 points over third place. As the pair approached the finals the realization came that the only battle now was between them and Jordan. “It’s hard to not look at a guy like Tracy as a rival,” added Roger, ”He has won almost everything over the years and is now looking to take our championship.” The Jordan brothers worked their way through the final course and made it further than any previous team but were unable to finish. This handed the Lovells the win before the Fabtech Ranger even entered the course. Team Lovell skillfully worked the vehicle between the gates and became the only Pro-Mod team to finish.

The WE-Rock victory gives Lovell Racing back to back wins and a season points lead in both XRRA and WE-Rock, all in the same vehicle. Brad concludes, “We owe it to capability of the new Ranger and those behind its creation – our sponsors, our family, and our friends. Were proud and owe a lot of thanks.” The next stop for the Lovells is XRRA Round #2 in Albuquerque, NM on May 3rd, were they will each look for another win.