Monster Win: Shannon Campbell survived a long haul and a tough course to win round two of the XRRA Western Division rock series
in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (HARRY WAGNER)
While the Xtreme Rock Racing Association (XRRA) Western Division season opener in Moab, Utah provided plenty of racing action,
it was not without a few miscues along the way. The technical course produced gobs of carnage, which led to multiple DNFs
and interrupted the action. The delays, coupled with high winds, meant that the bulk of the fans were long gone by the time
the awards ceremony took place at 7 p.m. Coming into the second Western Division race of the season, in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
promoter Mike Weaver was hoping for a much shorter day than the 10-hour marathon that occurred in Moab. Fans and racers were
wishing for the same thing, and all were rewarded with beautiful weather, non-stop action, and a 4 p.m. awards ceremony. Course
designer Todd Warmkessel had the opportunity at Sandia Motorsport Park to work in his hometown of Albuquerque for the first
time, and he did not disappoint.
The track was very fast, with top times being under a minute per run, compared to the 90+second runs seen in Moab. Carnage
was also limited, with few rollovers or severe breakage. This can be attributed to the sparse rock sections, but there were
still plenty of jumps, tight turns, and banked corners to challenge drivers and entertain spectators. The course layout favored
high horsepower, cutting brakes, and a low center of gravity, with none of the huge "breakovers" that gave moon buggies fits
at the first event.
Campbell (foreground) squares off against XRRA opening round winner Brad Lovell who, surprisingly, failed to make the finals
at Albuquerque. (HARRY WAGNER)
Josh Murray, who finished third in Moab, made several fast passes in Albuquerque but a fuel pump issue on his last run ended
his hopes of making the shootout. Other top finishers from the first event, such as Brad Lovell, Derek Trent, and Brian Shirley,
were fast, but not fast enough. When the times from the main event were tallied, the Carnage Crew's Aaron Dusenbury was the
only Moab finalist to qualify for the shootout in Albuquerque. Dusenbury's consistency has him sitting in first place for
the series with the season already at the halfway mark. Rick Deremo, Jason Pickett, Rob Bonney, Terry Dagen, and Shannon Campbell
joined Dusenbury in the finals.
Pickett broke front-end components in the rocks and was unable to complete his final run, putting him in sixth place for the
day. Dagen lost his brakes in the finals and rolled in the second corner, knocking him down to fifth. Dusenbery drove to fourth
and Bonney's third-place finish was the best by a two-seat, front-engine vehicle. While the bulk of the teams finished with
similar times for the weekend, Shannon Campbell and Rick Deremo were far ahead of the pack, neither taking more than a minute
on any single run throughout the day.
XRRA western division event #2
Campbell and Deremo went head-to-head in the finals, staging some of the best racing seen in XRRA in recent memory, and many
new rock racing fans were undoubtedly produced during their epic battles. The two had been blistering fast all day long and
were neck-and-neck the entire course. While much of the field grouped closely together, Deremo was the only one even close
to Campbell. To put in perspective just how fast Campbell was for the weekend, his combined time for six courses was faster
than the amount of time it took two thirds of the field to run just four courses. Ultimately, Campbell held a strong lead
ahead of Deremo going into the finals.
There have been whispers in the rock-crawling community that Campbell is spreading himself too thin these days, competing
in XRRA's Western Division, W.E.Rock's Western and Eastern Nationals, and CORR's talent-rich Pro-Lite class. The night before
the rock race in Albuquerque, Campbell was racing his dirt modified car on a circle track in Phoenix. He left straight after
the race and drove seven hours to Albuquerque– no doubt fueled by at least a couple of Monster Energy drinks.
Time will only tell if Campbell can maintain his winning streak at the next XRRA Western Division event in Colorado Springs,
Colorado or if we will see yet another collection of competitors in the shootout.
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