The Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series, in conjunction with ARCA, The American Rock Crawlers Association, held their fifth and final event of the season in the wildly popular ChokeCherry Canyon. The final event in the Goodyear/ARCA series promised more excitement than the previous events combined, but did it deliver?

"It's a Suzuki thing" SpiderTrax showing what a well-made Suzuki can do.

Contingency I arrived on September 7th, for driver's check-in, and found myself amidst a very busy place. Those who weren't rushing to make last-minute fixes to their rigs were huddled in little groups, doing a little "Bench Crawlin'" about their exploits since the Vernal, Utah event.

"Big Iron" up on one-wheel, before going completely over. For the full sequence of the flip, be sure to check out Off-Road.com's Farmington photo gallery.

I walked through a maze of Jeeps, Broncos, Toyotas and the various other rigs - tube chassis wonders like the Sniper and Scorpion, ready to get the event started, and ready to "Rock." There were also a few new faces in the crowd, most notably "Big Iron", the latest tube-framed, hydraulic monster in the rock crawling realm.

It was going to be interesting to watch this beast take on it's time-tested contemporaries. Mike Harmuth spent the afternoon demonstrating his new rear braking system, built on the lessons learned by the dune runners of Glamis, Pismo, and Dumont; A separate brake for each rear wheel, allowing his Jeep to literally turn on a dime.

His idea was so popular that some drivers ran out and had their Jeeps retrofitted with similar equipment. The question was, could they learn to use it effectively enough in time to make a difference on the course? Day 1 Photo Gallery 1 Friday's event began under the threat of rain and before the end of the afternoon, we were being assaulted by both rain and hail, thunder and lightning.

There are better conditions for competition, but adversity would only serve to further separate the men from the boys. Before the rains came, there was plenty of excitement as the drivers began their quest for the title of Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Champion.

Jeff Waggoner used all his skill and determination on B7 to pull out a victory.	Unfortunately, all hope for an overall win was crushed when the knuckle broke.

With this in mind, it didn't take long for drivers to begin pushing the limits of their rigs, and occasionally exceeding them. Sometimes the results were broken parts, and other times, a rollover.

Going into the final event, Jeff Waggoner, driving the Currie Jeep, held on to a narrow, two-point lead over Chris Durham. Steve Rumore, Joel Randall, and the Gilleland brothers rounded out the top five positions. The championship was definitely up for grabs.

Day 2 Photo Gallery 2 Day two began with drivers pushing hard to gain any lost ground from the day before. This resulted in more than one rollover early in the day. The toughest obstacle on the course was by far was B7.

A lot of skill and patience were required to make it past this nearly insurmountable piece of rock. It didn't hurt to have the right combination of flex and power, but even that combination didn't guarantee success. Late in the competition, the leaders began distancing themselves from the rest of the pack.

The championship looked like it would come down to two drivers - The Jeff Waggoner/John Currie team in their Currie Enterprises '98 TJ, and Chris Durham/"Moose" Nalley in their black and blue tiger-striped, '85 CJ-10.

Chris and Moose accepting the First Place Trophy.

                                                   The Awards Banquet Banquet Photo Gallery With his family in attendance, a humble Chris Durham attributed his victory to "the best spotter in the world" - Moose Nalley, and thanked his family for their support over this past year as he accepted the First Place Trophy to the cheers of the standing-room-only banquet.

Congratulations to Chris and Moose, and Good Luck next year. Here's a breakdown of the Top Ten finishers of the first-ever Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series:

ARCA has some big plans in the works, and those plans include expanded coverage - possibly including the East Coast, which will definitely make some people very happy. Especially Chris and "Moose", who drive 20-something hours to get to these "West Coast" events.

There is also talk of maybe having an event right here in Las Vegas someday. Several ideas that I think will help Rock Crawling grow would be to create all-female and Co-Ed teams to compete. Women have proven themselves just as capable behind the wheel as men - some even better. The real challenge will be to find a man out there that will follow a woman's directions! ARCA's goal is to become the premiere Rock Crawling organization in the country.

As Ranch put it "We want to become the NFL of Rock Crawling, not the WWF". Judging from the increasing size of the crowds at this final event, it looks like they have a great jump on the competition. I would also like to address the safety issue at these events. I saw more than one spotter come close to getting run over by his driver and even seen some spotters get bumped by a driver who had "gunned it" up an obstacle.

Or a driver about to go over sideways putting his arm out of the vehicle to catch himself - as if his arm is strong enough to hold himself (and his rig) up. I know, it's instinct that makes a person put his arm out to catch himself - take away that possibility. Before a serious accident occurs, ARCA needs to make sure that safety comes first.
Here's a few things I'd like to see:

• I think a safety net should be in place so the driver cannot put his arms outside of the vehicle. Now, some drivers will tell you that they need to look out the driver's side to see where his tire is - That's the spotters job. A seatbelt alone is not sufficient, without a net, a roll-over could cause serious injury. Don't wait for a fatality to improve safety.
• Spotters not being allowed to touch the vehicle, or maybe even not getting within ten or twenty feet of any vehicle on the obstacle. Too many times I've seen spotters climbing on the rig to keep it from going over. Yes, the extra weight helps, but what if that extra weight is not enough, and the spotter can't get out of the way in time?

  It's just not worth it. Or the spoter getting behind the vehicle on an incline, or in front of the vehicle as it moves forward - if this continues, someone will be run over.

• The moving of rocks on the course should not be allowed once a vehicle has started an obstacle - I've seen a lot of spotters crawl under the vehicle to place rocks behind tires while the driver is on a steep incline. This is an accident just waiting to happen. A vehicle slipping off a loose rock, brake failure - or the driver accidentally removing his foot from the brake, and you have a very serious injury, or death.
• I know that the competition is fierce and everyone wants to win, but it shouldn't involve these types of risks - don't wait until something bad happens. Another thing to think about - with the location of these events, getting medical treatment for a serious injury could take quite some time due to the rugged terrain. I hope ARCA will address these issues and other saftey concerns.

It was announced that in the event of a tie, a "run-off" would be held on Sunday to determine the overall winner. I wasn't looking forward to a run-off because I had a nine-hour drive ahead of me on Sunday and wanted to get an early start. Then, I heard one of the ARCA Officials say under his breath that "It's for the sponsors ..." I didn't hear the entire conversation, but I did hear that much. During the last obstacle of the event, Ron Wells of Goodyear, in an effort to create a little bit of excitement for the fans, let Chris and "Moose" know that Goodyear was going to double the winning prize money for the first place winner of the event "if there was a tie at the end of day 2".

What this meant was that Chris if failed to complete the last obstacle - B7, by far the toughest of the event, or if he chose to bypass the last obstacle, which is perfectly legal according to ARCA's rules, he would stand to win double the prize money - if he won the tie-breaker.

I spoke to Dave Wilkins of Goodyear, who was at the starting point of B7 when this took place. He said that the offer was meant only as a way to increase the competitiveness of the event and entice the rather large crowd to come back for another day of excitement. "It was done for the good of the sport - to help it to grow and expand" Dave said. He also said that it was only a suggestion that they put out there and they let Chris make the decision for himself.

It wasn't to be however, as both Chris and Moose immediately said "No" and proceeded to take on this tough obstacle. When Chris cleared the first "wall" on B7, the crowd of well over a thousand people, went wild and the celebration began. Chris punched the gas and flew up the rest of the obstacle for the overall win.

At this point, let me just say that there was no wrong doing by anyone involved in this issue, and I believe that the offer was made in the interest of competitiveness and sportmanship. I had heard varying stories from drivers after the banquet and realized that the story was quickly changing as it was passed along.

That is why I felt it was necessary to mention it here and get the real story out - from those that were there. There were mixed emotions at the top of the obstacle as Chris was slightly injured during the last half of the obstacle. It looked as if he may have bruised a few ribs on his left side - he was without a doubt in extreme pain.

The injury actually occurred on the previous obstacle, when Chris bounced into the door latch while completing that obstacle. I spoke to Chris a week after the event. He is definitely glad that the series is over. He said the past year was filled with a great deal of effort and a lot of stress. The stress came in the form of companies wanting to sponsor him during the last couple of events.

His thinking was that their team had done it alone all year long, and they could finish the year on their own and hopefully find sponsors for next year. Besides, they just wanted to win! As Chris put it, "We would rather have the win and no money, than money and no win". They can never take away the win, money only lasts so long. They are looking for sponsors for next year, so all you sponsors better start lining up early to join this fantastic team - they'll be ready to defend their title.

Now that it's all over, Chris and Moose are in the process of starting their own 4-Wheel Drive shop called "Hardcore Off-Road Design".

I wish them all the luck in the world. During the banquet, the drivers and spotters made sure to thank family and friends and mention the amount of sacrifice and understanding they had received from their families and the burden these events had on them. Not only financially, but the huge amounts of time they spent apart. I know that it was a tremendous sacrifice for all, including the media - yes, we have families too.

I think ARCA did an incredible job putting on an event of this size - not bad for a first-year series. This tremendously successful event could not have been done without the help of sponsors like Goodyear, who promise to help make next years' event bigger and better. One thing is certain, ARCA has it's work cut out for it, as there are Rock Crawling competitions popping up everywhere.

In September alone, there was an event in Washington and one in Colorado. Not to mention the one near Farmington in August. If ARCA is to be the premiere rock crawling association, it had better keep an eye on the competition. Of course, Off-Road.com will be there next year, providing the best coverage anywhere, to help promote this fast-growing sport. We, like you, want it to grow, and keep growing.

For those of you that have never experienced it first hand, there's a lot of excitement to be found in Rock Crawling, and Off-Road.com will do everything possible to promote the sport and give it the full coverage it deserves.

The Return of Walker Evans One of the crowd favorites at these ARCA events, (or any event for that matter) is Walker Evans. You know, the Stetson, Blue S-10 with rear stear. Well, as many of you know, Walker Evans used to do a little desert racing a while back. OK, maybe more than "a little" desert racing before he retired several years ago.

It seems that Walker isn't quite retired. The racing spirit in him has called him back - He'll be jumping behind the wheel of his new Trophy Truck to take on the best desert racers in the world as he competes in the SCORE BAJA 2000, from Ensenada all the way down to Cabo.

Now that the Rock Crawling Series is over, this might not be a bad time for rock crawlers to take a look at how "those desert guys" spend their Off-Roading time - at 140 MPH!! For more on Walker Evans and his desert racing past (and future), Click here. Until next year...Hope to see you all in Cabo!

Send Questions and Comments to:

Eddie Perez Last minute update...