California Rock Crawlers
Association (CRCA) Finals
March, 2003
Al Bsharah
3/02
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Heavy and Continual Rains Provided
for a Rare Southern California Muck Fest!
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The event covered was the
California Rock Crawlers Association's
2002-2003 competition year finale. Forecasts earlier in the week hinted
at a 10% chance of rain on race day, but Mother Nature had something else in
mind! By Friday, the possibility of rain had risen to nearly 80%...and
the die hard spectators that did show up were dressed for the occasion!
Back Side |
Where's the Burb? |
Front Side |
| Perched high atop an uninviting pile of
boulders and rocks rests the CRCA viewing spot for the heckler section
of the event, deceivingly dry from the night before. Not only is
pertinent driver/spotter/vehicle information disseminated from this
location, but pokes and jabs are also delivered from above. This
is not your every day event! Music is blasting in the background
(until the speakers and amplifiers get flooded by the rains and short
everything out), people are screaming and yelling, and those running the
show are making fun of the people competing in their event. It
doesn't get much better than this! |
| All (most) of the rigs were in show form, prettied up
and ready to put on a spectacle. The others looked pretty much
like my rig. Sore sights for the sockets, but ready for battle! |
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I told you some of them weren't pretty. |
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A special "Yeehaw!" goes out to
The Pumpkin
Brothers (shown in orange above!), who competed in their first event
with the sponsorship of Jeepaholics Anonymous! Since this was the
final of three events in the series, the boys simply wanted to make a go
of it and see how it felt. They placed an honorable 10th out of
20, and are stoked for next season - as is JA! Good luck Pumpkin
Heads! |
 After a
roaring rendition of the National Anthem (seriously, it was roaring),
accompanied by two little girls singing along (who we couldn't hear
because the National Anthem was...roaring), cheers were screamed,
engines were fired, and the clap of thunder made its presence known.
The muck fest was about to begin!There are three classes in the CRCA:
Stock, Modified, and Pro. The course is very compact, quite
spectator friendly, and the CRCA manages to squeeze three very different
and challenging courses into the pile. The system is quite simple.
Each class runs, one vehicle at a time, in qualifying rounds.
Stock goes first, then Modified, then Pro. After qualifying rounds
are completed, the final rounds are run with the top X finalists from
each class. The system works beautifully because the spectators
are able to keep track of how each team is doing, since there's only one
running at a time. In many 4x4 events, it's difficult to tell
who's doing what where and when because there are multiple courses and
everyone's running at the same time. Here, you can root for teams
as opposed to just hoping to be where some gnarly carnage occurs.
Besides, odds are...if there's gonna be carnage...you're gonna be in a
good spot to see it at the CRCA. Oh yeah...fastest guy to the
finish line wins. Penalties? Don't hit the cones.
That's it!
Hey...speaking of carnage: |
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Quite honestly, considering the magnitude of the event
and the wet and slippery conditions...carnage was relatively minimal.
I spoke with
Jeff Knoll (big dude behind it all) the day before the
event and he is very adamant about not creating a roll-over or carnage
fest. I think he's done a great job of it, as the three courses
are most certainly challenging - but not to the point of "hammer down
and make it, or break it". |
View ALL of the Pictures Taken
During this Event
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