"Going West" South-West Scale Championship
Part of the title is correct…I did “Go West” on April 24, 2014 to compete in the 2014 RC4WD Southwest Scale Championship in Cedar City, UT. RC4WD RCCRAWLER.COM Forum My journey started early on 4/24/14 by catching a plane to Las Vegas at 7 am. The flight was uneventful, the way I like them. I touched down around 8:30 am.
After picking up my checked bags with my Gelande 2 Farm Truck, I headed
to the car rental terminal. It was at that point that Hotwheels000 and
BoostFreak reached out to me…so we met up for breakfast before hitting
the road to Cedar City.
We checked into the hotel, then ran out to the event site, Three Peaks Recreational Park to check things out. For
an east coast guy, this place was breath taking. The views, rocks and
mountains were amazing. Some of the areas that they were having the
courses really looked like they were going to give the RC4WD Gelande 2 Farm Truck a workout. I went back to
the hotel and pulled the rig out to go over it to make sure it was
ready to go. Moosekey set up a Meet and Greet for Thursday Night for
everyone to meet or catch up. It was a great time and was awesome seeing
old friends and meet new ones.
Morning of the comp…threats of wind gusts of 50 mph… was closer to 55 mph winds. Drivers’ Meeting started the day with letting everyone know all the rules, regulations and timing of the day.
The event started with Class 1. I got in line for the inaugural run of the Luxury Farm Truck… Knowing that this was built for scale look more than performance, I didn’t have very high expectations, so I was impressed that I got to Gate 7…and it was consistent with all three courses. There were some incredibly scale Class 1 rigs with some of them being amazingly capable.
After everyone ran…they jumped over to Class 3. These rigs are the unlimited. Some of them looked nothing like the rigs they were built off of. Huge tires, large amounts of flex and lots and lots of tubework. Watching these things take on unbelievable obstacles was entertaining in itself.
Finals
were the wrap up of the day for comping…we then took some time to get
cleaned up and met in the conference room of the hotel for the Concourse
Show’n Shine. It was a great time to look at all of the rigs together
and talk with everyone. The sites were amazing.
Hmmmm...is this real or not???
Saturday April 26th
Woke up to 32 degrees and snow…yup, snow. The Utah group stated that if you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes and it will change. Well it did a couple hours later, into rain. Walmart got a high demand for Boots, Gloves, Rain Gear and Hats.
Today
was Class 2 comps. These were the most fun to watch, and I have to say
that some of these Western drivers are really talented. Unlike the East
Coast with Moss, smooth rock, etc, you can really dial your rig in and
be pretty confident that the terrain will be close to consistent. But
with that said, the drivers are what really make these trucks come
alive. The finals were set up after that and were a ton of fun to
watch. Tim
“WarPig” Samuels, design a King of Peaks event that was shotgun start
and involved some pretty innovative tasks. The course was 1.4 miles
long and not only tested the limits of the drivers skills but also their
focus on details. I was able to follow some of the drivers and
through the whole course you heard laughter. What a great way to unwind
after a day of comping. Unfortunately, I was videoing all day so didn't get any pictures. In
the evening, the Awards Banquet was fun filled as well. Josh “Harley”
was the MC. He did a great job of keeping everyone engaged and thanking
all the sponsors for their participation. Special prizes were given to
the younger drivers and helpers from the weekend. When all was said and
done, every participant walked away with a prize and Sam “Sam63” needed
a bigger trailer to take back his winnings.
I
have to say, knowing what is involved in organizing an event like this,
that Matt, Louie, LB, Sean, Jerry, AJ, Tyson (sorry if I missed anyone)
did an outstanding job of coordinating and keeping everything moving. Sunday April 27th
Weather
was back to 75 degrees and we were on the road to St George for the
TTC. The location was interesting. We were on the fringe of a housing
development where they built all the courses. Knowing that I only had a
little while to stick around due to catching a flight in Vegas, I didn’t
waste time getting videos of the courses that I could. We started out
with the Frame Twister, that lived up to its name. If you were lucky to
get through it…your last 15 feet was logs and water. I was able to stick
around for the sled pulls but had to hit the road after that. I
have to say that if you ever get the opportunity to run with the Utah
guys, do it. They are a great group of guys that have one agenda…have
fun and grow the hobby. Those are the types of guys that I want to hang
out with. FINAL RESULTS:
Class 1: 1st Place - Sam Collins 2nd Place - Devlin 3rd Place - Trenton Becker TTC:Class 2: 1st Place - Sam Collins 2nd Place - Trenton Becker 3rd Place - Luis (RC4WD Team Driver) Class 3: 1st Place - Sam Collins 2nd Place - Trenton Becker 3rd Place - Lance Parker 1st Place - Sam Collins 2nd Place - Lance Parker 3rd Place - Trenton Becker And of course you can't forget Rckcrwlr's Gelande 2 Farm Truck getting the... UGLY DUCKLING AWARD
I WILL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!!! Thanks for all your efforts. John “Rckcrwlr” RC4WD Team Manager |
South West Scale Championship
Posted by RC4WD on 7/28/2014
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