Eastern Nationals # 4 Tremont, PA

WeRock East Coast Rock Crawling Competition #4 Rausch Creek, PA

The weekend of August 2nd and 3rd marked the 4th and final WeRock east coast rock crawling competition at Rausch Creek Off-Road Park in Tremont, PA. We arrived Friday afternoon, and after tech inspection, we were ready to compete for the weekend.

Coming into this event, we were sitting in 3rd place for the series and we knew what we had to do and who we had to beat to keep this position. No pressure right?

Day 1, Course C3

Once at the comp site, we were set to run 3rd in a group of 4 competitors.

As we were getting ready, a thunderstorm delayed our start: typical east coast WeRock event. It’s rained at every event we have had this year. An hour later, the rain stopped and it was time to go.

We started on course C3: one of two natural rock courses at this event. The first 2 competitors made it to gate 2 but couldn’t get up through it. The same held true to us.

We made it to gate 2 and tried to get through, but with no success. The rocks were too big and the ground was wet. We moved over to try the bonus gate but ran out of time. Our score was 39.

Course C4:

The next course was another natural rock course with the same result as the first one. None of the competitors ahead of us made it to gate 2, and we did little to dispel that trend.

As we made it up the rocky entrance and tried to make the turn through gate 2, we got held up on our skid plate. We had to use the crane of shame to remove us from the course. Score: 39.

Course C1:

This course was a man-made sprayed concrete course. Looking at the scores, it looked like everyone was able to finish it, so that was our goal.

Our Pro Comp tires gripped the concrete and we made it through the first 2 sets of cones flawlessly, and we even had enough time to head to the bonus line.

We made it through the bonus with no problems and finished the course with only 3 reverses. Our score on this course was -10.

Course C2:

C2 was our last course for the day. This was another man-made course. It had us start in a bowl and go up about a 6-foot near-vertical concrete face.

I was nervous to run this. The face we had to climb looked too steep to make. With some gas pedal and working the Pro Comp tires, we were able to gas it up and through gate 1.

As we reached the top, we thought we would have enough room to get turned around and line us up for gate 2. We tried shutting the ARB air lockers off and pulling the cutting brakes get the rig to burn us around, but no such luck. We timed out with a score of 39.

Day 2, Course C3:

The courses for day 2 were the same as day 1, only in the reverse direction. We were second to run in our group.

The first competitor couldn’t make it through gate 2. He was also right behind us in the points race so we knew we had to do better if we wanted to stay alive for the series.

We made it through the first gate with no problems and my spotter, Aaron, lined me up for gate 2. He stacked me a highway of rocks, and with enough gas, we made it through gate 2!

We jockeyed the Jeep around so we could line up to come down the bonus line in reverse. We tried to get through, but one perfect rock that was sticking up stopped us from going any further. We timed out with a score of 39.

Course C4:

On this course, the guy ahead of us completed it, so we knew we had to finish it. We made it through gate 1 no problems then had to avoid a mound of dirt with a banner on it.

We cleared the banner and lined the Jeep up to back through gate 2. With some gas and rock stacking, we made it through and lined us up to go through gate 3 to the finish.

We had to use a lot of gas to bump us up and over. The judge yelled we had less than 2 minutes left. Aaron directed me in reverse to back through the last gate. We finished with a score of 22.

Course C1:

Back to C1: the man-made course we did so well on yesterday. Our strategy here was to run it slow and steady and be smart.

Pretty much all of the other stock mod competitors finished this course with a negative score, but the competitor ahead of us ran it with a score of 38. We started out well, making it through the same bonus side hill with no problems.

We decided to back down the concrete hill to line us up for gate 2, but that plan didn’t work out very well. Every time we backed down, the rear end would slide to the left and back us into the banner tape. We several times with no luck and ended up timing out. Score for this course: 39.

Course C2:

C2 was our last course for the weekend. The start had us going up a concrete hill through one gate. We cleared this with no problems. We then had to back down the slab through gate 2.

We were doing well. We made it up the concrete hill, but needed to get the Jeep lined up to come down the 7-foot bowl forward. I was nervous to do this since the rear end of our Jeep was so light.

We worked the ARB lockers and cutting brakes to slide the rear end around enough to get a straight line on the downhill. As we lined up, I put the rig into 4WD and we heard a loud clicking. I thought the driveshaft was hitting on the concrete, but Aaron assured me it wasn’t.

I eased the Jeep down the drop off without the rear end getting light and we finished the course with a score of 2.

As we pulled the Jeep off of the course, the clicking turned into clunking and the front end began to hop. It was then we knew we destroyed our front ring gear. Since we were not in the top 6 for the weekend, it was straight to the trailer to load up.

No worries, though, since my buddies at Superior could help us out with the parts we needed to get the rig ready for the next event. We ended up finishing the event in 9th place and went from 3rd in the series to 6th.

To view all pictures from this event, click here.

Our next event is the All Stock Nationals in Hannibal, MO the weekend of September 27 and 28th.

The All Stock Nationals presented by Cooper Tires will be the first event of its kind. Combining the regional W.E.ROCK sanctioned events with the W.E.ROCK Pro National Series events, the top Stock Modified teams will be selected from both arenas and come together in a "Pros vs Joes" national championship final.

Thanks for the support to all of my sponsors:

4Wheel Drive Hardware, Full Traction Suspension, Solid Axle Industries, DB Signs and Designs, Poison Spyder Customs, Be Cool, Mastercraft Seats, Pro Comp Tires and Wheels, Peters Off Road, Davey’s Jeeps, Flaming River, Mean Green, Advance Adapters, Superior Axle and Gear, ARB, CTM Racing, Mechanix Wear, JE Reel, Kilby Enterprise, Bestop, Painless Wiring, Warn, TNT Customs, AGR Performance, Royal Purple, Bilstein Shocks, Wilwood Brakes, Stull Automotive and Crown Automotive.

Here’s a shot of our crowd. Notice the green shirts.