The season finale UROC Rockcross was held at the Firebird Raceway under what are usually sunny skies. The weather was not cooperative, however, as it rained several inches the day before the event. Mud and standing water was everywhere on the course. “One thing about rockcrawlers is that they hate mud,” says driver Brad Lovell, “I think more than one team was reluctant to drive out of the pits.”

As racing started, the trucks quickly became indistinguishable brown clods. The Lovells got smart fast and procured some tear-off goggles. The Lexan windows in the foot-wells were also removed. Doing so gave them precious visibility. They had the fastest qualifying time and took pole position for the first heat race. The green flag then dropped and 6 vehicles left the line. Brad & Roger got the hole-shot and lead the pack into the jumps. The tangle of trucks went around the track but the FABTECH Ranger pulled away for a win.

In the next round of racing, and while in the lead, the brothers jarred an oil line loose and were forced to stop. “Brad kept pushing it after the cloud of white smoke went away,” recalls Roger, “After a while I noted the pressure gauge at zero. I don’t know about other oils, but I think we owe AMSOIL an engine.” Even with the malfunction, the brothers won the Modified Class by forfeit as the other qualified vehicles were broken before the final round.

Next up was the Pure Adrenaline Shootout which was a race between any vehicles left running. “Campbell has almost twice the power to weight ratio we do and got a car length on us before the first turn,” Brad says, “We were putting some pressure on him and he started to roll as we entered the turn. He never lifted and almost carried it through on 3 wheels but missed the corner. We were fast the first lap but developed an electrical problem with the fan unit. We held off the rest of the pack but the fan breaker kept popping and killing the truck.” In the end, Campbell was DQ’d for missing the turn and Lovell Racing was once again declared the winner.

The brothers could have taken home their 3rd Championship this year with two wins and a 2nd, but unfortunately did not enter the Rockcross Series. “Our initial schedule did not allow us to attend this event and that changed,” comments Brad, “You can’t win it if you don’t enter.”

There is not much of a break before the 2008 season takes off. The first event for the team will be the inaugural King of the Hammers 40 mile Rock Race on Feb, 22nd. Look for more news and website updates as the team has many exciting things coming together for 2008.