Colorado Springs, Colorado
Photography By Esperanza Vigil
Arriving early Saturday morning at the Ram Off-Road Park for the 2006 Xtreme Rock Race Finals, you could feel the excitement in the air. The teams of the XRRA started to funnel their way into the park, the vendors feverishly working to setup for the day and the staff of the XRRA were putting the final touches on the Rock Race courses that were like no others before. This was no doubt the finals for one of the most extreme motorsports. The drivers walked the courses, discussed lines and plotted their strategy. 9:00am and it was time for the drivers meeting which was being held in front of he dual step-up jumps. Step-ups you say? Oh yeah, beyond the high speed double banked turn, massive boulder climbs and vertical walls this race would also feature dual side by side step ups with an 8 foot gap that would require a drivers full commitment and a bit of horse power. As always the XRRA took into consideration all of the types of rigs in the field and offered an additional route around the awesome jumps. At the conclusion of the drivers meeting the owner of the Ram Off-Road Park - Ray Mandel - offered the teams a look at what they would face in taking the step-ups. Ray lined up and eased into the gas, he hit the ramp at 3/4 throttle and piloted the buggy to a great flight over the gap. The teams then went back to get staged for their first run and think about the optional jumps that would come into play in the afternoon. With a crowd of thousands building and camera crews positioned throughout the courses, we were ready for the races to begin. The points going into the finals are extremely close with Weston Blackie and Rick Deremo tied for 1st place and Shannon Campbell hot on their heels. The action today is sure to be insane. 10:00am and the first teams fire up their buggies and await the drop of the green flag. 5,4,3,2,1 and off the racers went - both courses side by side, a wide open race to the first drop offs then again wide open to the next drop, one course went across the mud hole and the other making a hard switch back out of the center of a shallow mud pit. Both courses then climbed a 20 foot dirt hill heading into the banked high speed berms. Once out of the berms the courses came back together for the assent up the boulder laden path to huge climbs and out to the wide open ridge top that would bring the racers to the rock strewn down hill that lead back across the wash. A pair of vertical climbs into two additional banked turns and one course headed towards an intimidating off camber area and the other courses navigating a huge ravine that came out via an off-camber climb at the top. Once again the tracks came together for yet another wide open hill climb at the top of which the drivers would drop down through car size rocks into the final wide open run over the roller jumps and the vertical climb to the finish line. The first few racers of the day has some mechanical failure that lead to bringing out the recovery teams. The action was over the top, teams racing side by side with the crowds of fans cheering as they would pull off one amazing run after another. The teams having run their first two races of the day it was time for the courses to be reversed and the step-ups to come into play. From the talk coming from the teams it looked like it would be a 50/50 split on drivers that would jump vs. those taking the rocks. A count down and the drop of the flag the afternoon action was underway. With the crowds cheering for the drivers as they came into the bowl that encompassed the step-ups and rock climbs - the crowds of fans here in Colorado Springs rooted the teams on either way the drivers chose to take. By the end of the day we saw only two drivers not make the gap, some that came up a little short but managed to power out of it and a handful of drivers that just flat out skied out over the top with 30 feet to spare. With all the runs in and the times added it was to be Shannon Campbell's day. Not only did Shannon win the event, he also gained enough points over Weston Blackie and Rick Deremo to take the 2006 Series Championship. Next weekend the XRRA will be at Paragon Adventure Park for some east coast style rock racing. Come out and cheer for the racers. Colorado Springs Final Times: 1 Shannon Campbell 7:19:41 2006 XRRA Series Championship Top Ten placements: 1st - Shannon Campbell 2nd - Weston Blackie 3rd - JT Taylor 4th - Rick Deremo 5th - Jason Berger 6th - Peter Wells 7th - Robert Lucero 8th - Jason Fueilly 9th - Shane Chiddix 10th - Aaron Dusenbery
|