Day 2 Event 3
The Mini Rubicon
Rhode's D-100
What it is and how it works: Not including the dirt access road, the course is 125 feet of boulder-strewn wretchedness. Sharp drop-offs and a miserable approach add to the fun. Competitors have 20 minutes to complete the course. Seconds are added to competitor's times for infractions such as hitting a marker cone, winch use, or winch safety violation.
Finish Line Quotes
"Good traction through there. I was impressed. It was a blast."
-Jeff Fink
"Another one of those neat deals where a big ol' mud truck can actually do a bit of rockcrawling."
-Philip McGilton
"No biggie, they grow '58 Dodge fenders on trees."
-Al Rhodes
"I was just the remote control. I was just an extension of him. I'm glad I brought the guy along."
-Ron George
"We ride rocks, but nothing like these rocks. Can't say enough about the competitors. Really appreciate 'em giving us a second run. Great sportsmanship."
-Donald Hadden
Fink's TJ | 
Well's M135A | 
Langford's Bronco |
The Play-By-Play
Fink's TJ: Decent run with good driver/spotter communication and no winching. Only one 5-second penalty for the spotter exiting the vehicle.
George's Bronco: Tractor tires swallowed the rocks like they weren't there. Codriver never exited the vehicle. The only team to complete the course with no penalties.
Hadden's S-10: Suffered a flat tire when entering the course. Team chose to end their run. Other competitors graciously voted to let him run again after repairing the tire. Second run was quick with no winching.
Johnson's K3500: Did not run due to torque converter issues.
Langford's Bronco: First time on rocks for these Floridians. Ever. Driver and codriver switched shortly into the course. Stuffed the passenger door into the tree at the beginning of the course, which broke the window. Got hung up and bent the lower rear four-link bar on the passenger side. Chose to end their run 18 feet into the course after 12 minutes.
McGilton's K1500: Came close to rolling along the way, but recovered and completed the course with no winching.
Miller's Sonoma: Still sporting damage from the Hillclimb, the team came to the event with no rear driveshaft and the rear axle held in place by the winch cable. Traveled a little over 13 feet into the rocks to accumulate points.
Rhodes' D-100: About halfway into the course the front left wheel fell in a hole and the rig flopped onto the driver side. With 12:37 on the clock they were still trying to right the rig using the winch. They eventually recovered and crossed the finish line with only 1:19 left on the clock.
Thorson's TJ: Powered through the rocks in rock-racing mode. One 15-second penalty for hitting a marker cone. Fastest run of the event.
Wells' M135A: Driver and codriver stacked rocks along the way. Used the vehicle's winch to move two large boulders. Crossed the finish line with only 1:20 left on the clock.
George's Bronco
| RESULTS (time or finishing order if DNF) |
| 1 Thorson's TJ | 2 min. 50 sec. |
| 2 George's Bronco | 4 min. 3 sec. |
| 3 Hadden's S-10 | 6 min. 7 sec. |
| 4 McGilton's K1500 | 8 min. 32 sec. |
| 5 Fink's TJ | 8 min. 57 sec. |
| 6 Rhodes' D-100 | 18 min. 56 sec. |
| 7 Wells' M135A | 19 min. 20 sec. |
| 8 Langford's Bronco | DNF. |
| 9 Miller's Sonoma | DNF |
| J Johnson's K3500 | DNS |