Grand Champion!
The Grand Champion of the history-making Top Truck Champions’ Challenge is Dave Green from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, driving his Cummins turbodiesel-powered custom buggy. Green won the Tow Test and Frame Twister on the first day of competition, which gave him a two point lead over the nearest competitor, Brian Waddell, at the end of the day. On the second day of competition he earned a respectable Fifth, Third, and Sixth Place finish in Obstacle Course, Hill Climb, and Mini Rubicon, respectively. Despite being outscored by two other competitors in the second day of competition his consistency had given him a commanding lead going into Tank Trap. The Tank Trap tried to trip up Green however, and he rolled his Cummins-powered buggy twice on the course. Sheer determination, fast recoveries, and teamwork drove Green to the finish line with less than five minutes on the clock. His Fourth Place Tank Trap finish helped him gather enough points to easily clinch the title of Top Truck Champions’ Challenge Grand Champion. “It’s a shock. We had a great week. I knew we were up in the points, we had some good events. You sit here chewing your nails waiting and waiting for the announcement and wow, it’s such a good feeling,” Green said after hearing he had won the event. Similar to his performance in 2009, Green drove the events in TTCC with restraint and he seemed unflappable, even when things went wrong. This comes as no surprise to his spotter, Mark Cymbaluk, who says, “You know what, it’s awesome because I know Dave’s abilities, his comfort level within his truck, I know how well he does with it. Spotting for Dave was real easy. Like I said, I was going to be the laziest spotter on the face of the earth here.” Green summed up his win and his week at TTCC by saying, “It’s overwhelming. It hasn’t sunk in yet. You couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. If you had a problem everybody was at your camp trying to lend a hand and vice versa. There’s no animosity or anything like that between anybody, everybody was here to compete, but everybody was also here to have a good time.”

final results
1. Green ..................................................... 137.7
2. Harrell .................................................... 125.0
3. Thorson .................................................. 124.9
4. Waddell .................................................. 122.4
5. Karwath .................................................. 117.5
6. Campbell ................................................ 115.0
7. Montpas ................................................. 106.3
8. Naeger ................................................... 105.6
9. George.................................................... 103.8
10. Gray ......................................................... 90.2
11. Burton ...................................................... 89.1
12. Kraatz ...................................................... 64.0
13. Ellis ......................................................... 61.0
14. Duffy ........................................................ 54.0
15. Sanders .................................................... 47.0
16. Wager ....................................................... 39.0
17. Fox .......................................................... 36.0
18. Austin ...................................................... 33.0

How Top Truck
Is Scored Our scoring system is simple. In the six events leading up to Tank Trap, the winner of each event received 20 points, Second Place received 19 points, Third Place received 18 points, and so on. If a competitor was unable to start an event they received no points for that event. The fnal event, Tank Trap, is worth double points. To eliminate tie scores the winner of Tank Trap received an additional point extra, Second Place had .9 of a point added to their score, Third Place had .8 of a point added to their score, and so on. In addition to eliminating ties, this procedure further rewards those who do well in the Tank Trap. Hence, First Place in Tank Trap received 41 points, Second Place received 38.9 points, Third Place received 36.8 points, and so on. Each team’s fnal score is the sum of all their accrued points.

Even More Awards
During Top Truck’s closing ceremonies we handed out several specialty awards. Including the team who had shockingly bad luck to the competitor who traveled the longest distance, we recognized them with a plaque. Here are this year’s winners.

Long Distance: Mike Karwath (Union, Kentucky, to Hollister, California, via Grand Forks, North Dakota, to pick up Leo Kuther and his rig, approximately 7,000 miles round-trip)

Hard Luck: Geby Wager (began his second day of competition by crashing end-over-end in the Obstacle Course)

Team Spirit: Jeremy Naeger and Mike Ballews (oozed positive energy, even when they didn’t)

Driving Elegant: Jerry Duffy (aka Mr. Smooth)

People’s Choice: Matt Thorson’s “Hells Bells” buggy (the crowd favorite)

Judges/Editors Choice: Brent Burton’s ’97 Jeep Wrangler TJ (all-around capable rig)

Get the TTCC DVD!
A perfect companion to the coverage of TTCC here on the pages of Four Wheeler is the offcial TTCC high-defnition DVD. Hosted by former TTC competitor Stan Prueitt and recorded by our team of professional, talented videographers, it’s packed with action footage from the week’s incredible competition as well as driver interviews and more. If you want to see this DVD masterpiece you can only get it through 4Wheel Parts, so call 800/213-5668, visit www.4wheelparts.com, or get to your local 4Wheel Parts retail location.

Safety First
Nothing can suck the fun from off-roading faster than injuries and we hate injuries. Safety is a priority at TTCC and in that vein we enforce the rules that govern the Hollister Hills SVRA. We also establish our own policies to ensure everyone’s safety. For example, following competitor check-in where the rigs are inspected to ensure they meet the offcial vehicle requirements, we gather all of the rigs and physically document important safety information including, but not limited to, what type of passenger restraints are installed, where the ignition shutoff is located, where the battery is mounted in each vehicle, and so on. This is done to ensure a safe and quick response in case of emergency. Safety of the environment is also a priority and for this reason we have commercial spill kits at the ready, including materials that can absorb oil in water in the event of a leak during competition.

Our Deepest Gratitude
Top Truck is a logistical challenge that wesimply can’t do ourselves. The Four Wheeler staff relies on a numberof talented people and companies to make it all happen, especially this year with a larger than normal feld of competitors. Some of the people who serve as support staff burn vacation time from real jobs to spend a week working in the mud and dirt, often leaving with nothing but blisters, a sunburn, and poison oak. The Four Wheeler team wishes to send its deepest gratitude to these folks and companies that helped make TTCC a success.

- Event Coordinator Robin Stover, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

- Chris Finstad, our lead medic, JL Mongono, Oscar Grmaldo, Tony Morales, Robert Lund, and Chris Di Marco from the San Juan Bautista Fire Department.

- Phillip Indihar at Quality Construction, for providing the camera truck, water truck, and pressure washers.

- Beil Inc., M&J Trucking, and Las Animas Concrete, for the equipment support.

- Mike Mansmith and the incredible crew at Mansmith’s BBQ, for all the outstanding meals including the delicious wood fre-cooked welcome dinner.

- Canty Security and Investigations for securing the perimeter.

- J.V. Orta’s Rent-A-Fence for the safety fencing that also served as a great place to mount banners.

- The country band Whiskey Dawn for Thursday night’s awesome entertainment.

- And last, but certainly not least, the incredible team of staff and rangers at the Hollister Hills SVRA for going above and beyond the call. As they have for the past 19 years of TTC, they displayed impeccable professionalism for this 20th anniversary event.

Four Wheeler Would also like to extend a big thank you to the official top truck sponsors
Presenting Sponsor and Offcial Retailer: 4Wheel Parts, www.4wheelparts.com.
Offcial Lubricant: Amsoil, www.amsoil.com
Offcial Traction Device: Eaton, www.eaton.com
Offcial Tie-Down: Mac’s, www.macscustomtiedowns.com
Offcial Tire: Mickey Thompson Tires, www.mickeythompsontires.com
Offcial Energy Drink: Monster, www.monsterenergy.com
Offcial Fabrication Parts: Poly Performance, www.polyperformance.com
Offcial Suspension: Tuff Country, www.tuffcountry.com
Offcial Winch: Warn Industries, www.warn.com

Do You Want to Compete in TTC ’13?
Have you been dreaming of competing in Top Truck Challenge? If the answer is yes, this is your big opportunity. Turn to page 40 and fll out the offcial entry form and then pair it with a high-quality photo of your rig that shows the entire vehicle. New this year, you can either mail the pair tothe address listed on the entry form or you can scan the offcial entry form and email it along with a digital photo of your rig to john. cappa@fourwheeler.com. It’s that easy! All entries must be received by the due date shown on the entry form. We’ll publish a collection of TTC ’13 hopefuls in the April ’13 issue of Four Wheeler, and you may be one of the 10 rigs that are chosen by the Four Wheeler readers to compete in Hollister Hills, California. Good luck!

New Vehicle Requirements for TTC ’13
If competing against buggies has kept you from entering your non-buggy rig in TTC, we have big news. In an effort to level the playing feld we’ve enacted new vehicle requirements for TTC ’13 that are designed to favor stock-style rigs. Remember Real Truck Club Challenge (RTCC)? Well, think of a TTC ’13 rig as being the love child of an RTCC and a TTC rig. Here’s a brief rundown. All competing vehicles must be equipped with a factory-style front clip and the clip must have actual headlights (not stickers). The clip can be narrowed. At the rear the rig must have fenders, bedsides, or a fatbed, and like the front, narrowing is OK. No open rear tube-chassis rigs will be allowed. The rig can be a complete or partial tube-chassis rig, but it must include the aforementioned items as well as a frewall. Competing vehicles must also run DOT-compliant tires, though they can be grooved, siped, or even vulcanized with paddles. Quite simply, TTC ’13 rigs must resemble a production vehicle from end-to-end. A buggy with a production vehicle grille will not qualify. For a complete list of vehicle requirements please go to www.fourwheeler.com/ttcrules.

Last Words
-“Best one ever. It truly was a lot different than what we expected. It was faster. It was quicker, and I liked all that about it. ”
– Jeremy Naeger

-“The courses and the challenges that you guys set up were extreme to say the least, but obviously manageable because somebody managed to do them all.”
– Geby Wager

-“So many good people here. I would considerthem close friends now.”
– Steven Montpas

-“It was awesome. I’m leaving just as stoked as when I got here. I’m leaving just as happy. The rigs a little banged up, but every scratch is going to stay all year long. I’m going toshow ’em off proudly.
–Jason Gray

-“We had a great time. It’s a great event whether you win or don’t win everyone has a good time. I’d say we had just as much fun this time as we had last time. If not more. Made new friends plus our old ones who are here. That was cool.”
– Mike Karwath

-“How can you not be happy? This is like a riot. It’s a giant four-wheeling extravaganza, and it’s a blast. Shoot, you have a 40th, I’ll come back. Of course I don’t know what I’ll be driving then, but I’ll come back.
– Tony Fox