Day 2 Event 3: The Mini Rubicon
It’s rare to hear someone say that they’re indifferent to rockcrawling. Most wheelers either love it or hate it. Fact is, rockcrawling is a staple of wheeling and that’s why it’s on our menu of misery. We designed our 149-foot-long, boulder-flled, narrow course with a few strategically placed holes and a limited number of “lines.” This year we cut the time limit to a measly 5 minutes. This forced the Top Truck champions to think and act fast. To keep things exciting, we did away with penalties for things like stopping and backing up. The only penalty this year is a two minute time penalty for a winch safety violation (per infraction). Cones mark the course and a competitor is considered out of bounds if the inside of a rig’s tire travels past the outside edge of a cone. This year the Mini Rubicon halted fve vehicles. trying to power through but chose to winch instead, which was a good idea because the winch pulled hard. Bent a tie rod somewhere along the line, which he straightened and sleeved prior to Tank Trap.

The Play-By-Play
Austin: Did not run due to damage sustained inthe Obstacle Course

Burton: Slow, steady progress with very little noise from the supercharged 347ci V-8 engine. Driver and spotter used wireless headsets to communicate.

Campbell: Super fast run with only a couple of hang-ups. One was right near the fnish line and he slammed his way through with the spotter pulling on the winch cable. Broke the passenger-side lower rear suspension link at the chassis and bent the shafts in both rear coilover shocks. Ran Tank Trap with an air shock replacing the driver-side rear coilover.

Duffy: With 2:45 on the clock he was trying to climb out of Hole 1. Broke the driver-side front sway bar link with 2:55 on the clock. Timed out just shy of 120 feet into the course.

Ellis: Third competitor. Arrived at Hole 1 with 1:50 on the clock. Made it to Hole 2 but couldn’t coax the Samurai out after repeated attempts. Cool wheels-up action along the way. Timed out.

Fox: Last competitor. Spotter exited the vehicle at the starting line. Entered Hole 1 with 1:40 on the clock. Still trying to get the right line out of Hole 1 with 4:02 on the clock. Seemed to fnd the right line with 4:40 on the clock. Timed out. Had steering problems due to fuid loss from a damaged sector shaft bearing and seal.

George: With 2:23 on the clock he was about ¾ of the way through the course. With 3:35 on the clock he was hung up near the fnish line. He considered trying to power through but chose to winch instead, which was a good idea because the winch pulled hard. Bent a tie rod somewhere along the line, which he straightened and sleeved prior to Tank Trap

Gray: First competitor. Amazing run that found him in Hole 1 with only 30 seconds on the clock. Only had problems at the very end but it didn’t slow him down much.

Green: Crawled right up on the rocks and went to work. Got hung up with 1:15 on the clock, but worked through it. Smooth, steady run with good communication between the driver and spotter. Was kind of crossed up near the fnish line, but quickly worked through it.

Harrell: Demonstrated smooth forward progress through the entire course. Stopped and assessed the last set of boulders by the fnish line that had been FourWheeler giving some of the other competitor’s problems and decided to steer left. It worked, and he powered over the fnish line. Karwath: Second competitor. Had a little trouble getting up on the rocks and got hung up with 1:02 on the clock near the fnish line, but still turned the fastest time of the event.

Kraatz: The highlight of his run was ending up crossways near the fnish line as he battled to get over some particularly stubborn boulders. Interestingly, it seemed to work to his advantage because he drove out of it and didn’t have to winch in that section like some of the other competitors.

Montpas: Came to the event with a new power steering pump because the old one wouldn’t allow the rig to steer with the engine at idle. At the starting line the spotter left the rig and ran to the end of the course and began rigging a winch point. Montpas drove the course with no spotter and was near the fnish line with 1:45 on the clock. Became stuck, but was under winch power with 2:10 on the clock. Finished the course a little over a minute later. Broke a front output shaft seal retainer on the NP205 transfer case and somewhere along the line cracked the ball in a spherical rod end on the driver-side rear suspension link.

Naeger: Strong, steady run right up until the last set of boulders near the fnish line, which forced him spend about 30 seconds trying to fnesse the rig through. Never had to use the Warn 9.5xp winch and the spotter never exited the vehicle.

Sanders: Came to the event with a new, re-valved power steering pump, but it blew apart early into the course. With 2:35 on the clock the rig was hung up and the team began winching. With 3:35 on the clock they disconnected the winch and Sanders reversed the rig in an attempt to get a different line. Timed out without making much forward progress.

Thorson: Airborne over the fnish line after a run that included lots of action including smoking tires and fying dirt. Powered through anything that got in his way. Bent a passenger-side rear lower suspension link somewhere along the line.

Waddell: Smooth, steady run. Only got hung up momentarily and the spotter never exited the vehicle. Near the fnish line the driver-side rear bedside became tangled up with the rear tire and it partially tore off.

Wager: Calm, calculated run. Entered Hole 1 with 1:40 on the clock, Hole 2 with 3:40 on the clock and the last hole with 4:30 on the clock. Timed out.

Finish Line Quotes
-“It was awesome and I’m glad I made it. I didn’t last time. I got hung up before the tree two years ago, so that defnitely makes me very happy.”
– Jason Gray

-“Wasn’t quite the walk in the park we thought it would be.”
– Mike Karwath

-“Paddle tires do not work on rocks.”
– Randy Ellis

-“It felt good. Calm, cool, and collected.”
– Brent Burton

-“I was hoping for like about 30 seconds faster, but I’ll take it.”
– Brian Waddell

-“It was a good course. Lots of fun.”
– Ron George

-“I get angry. I drive better when I get angry. If I try to stay calm I just suck.”
– Clayton Kraatz

Results
(elapsed time including penalties or ranking if DNF)
1. Karwath ...................................... 1 min. 32 sec.
2. Campbell .................................... 1 min. 41 sec.
3. Waddell ...................................... 1 min. 43 sec.
4. Thorson ...................................... 1 min. 45 sec.
5. Burton ........................................ 2 min. 03 sec.
6. Green ......................................... 2 min. 11 sec.
7. Harrell ........................................ 2 min. 17 sec.
8. Gray ........................................... 2 min. 23 sec.
9. Naeger ....................................... 2 min. 43 sec.
10. Kraatz ........................................ 2 min. 56 sec.
11. Montpas ..................................... 3 min. 43 sec.
12. George........................................ 4 min. 08 sec.
13. Duffy .................................DNF (119 ft. 02 in.)
14. Wager .................................DNF (118 ft. 10 in.)
15. Ellis .....................................DNF (84 ft. 01 in.)
16. Fox ......................................DNF (66 ft. 00 in.)
17. Sanders ................................DNF (33 ft. 06 in.)
18. Austin .......................................................DNS