The Johnson Valley OHV area in the Mojave Desert contains some of the most gnarly four-wheeling trails to be found. So when the finals of the 1999 Warn Rockcrawling Championship were held not on any of the Hammer trails, but on a boulder-strewn patch of rocks most normal people wouldn't think of walking over, you know the competitors were putting it all on the line.
The competition took place on November 19-21. Day one split the field in two with one group transversing Wrecking Ball and the other tackling Claw Hammer. The teams swapped trails on day two to keep everything fair and even. Each trail held a number of stages, marked with yellow gates that the contestants had to stay between. Teams started each stage with 20 points and lost them accordingly (see sidebar) as they progressed or failed to progress, as the case may have been.
After the points were tallied up, the first two days served to reduce the initial field of more than 50 teams of drivers and spotters to 13 for the finals on Sunday. When all was said and done, the team of Troy Meyers (driver) and Neil Trudeau (spotter) emerged victorious with a total of 310 points that earned them $2,000, a Warn winch, a Detroit Locker, a Superlift Suspension kit, a $500 Advanced Adapters certificate, an AGR steering box and steering pump, a pair of Think Jeep seats, and bragging rights as the 1999 Warn Rockcrawling champions.
By The NumbersEach section of the Warn Rockcrawling Championship had its own judge monitoring the drivers and spotters. The gates were often set over the most challenging line on the trail. Competitors started each section with 20 points and had a predetermined time to complete each gate. Judges reduced points in the following manner:
*1pt = ceasing forward progress for five seconds or more*2pts = intentionally reversing course*6pts = knocking down a gate*14pts = using a winch or other tool to assist progress*20pts = exceeding the time limit for a stage*20pts = driving over the top of a gate's intended location*20pts = entering a stage before your start time*20pts = not wearing a seatbelt while driving*10pts to disqualification = blocking the course*10pts to disqualification = interfering with another team*Immediate disqualification = alcohol/drug use just prior to or during official event or possession of any alcoholic beverage container, empty or full, during competition.