In fact, the series has already issued around 30 Pro and 16 Sportsman numbers for 2003, and a new JeepSpeed East organization is forming to bring the concept to a group whose off-road motorsports park is located in Pennsylvania. Once again, the JeepSpeed series will run primarily at the lower cost Mojave Desert Racing (MDR) series of events, with an invitational run at the SCORE Tecate Baja 500.
As icing on this off-road cake, there is even a $20,000 prize and contingency package.
Contact
American Racing JeepSpeed Challenge
1826 N. Windes Dr.
Orange, CA 92869
714/538-7434
714/633-1724
www.jeepspeed.com
Rockcrawling RCAA, Prorock, UROC, Calrocs, And EroccIn surfing terms, it is known simply as "riding a wave." In movie lingo, producers refer to a film "having legs." No matter the language, it is the one intangible force that can make or break a project, a career, or an entire industry.
The "it" is momentum. As we approach the 2003 racing season, perhaps no other form of the sport has as much of that valued momentum as rockcrawling. A relatively unknown entity just a few short years ago, crawling is now experiencing a surge of interest and events the off-road crowd hasn't seen in decades.
Consider the alphabet soup of crawling associations. There's UROC, CalROCS, CRCA, NARRCA, ERoCC, NEUROC, ProROCK, and the RCAA that used to be ARCA. The sheer number of groups proves that there's enough interest and potential long-term profit to make sanctioning a series and holding events too attractive to pass up. Of course, it's likely that the evolution of the sport and land use issues will eventually result in consolidation and the emergence of one or two major professional series, but right now it's a wide-open market. Many off-roading veterans liken today's crawling scene to the early years of desert racing in the '70s. It is still a little primitive, still very pure, and decidedly on track for a long-term future.
As the sport and its fan base and participant base grow, so too do corporate influence, resources, and money. Companies such as Goodyear and Skyjacker were on the scene early with their continuing association with ARCA (ah, let's make that RCAA), and signs of other major involvements are starting to spring up everywhere. Last season saw the highly successful entry of BFGoodrich and the new Krawler tires to the scene, while rumors of factory-assisted programs and new vehicle sponsors continue to swirl around our offices at press time.
The vehicles themselves are rapidly evolving as well. One close look at Jon Nelson's radical "Tiny" crawler featured elsewhere in this issue only confirms what lies ahead. Not that everyone will be running air-cooled engines, but certainly good-old Yankee ingenuity will come up with new equipment that will make today's vehicles look like old Model Ts. Tires, chassis, engines, and drivetrains will only get better with time, and the organizing bodies will have to work hard to keep the courses in line with the new technology.
Happily for all involved, many of the groups are now separating the vehicles into more-specific categories such as "production" and "modified." Not only will this allow those with the money and interest to showcase the most radical of machinery, but it will also keep the grassroots enthusiasts involved.
Rock Crawlers Association Of America (RCAA)Formerly known as ARCA, RCAA will continue to produce its popular Goodyear/ Skyjacker Extreme Rock Crawling National Series. RCAA president Ranch Pratt continues to push the sport in terms of professionalism and profitability, with more than $380,000 in contingency, awards, and prizes available to contestants last season. This season, Pratt will divide his series into two classes, Modified Stock for OEM-based vehicles and Super Modified for "exotic buggies and highly modified stock vehicles." Great events and solid media coverage for RCAA have resulted in crowds that can top 20,000.