2008
W.E.ROCK :: All-Stock Nationals Presented By Cooper Tires
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8:00 pm Friday
Tonight was a fun evening on the main street in “Old Town”, where they blocked off the entire city block and all of the teams displayed their
vehicles for the many locals and fans that came down to see what was going on. Cooper Tires pulled in early this afternoon with an amazing big
rig that had a full size trailer that opened out hydraulically into a big stage, like some giant transformer. They had interactive racing games
and a tire display to show off all kinds of on-road and off-road high performance tires. They stayed open on the downtown street for the
afternoon and evening and then closed up and moved out to the competition site. The teams spent time chatting with the many walking by as well
as taking in some of the atmosphere, great food, and refreshments at the local hangout called RUMORS…a great bunch of hosts for sure and we
appreciate the locals that made the trip down to visit with us.
Also downtown this evening, we ran into Tom and Rocky from SPIKE’s Xtreme 4x4 TV.Spike TV Link They were very
excited to hear about this event as their viewers drive, dream of, or want to build the exact kind of vehicles competing this weekend. Truly,
the Stock Mod vehicles can easily and affordably be built with off-the-shelf parts, that means their viewers can relate to this class and kind
of competition…especially once they find out that many teams competing are regional teams that have earned the chance to compete against the
top teams in the country. This “Pros vs Joes” event format will prove to be exciting to all!
The Track
On to the competition area...The courses were set two days in advance and look GREAT. Josh and Lil Rich went above and beyond on dressing the
competition area. Many of the gates are set wide enough but in such a way that the course is the obstacle, not the cones. They will be very
doable but TOUGH. We expect most teams to finish 5 of the 8 regular courses as long as they hold their vehicles together. The top teams should
all fail on at least one…especially with the many bonus lines that APPEAR to be easy enough, but have numerous areas to trip up, and even roll
the teams brave enough to attempt them.
Three of the courses are VERY LONG...Obstacle A4 starts on one end of the competition area, climbs out of the main competition ring, directs
teams onto the high access road, they have to race up the road about 300 yards, through the trees, and will end up on TOP of the giant nasty
climb known as Anarchy. The stockers will be coming down that obstacle and trust me, every team is running high on adrenaline just thinking
about that 100 foot long, 40 foot of vertical, descent down a large number of 3 to 4 foot tall ledges that look like ancient steps. Two other
courses that are 200+ yards long will keep teams paying CAREFUL attention to their timeclocks as points will not be nearly as critical as those
seconds that will quickly run down.
The Shootout
The top 6 teams that head into the shootout have a tough course ahead of them with 5 bonus options making that course a HUGE value. The big
wall, currently just called, "the Wall" needs a name for sure...Tom Wombles worked the base transition with his big Altorfer Cat sponsored
trackhoe and made it so the Stock Mods at least stood a CHANCE of making one of the bonus climbs that are waiting to challenge them.
Some may be interested in seeing a taste of the local advertising that was done…the following TV commercial ran on local networks as well as
the numerous posters, handbills and radio ads that were hosted locally:
MySpace TV Link |
Local Team, OffLimits4x4 (Brian Cooper) deserves a huge thanks…he worked with a radio broadcaster in St. Louis to host a number of radio ads
in the region’s largest market. What a generous donation to the event and sport!
A Very Special Thanks
Also, we have some early thanks to say:
First off, a HUGE thanks goes out to Cooper Tires for getting involved in this amazing event. Cooper has been supporting R-Rock for a couple
of years now and obviously supports the sport with their own off road tire, the Cooper Discoverer STT, that is truly one of the top tires
available. You don’t hear much about them because they haven’t pushed them in the market yet. A complete redesign on the tire in very recent
history made great changes in the tire and put it on par with the top tires, if not above, when it comes to performance in all categories.
The other brands have been marketing their tires heavily, giving them to numerous teams to compete on, and basically, those are the only
tires you’ll hear about. Cooper hasn't been marketing to crawling and off road but I sspect that's going to change now that they see how
good their latest tire really is. Now that Cooper has had a year of seeing the STT in competition, numerous top teams are considering
making the jump. Understand, this is not a sales pitch, it’s reality, this tire is a top performer and you’ll soon see them on more and
more and more vehicles as people catch on to their value and performance.
Second, thanks to TorchMate for the amazing All Stock Nationals trophies. Using their very own TorchMate CNC Plasma Cutting System, they
designed and built another set of gorgeous trophies, similar to the ones we saw at the W.E.ROCK Grand Nationals just three weeks ago. Bill,
Jesse, and the TorchMate crew…what a perfect way to give to the sport and at the same time represent your product.
Third is a big thanks to SpiderTrax for coming on-board to support W.E.ROCK. We sure miss seeing the exciting SpiderTrax team out on the
courses but are excited to see your company still developing more and more great products through taking part in the highest levels of
competition. Seeing their parts on numerous competition vehicles here this weekend, including Team Those Guys (one of the favorites to win),
is great…seeing you step up to support the events themselves shows that you understand how important these events are for the industry…you
truly “get it!”
Additional sponsors that make this happen deserve our thanks and your business:
National Drivetrain, Difficult Trail, Maxxis, PSC Steering, Sway A Way, Advance Adapters, Advance Air Systems, Winchline.com, Allied Racing
Wheels, PRP Seats, TrailGear.
Along with SPIKE TV's Xtreme4x4TV, we need to recognize a few media groups that have supported W.E.ROCK so strongly this season:
Pirate4x4.com, RP Films and their Haulin or Crawlin DVD series, CRAWL Magazine, DirtSports Magazine, Planet Flash Video, and Low Range
Magazine…thanks to all for their amazing support at multiple events!
Finally, for this post anyway, the very important support of the local crew needs to be recognized. The Hannibal Rocks Off Road Park has a
great competition area and trail system but would not survive without the generous support of many. On top of that list, we’ll say a big thanks
to the R-Rock Mafia, The Raeborns, the New London Volunteer Fire Dept, the Rootbeer Guys, Branik Motorsports, Tony, the man running crazy
trying to keep the sound system working in top form, TDS Telecom for the wireless internet access, Pepsi Refreshment Services of Quincy, IN
for supplying hospitality for our Cooper VIP’s, Central State Bank for supplying a giant tent for our VIP’s, Altorfer Cat for helping with the
HEAVY Equipment, including our “Crane of Shame” that recovers most of the wrecked and stuck vehicles, and finally, the biggest thanks goes to
Tom and Debbie Wombles that have given so much to the sport of rockcrawling. A number of years ago, they got hooked on the sport after
wheeling with Jason Paule…not long after, they purchased some land near St Louis and started the R-Rock OffRoad Park and competition
series…then recently, bought another piece of land to start a similar, but larger project, Hannibal Rocks. They host the Top Shop Challenge,
the R-Rock Competition Series, and the She-Rocks competition each year, as well as organizing a number of fun runs and fundraisers…talk about
an amazing couple…Tom and Debbie, you are a true gift to this sport!
So, there's my opening take and I have to say, we're looking at amazing weather for a great event...everyone is buzzing with excitement about
the competition...in just a few hours we'll be waking up to get ready to start one of the coolest events in a long time...best of luck to the
teams and again, a big thanks to Cooper Tires and the many others that have made this event possible!
Related Links:
Click for ASN LIVE
Click for ASN Talk |
The ASN Qualifiers |
Itinerary, Directions, Weather For The ASN's |
Every All-Stock Nationals Contestant |
Event Poster |
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