PLACERVILLE, CA MARCH 25, 2013: The Congress event was another step in W.E. Rock history, hosting a two day event comprised of the Trail Gear Western Series Professional Rock Crawling on Saturday, March 16th and the National Dirt Riot 4×4 Endurance Racing series kicking off its Southwest Region races on Sunday, March 17th brought to you by 4 Wheelers Supply of Phoenix, Arizona. The events took place at Thompson’s Ranch, just outside of Congress, Arizona, only 2 hours from the greater Phoenix area. “I can’t be happier with the way the weekend went,” said Rich Klein, President and founder of W.E. Rock Events. “We had a group of happy racers and a group of awe struck spectators! There is no way to not walk away from that type of event ready to keep the momentum into our next race in Moab, Utah.”
The Trail Gear Western National Pro Series Rock Crawling event kicked off with a grand appearance in drivers and over 700 spectators watching throughout the day. Professional Rock Crawling is one of the most intricate sports in the motorsports arena. It is technical, mechanical and filled with action. With this being the first ever one day W.E. Rock event with a Dirt Riot on Sunday, the setup for crawling consisted of three courses in the morning and three courses in the afternoon followed by a shootout course. However, with the day running long due to some challenging recoveries, it was agreed upon by all the drivers that the shootout would be suspended and the day’s scores would be the final scores for the day.
The Pro Modified class was a close battle all day between Aaron Sykes and Jason Feuilly. Superchips sponsored Aaron Sykes and Ken Rose would end up 9 points ahead of the Jimmy’s 4×4 team of Jason Feuilly and Cody Folsom by the end of the day. Jared Neff would come in third, Jesse Haines in fourth and Mike Stokes in fifth.
The Unlimited class showed professional results from first year W.E. Rock Competitors Justin and Mark Hall. Trail Gear’s Matt Messer took second after a roll on his first course and Randy Southall took third while battling car issues virtually all day.
The Sportsman Class at the Arizona race is always entertaining. Past champions Tracy Jordan and Bruce Zeller came out of retirement to compete. This year, Bruce Zeller won by one point over Tracy Jordan! Justin Keilman had a very respectful run putting him in third with a -1, followed by Buzz Bronsema and Shon Wilson of Cedar City, Utah, Chris “Naz”, Paul Tyler and Mike Bradley rounding out 4th through 7th.
There was also a Stock Class where all the drivers finished within 20 points of their next closest competitor. Victor Buness and John Jacobs won this class. Seventy-one year old, Charlie Vacha took second, Harold Lisonbee took third and Brook Stillman finished fourth.
The end of the day was potentially the most action packed. With the shootout called off, Bruce Zeller called out Tracy Jordan to go head to head on the course in an exhibition run. When it was determined that Bruce couldn’t compete due to mechanical failures, Justin Hall was called out. After a hat collection of $380 the two crawled up on course. Tracy Jordan set the standard and then Justin Hall took the course. Justin was doing well, but wasn’t going to be able to take the win and then he made a move that will forever be talked about when he rolled off the course on one of the hardest hits in recent events. An amazing end to an amazing day!
To Read the Recap on the Dirt Riot Race, Click Here
Here are some of the thousands of pictures, come back for more soon!
Facebook Album: Be Sure to TAG & SHARE: CLICK HERE
Additional Media
The AZQuadRider – Don McNeilly – Click Here
Digital Dirt Media – Mark Williams – Click Here
Brian H Photography – Brian Harmon – CLICK HERE
John Barnes Personal Video –[vsw id=”62299627″ source=”vimeo” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]
Angela Howell Personal Facebook Album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200771230944712.1073741825.1280839680&type=1&fb_source=message
Awesome Day on Saturday! First time running a double header with WERock Rock Crawling on Saturday and a Dirt Riot on Sunday! Here are the official results of the WERock Rock Crawling…
More Pictures, Videos and Stories to come soon!
W.E. Rock Rock Crawling IS ON SATURDAY 3/16
The W.E. Rock Rock Crawling series has even more to offer this year with 2 of the 3 events on the same weekend as Dirt Riot Endurance Racing! Last year, the Congress Rocks proved to be some of the most difficult for even the best in the nation!
For Specific Information & Directions to the Event: CLICK HERE
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4 Wheeler Supply – 4wheelers.com
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Whisky Bent Fab – WhiskyBentFab
Odd Angle – OddAngle.com
Pro Diesel – ProDiesel.com
4 Wheel Parts, Phoenix – 4wheelparts.com
4 Wheel Parts, Mesa – 4wheelparts.com
Phoenix Rack & Axle – 602-252-8255
SDHQ – sdhqoffroad.com
Hunter Offroad – HunterOffroad.com
Driven 4×4 – Drivenautoparts.com
Bent Fabrication – Bentfabaz.com
RPM Fab – RPMFab.com
Desert Rat Offroad Center, 19th Ave – desertrat.com
UTV Inc – UTVInc.com
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Also Available in Many Local Wickenburg Establishments
Double Header Weekend in Arizona with W.E. Rock Rock Crawling and Dirt Riot Endurance Racing Professional Rock Crawling Saturday March 16th Starting at 10am outside Congress, AZ
Dirt Riot Endurance 4×4 Racing Sunday March 17th Starting at 9am outside Congress, AZ
PLACERVILLE, CA MARCH 13, 2013: This weekend marks a first in W.E. Rock history, hosting a two day event comprised of the Western Series Professional Rock Crawling on Saturday March 16th and the National Dirt Riot 4×4 Endurance Racing series kicking off its Southwest Region races on Sunday March 17th brought to you by 4 Wheelers Supply in Phoenix, Arizona. This weekends events are very spectator friendly at the Thompson’s Ranch just outside of Congress, Arizona, only 5 miles down a dirt road that is better maintained than in years’ past and suitable for small cars. “The terrain in Arizona is always amazing and the competitors love coming here. We are back at the Thompson’s Ranch which is where we held our 2006 and 2007 Extreme Put-Up or Shut-Up Events, so this Saturdays Rock Crawl is going to be a lot of fun to watch with Pros coming from up to 14 hours away,” said Rich Klein, President and founder of W.E. Rock Events. “Then on Sunday we are having the Dirt Riot race that will put
speed on the track, of course we welcome local UTV’s and Trail Class drivers to come and race, everyone is welcome!”
Professional Rock Crawling is one of the most intricate sports in the motorsports arena. It is technical, mechanical and filled with action. The rock courses are setup on a wall where spectators can bring their chairs and be able to see multiple courses running at the same time. This will be a one day rock crawling event, each competitor completing a total of 6 courses. The winner will be determined by the driver that has the least amount of points at the end of the day, similar to golf. There are over a dozen drivers already committed to coming to compete, some driving over 14 hours to be part of this professional series. Names that are familiar include Unlimited Drivers Matt Messer and Jesse Haines; Pro Mod Drivers include last years series winner Jason Feuilly and Grand National winner Aaron Sykes. Additional drivers that are scheduled to compete include Justin Hall, Randy Southall, Bruce Zeller, Tracy Jordan, Buzzy Bronsema, Jared Neff, Mike Stokes, Jeremy Hammer Chris Najarewica, Paul Tyler and others. There is a stock class that any local drivers are welcome to compete in.
Dirt Riot Racing picks up the speed and puts race buggies, 4×4 trail jeeps, and UTVs on a track to complete as many laps as they can within their groups set amount of time on Sunday. The course is more primitive than last year, with not as many cut roads, but a more open cross country type course including a really fun sand wash with lots of boulders to dodge. Racers include Dirt Riot Southwest Series Winner Mike Klensin and King of the Hammers finisher Andrew McLaughlin. Also scheduled to race are Matt Messer, Jeremy Hammer, Nathan Unruh, John Brock, Todd McCullen, Bailey Campbell and others. In the Stock Classes, we will have Southwest Series winners and National Title holders Alan Johnson and Shawn Passmore racing rigs that they just competed in the Everyman Challenge at the King of the Hammers with. In the Trail Class, which is more of a run-what-you-bring class with some safety requirements, there looks to be a large contingent coming to race out of the local Arizona Undertakers Club.
Both day’s events have classes that are built to encourage local 4×4 or UTV participants to join us in a day of fun competition and racing. For registration information go to https://www.werocklive.com/2013-registration-form. W.E. Rock is a Professional Rock Crawling series composed of 2 series of 3 events each that crisscross the country. Dirt Riot is an Endurance Racing series that is composed of 4 series of 3 races each that stretch across the country.
Spectators are encouraged to come and enjoy the day of entertainment on Saturday March 16th with Rock Crawling starting at 10am, and the final shootout expected to begin about 5pm. On Sunday March 17th, qualifying for the 4400 professional group starts at 9am. Wheel to wheel racing action starts at 10am when the trail class takes the course for a one hour grand prix finish race. Following at 11:30pm, the UTV Class will race for one hour, followed by the Stock, and Modified Stock who will race for a two hour grand prix finish starting at 1pm. The professional 4400 4×4 is scheduled to start at 3:15 for three hours with a grand prix finish at approximately 6:15pm. All times are subject to change. The winners of each class are determined by the most number of laps completed in the set amount of time. The awards ceremony immediately follows the final race. Admission is $25 for a two day
pass, $15 for adults, $5 for ages 8-15, children 7 and under free and Military with ID get $5 off. There are vendors, food and amenities on site, and we encourage you to bring chairs and shade structures. There is camping available onsite. For additional details go to https://www.werocklive.com/events/w-e-rock-west-round-1/.
After the event we will have the results, pictures and stories posted at https://www.werocklive.com/2013/dirt-riot-southwest-series-1-congress-az/ for the Dirt Riot Race and https://www.werocklive.com/2013/w-e-rock-western-series-1-congress-az/ for the W.E. Rock Rock Crawl.
Event Sponsors: Maxxis Tires, Spider Trax, Trail Gear, Tom Woods Custom Driveshafts, Branik Motorsports, ADS Off-Road Racing Shocks, Artec Industries, ASR Offroad, Nitro Gear & Axle, The SickLine.com, Race Team Store
This will be the location for any updates over the weekend, Results and Photos! Please be sure to come back to see more.
See the Pictures, Results and Video from Last Year: https://www.werocklive.com/2012/w-e-rock-western-series-round-1/
We are happy to have the event at the Thompson’s Ranch in Congress, AZ this year. We haven’t been at the ranch since the WERock Shootout over 4 years ago. The event site is only 5 miles down a dirt road, it is NOT at Thunder Rock Offroad Ranch.
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See You At the Races!