Written by: Paul Wynn
I must admit that I really never saw myself doing anything like this; R/C Rock Crawling?? I mean driving an r/c car at a snail’s pace on a bunch of rocks…come on!!!
Well, all I can say is, WOW! My first crawling event (well gtg) competing and hosting was simply amazing! This truly is a social event that is about having fun, and it really brought me back to my grass roots of r/c.
Several times Jason and I tried planning a road trip to attend one of these gtg/comps just to observe, but work and our race schedules have been so hectic it seemed impossible. So after several failed attempts I decided to host our very own gtg here locally. After many e-mails/phone calls with Scattman aka Matthew Tiller and Speedracer19 aka Donnie Jackson; we at JConcepts were set to host our very own Rock Crawl event!
With internet guru Andrew Moore (non world champion) and the rest of the JC crew we promoted the event via the forums. Not knowing what to expect regarding entries we were pleasantly surprised with one of the larger gtg’s in Florida; an unexpected 23 entries!
By 10:30am we had our drivers meeting and were ready to hit the rocks. Starting with course 1 of 3 (supposedly the easy course) everyone lined up their rigs. By the 2nd gate everyone quickly realized there was nothing easy about course 1. Regardless, everyone gave it their best shot, and not 1 person complained. At this point I realized right away everyone was here to have fun! Something like this would have certainly become a problem at any race, off-road or on-road.
Mid way through Course 2 the “pizza guy” aka Robin Carrasco (on-road racer) from Pasta Vino came by to check things out. Robin’s pizza is famous amongst the JC crew and now others got a chance to experience some of the best pizza around. Damn good pizza Robin, thanks again!!!
Course 3 turned out to be what I would consider extremely advanced. This was a great opportunity for Scattman and Speedracer19 to show off their rigs. Course 3 provided us with the quote of the day “you either have a dig or wish you did”. Wonder how many digs were sold on Monday…LOL
Thanks again to everyone that attended and gave us a chance to host our first Crawling Event!