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| Phoenix, AZ - March 2000 | Short Cuts | ||||
| by: Randy Burleson |
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Course One Phoenix 2000 ARCA, continued
CLICK HERE to go back to coverage of Stages 1-3 or HERE to go back to coverage of Stages 4-5
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| Steve Rumore pilots the Sniper up Stage 6. Joshua Lowenstein |
Stage 6
Stage 6 climbed straight up the right-side canyon wall, then cut 90 degrees right, back down the canyon. The course-setters' devious gate-positioning required contestants to make an extremely sharp right turn while climbing a four-foot ledge, all while avoiding falling into a tire-swallowing crack in the middle of that ledge. Many contestants mashed the uphill flag on this ledge because turning that tight while climbing was nearly impossible. The wise ones opted to eat the points from the flag early, instead of taking too many reversal penalty points and then failing to make the gate. From the summit of this stage, contestants headed back down canyon towards the last set of gates, atop a large stack of boulders. Getting to the boulders proved to be difficult for many rigs, since the large, loose rocks on the steeply sloped hillside tipped many rigs enough to catch major air under the uphill rear tire. Some drivers, such as Steve Nantz, caught more air than others.
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| The Avalanche Engineering Jeep twists up -- check out the axle angles! Randy Burleson |
Rich Hudson blew his steering arm apart at the top of Stage 6. It was impressive to watch the camaraderie and sportsmanship of many other drivers and spotters who rushed to lend tools and spin wrenches to get the Jeep torn down, welded together, and buttoned back up before Rich's 45 minutes of ARCA-allotted breakdown time expired.
Avalanche Engineering's flashy red and white tube-framed creation showed off serious flex while turning-clawing-pivoting through the ledged crest. Their route took them higher than most, setting themselves up a few more degrees down-sloped than cross-slope for the tippy exit to Stage 6. This good planning kept all four wheels firmly on the ground...
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| David Knight's CJ-8 gets pretty squirrely on this sidehill but avoids rolling. Randy Burleson |
...Unlike some of their peers, like David Knight's CJ-8. This Scrambler's long wheelbase had a hard time of the tight corner/ledge, in spite of the ample flex provided by a modified Warn XCL suspension. After they dragged themselves up, they had to descend the loose, rocky cross-slope to close out the stage. In doing so, they came close to rolling, but level-headed driving pulled them out shiny-side up. Standing on the brakes would have launched momentum forward, lightening the already lifted driver's side rear tire, and stomping on the gas would have magnified the bumps enough to transfer weight downhill, with similar results.
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| Steve Nantz takes a fast trip downhill the hard way. Joshua Lowenstein |
With as many close calls as we saw, it was only a matter of time before it happened... and Steve Nantz proved to be the driver. After another excellent day's score, and a reasonably clean ascent of the ledge atop Stage 6, Steve's roll started slow but accelerated until he came to a rest on the canyon floor. A solid roll cage saved his bacon, but not his score for the stage. CLICK HERE for more pictures from Stage 6.
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| Mike Palmer drivers over the rocks early in Stage 7. Joshua Lowenstein |
Stage 7
Stage 7 opened with a short climb up a small ledge in the canyon floor, with an immediate 3-foot vertical drop that challenged many rocker panels and driveshafts, regardless of tire size. That said, few of these well-built vehicles had any difficulty with this obstacle.
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| Mike Palmer works his M-38 up the off-camber steep ramp up Stage 7. Joshua Lowenstein |
The last obstacle of Stage 7 required contestants to climb 20 feet up a nearly vertical set of shale shelves, then dive downhill through a narrow chute. This chute had a ledge on either side, then a sharp four-foot drop that threatened to send contestants bumper-over-bumper downhill -- the hard way. The climb defeated many contestants, whether they tried to crawl of resorted to tire-smoking, dust-stirring acceleration. Those that succeeded did so with a sense of moderation on the throttle, providing enough momentum to bridge the loose shale between opportunities for the tires to grip.
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| Mike Palmer's short-wheelbase flattie catches rear axle air after dropping off the shelf in Stage 7. Joshua Lowenstein |
Those that did survive the climb faced a dramatic, crowd-pleasing drop-off. Many spotters hung on the tailgate of the rig with a strap to prevent an endo. This wasn't just a precaution, since most vehicles lifted at least one rear wheel after the front wheels dropped, and several rigs carried both rear wheels in the air for a good five feet until the throttle to the front wheels brough the wheels back under the rig. CLICK HERE for more pictures from Stage 7.
CLICK HERE to go back to coverage of Stages 1-3 or HERE to go back to coverage of Stages 4-5
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