Monkeying Around

ScaleRockCrawlers.com Monkey Series Event #1 Recap

On January 30th my local club held its first comp of the 2016 season at the Lamar Hill Access area on Percy Priest Lake. We could not of asked for a better day to have a comp, sunny and 65 degrees, considering the week before our area of Tennessee received over 8 inches of snow. I'm one of the event organizers for our club and I handle tech inspection, drivers meeting and compiling of the scores among other things. The morning started early with event setup and then it was on to the business of tech for several rigs. Our club has a Class 1 and Class 2 and scale points and rig classifications are held to SORRCA standards so it was an eventful couple of hours as I looked over several rigs entered in the two classes.

After the drivers meeting Class 2 was first to hit the course. The course had over 125 gates that were anywhere from moderate to hard. There were several challenging sections that made a driver think about their line before making an attempt at the gate. There were also several areas on the course that required the use of a winch and these areas proved that not only did you need to be able to drive but you also needed to know how to properly use your winch. Overall the course was very challenging to drivers and my rig was up to the challenge. Thanks to the ScalerFab Comp stinger front bumper installed on my rig I didn't experience any hangup issues on rock approaches, it saved me more than once.

After Class 2 was finished it was time for some lunch and I spent most of this time compiling the score sheets. Once lunch was done it was time for Class 1 to hit the course. The course had been modified somewhat to reflect the differences between Class 1 and 2 rigs. With over 100 gates the Class 1 course proved to be another challenge for drivers. Just like the Class 2 course made a driver think about their line or taking a gate penalty to keep from possibly receiving more penalties, the Class 1 course was no different. The course had more than one technical section and several areas that were a challenge for any Class 1 rig. My RC4WD Trail Finder 2 had only about 15 minutes of run time prior to this event and proved to be up to the challenge.

The day was a long one with over 5 hours of on course time between the two classes. After the scores were tallied I was able to come away with a 1st place finish in Class 1 and a 2nd place finish in Class 2. It was a great day with great friends enjoying a hobby I love and I look forward to our next event.