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| Sadly, this is the best shot we'll have of Robby Gordon. At mile 20, his engine let go. |
Between markers 62 and 63, Chocolate Thunder showed his might and with only 4 cars in, the dreaded gridlock began as rigs were struggling to get past the first obstacle. It was a rock with a tall straight face that put rigs at extreme vertical angles! Some didn't like it and the Gen-Right rig was the first to fall victim! The recovery crew was quick to reach him and got him turned back over, but now several rigs began the waiting game. This would allow Erik Miller to increase his lead after only the first lap.
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| Chocolate Thunder at a later stage of the race. |
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| Chocolate Thunder wasn't the only trouble spot, just the bottle neck. Here is an animated image of Backdoor. |
On its first lap, the 4497 Falken Tire rig developed several problems after going onto its side for a moment. Once back at the remote pits, it was seen that the brakes were leaking from a fitting on the master cylinder and that the front driveshaft had a severe vibration. Once at the main pits, the Falken Tire crew, including Justin Pawluk of Falken Tires' Drift Team fame, got to work on the car. However, they did not appear to complete lap 2 by the 10 PM cut off time according to the official results. This was their first year out and they will be back for next year.
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| The Falken Tire rig in one of its better moments. |
Casey Currie had his difficulties during his pit stop, all stemming from the fuel pump once again. The fuel pump continued to cut out due to faulty wiring and Currie himself got out and began to help his crew fix the rig. He was also pitting in Falken Tires' pit area and their crew helped out as well, demonstrating that the camaraderie of Off Road Racing is just like that found in grassroots road racing and drifting. “This community is so small, everyone helps out and I'm grateful,” said Currie, “I drive aggressively and there are people out there who don't like that, but at the end of the day, we're here to help everyone and I won't leave anyone hanging.” He ended up finishing in 10th place, “We had some fuel problems and we had some wiring problems in the beginning, but Savvy builds a phenomenal car, I'm just stoked to be out here and get to do the Hammers.”
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| Casey Currie had a great outing with his uncle as Co-Driver. |
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Nitto Tire showed up in force for the 2012 King of the Hammers, with three rigs entered into the competition. They also had the best results of the tire sponsored vehicles with all three rigs finishing the King of the Hammers with their top driver, Derek West, coming in fourth. Japanese driver, Masanori Tsuda, did not make the cut off time according to the records.
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| In Drifting, I know there is a push by the traditional fans about engines and how cars are built. I kind of wonder if there isn't a similar push in Rock Crawling, especially with rigs like this. Looks like a real Jeep! |
