Portland, IN - The XPLEX in Portland, Indiana was the site of latest professional event in the United Rockcrawling and Off-Road Challenge’s (UROC) 2005 series. The sun was hot, the humidity was high and the courses were tough. “The owner of the XPLEX, Glynn Barber, put together a great course for us,” said Roger Lovell, spotter for team #232, Lovell Rock Racing. “Every new obstacle brought on different challenges, and we all had to work hard to stay at the top of our game.”
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Day one of the competition proved to be difficult, as the Lovell brothers rolled over on their very first course of the day. Some skillful driving and a little luck landed the vehicle back on its tires and the team finished the course within the time limit. The excitement followed Lovell Rock Racing to their second course of the day, a six foot vertical stair step. Loose gravel at the top caused the front end to swing around, resulting in a pirouette on the tail gate of the vehicle, followed by another roll over. Miraculously, the vehicle once again, landed upright. “I lost radio communication with Roger and, with only 40 seconds left on the clock, all I could do was go full throttle and try to finish before time ran out,” said Brad Lovell, driver for team #232. “I think I pulled through the final set of gates with 5 seconds left.” Three more courses followed and, fortunately, these were met with much less excitement than the first two. “We got our heads back in the game after the first two courses and, finally, by the third, we were able to really compete the way we should have been all along,” said Roger. “We are grateful to have ended the day in third place.”
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After a rocky start on the first day of competition, the Lovell team went into day two with only three courses left, making it harder to gain ground on the competition. Every opportunity to bring the point-spread closer was taken, including a spotter-ride on the first course. The risk paid off, as Lovell Rock Racing scored a -17, bringing them well within site of second place.
Day two also presented Lovell Rock Racing with “The Wall”, a vertical incline rumored to be three stories tall at a 75° angle! And how would the Lovell boys choose to run this man-made monster of a mountain? Another spotter-ride, of course! “On an obstacle like this, there is really nothing the spotter can do from the ground to get that vehicle up and over,” said Roger. “So I jumped in the passenger seat, strapped myself in and held my breath.” “The only real option is to just floor it,” continues Brad. “Coming off the back side is the scary part. All you feel is the back end sliding, you can’t see the ground and you’ve pretty much lost control of the vehicle by that point.”
After all was said and done, Lovell Rock Racing pulled out of day
two with a hard-earned, second place win. “Once again, we were neck and neck with Dean Bulloch and the On Track Krawler team,” said Brad. “It all came down to the Main Event and Dean finished a course that no one else in the Modified class did. They gave us a run for our money, but they really deserve this win.”
This second place finish puts Lovell Rock Racing in a tie with Rock Runner Racing, team #001, for first place in the series. The final event of the series is scheduled for August 12-13 in Vernal, UT.
