The Blog of Spidertrax

We had a little Caption This! fun over on Facebook the other day with this shot of Brent Bradshaw from last years W.E.Rock Round 4. The comments were pretty awesome to say the least and in case you missed it:

Horton Chris Did I clear the cone?
Yesterday at 8:11am

Jason Drew its still crooked.. just a little more to the right…
Yesterday at 8:14am

Mark Wills NO! Your other RIGHT!!!!!
Yesterday at 8:14am

Mike Greenwalt Oh no, i just washed and waxed
Yesterday at 8:14am

Simon Touron just a bit more and i’ll be able to pick up my lunch box
Yesterday at 8:14am

Tina Theodoridis hahaha simon wins!
Yesterday at 8:18am

Matthew Garofalo If you’ve got one on the ground you can PULL IT AROUND!!!! Get it Bradshaw!
Yesterday at 8:18am

Sean McDowell I FOUND A QUARTER
Yesterday at 8:18am

Joel Villamena DRIVER! DRIVER! NO, PASSENGER! PASSENGER! Ah man. Ref, can we get a do-over?
Yesterday at 8:25am

Kevin Ehrlick ‎”Who freaking sets these courses up?…..this is BS!” lol
Yesterday at 8:25am

John Walker Hard core to the Max! Play hard, or go home!!!!!
Yesterday at 8:26am

Cody Irish now for the kicker time to hit my anti grav button… anythings possible with spder trax. NEW CONCEPT for the bat mobile?
Yesterday at 8:27am

Todd Henriksen If you have to ask. You dont understand.
Yesterday at 8:27am

Keith Stewart Hold My Beer….I got This!
Yesterday at 8:29am

Chris Larkin ‎”then I hit the three wheel motion”.
Yesterday at 8:29am

Elias Corey look a penny!!!
Yesterday at 8:29am

Dean Dodge It’s not over…till it’s over!!
Yesterday at 8:30am

Gregory L Holloway Using the new Spidertrax planetary tilt system we have rotated the Earth 90 degrees, and we can now drive normally along this vertical ledge.
Yesterday at 8:30am

Steve Rivera Should’ve had my V8 this morning!
Yesterday at 8:30am

Brad Riddle I love this stuff..
Yesterday at 8:33am

Dave Evans Damn, that ground is high !
Yesterday at 8:37am

Mike Bozzie i know that road is here somewhere
Yesterday at 8:38am

Michael Hill ‎”He’s got it”
Yesterday at 8:40am

Simon Touron ooh look ants ow they bite
Yesterday at 8:41am

Michael Bice your clear now nail it!!!
Yesterday at 8:45am

Tyson Cook Checker or wrecker
Yesterday at 8:45am

Al Koopman III ‎”I’m glad I got the Discount Double Check insurance Aaron Rodgers told me about…”
Yesterday at 8:48am

Simon Touron must be am easier way to change that back tyre !!!
Yesterday at 8:50am

Shawn M. Pagan ‎”That’s just how we roll…”
Yesterday at 8:50am

Elvis Ruiz I CAN SAVE ITTT !!!!!!!
Yesterday at 8:50am

Tyler Jarrett Look how much seat I’ve sucked up my ass already!
Yesterday at 8:52am

Tyler Jarrett Barrel roll!
Yesterday at 8:52am

Richard Allen Gorr Hey, this shit isn’t on the map!!
Yesterday at 8:53am

Simon Touron driver to passenger”please stop doing the moves to ymca”
Yesterday at 8:54am

Tim Crase Looks like fun
Yesterday at 8:55am

Sean Wells I totally got this!
Yesterday at 8:56am

Jeffrey Hamilton hammer down boy’s
Yesterday at 8:56am

Gert Jacobus Redelinghuys Ahh biscuits
Yesterday at 9:01am

Chris Roes ‎”Here’s the deal I’m the best there is. Plain and simple. I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence.” – Ricky Bobby
Yesterday at 9:01am

Scott Pasch I got this sh*t!
Yesterday at 9:04am

Levi Van those milk and cookies were (yawn) so tiring NAP TIME.
Yesterday at 9:04am

Rick Soto Buckle up, I want to try something!
Yesterday at 9:12am

Jordan Miller half way around now lets get sticky
Yesterday at 9:13am

Garrett Ness ‎” i wish Tracy was here” haha!
Yesterday at 9:15am

Ricky Powell What dogs do this all the time?! its territorial.
Yesterday at 9:20am

Jeff Williams I like these high banked turns, it makes the track faster.
Yesterday at 9:30am

Frank Gelatka DOH!!!
Yesterday at 9:30am

Donnie Sechrest Hammer Time!!!
Yesterday at 9:33am

Simon Touron see we’ve got loads of gas the gauge says so
Yesterday at 9:35am

Buggy Share Got Propane?
Yesterday at 9:39am

Vince Parker if i stomp it now… i might be able to recover
Yesterday at 9:42am

Will Roberts I knew I should have taken the high road!
Yesterday at 9:42am

Jamie Beardsley Famous last words of a redneck “Watch This!”
Yesterday at 9:45am

Dylan Thomas hang to ah now
Yesterday at 9:47am

James Dumas New geico commercial, mayham must be driving
Yesterday at 9:48am

Kenny Berndt ‎”Quit being so dramatic, the tilt meter says i’m fine!”
Yesterday at 9:51am

Jimmy Hussey Did ya roll over? Nope we were airin up the tires when we realized we only had enough helium for the right side. Here’s your sign
Yesterday at 9:54am

Trevor McCarty The good news is, I saved your coffee
Yesterday at 10:14am · 3

Nicholas Charles Paque Does a lion stretch before it chases a gazel
Yesterday at 10:15am

Mike Mobley I’m sorry honey, I can’t talk right now. I’m doing the coolest thing in the world. Tell the kids I love them.
Yesterday at 10:21am

Mike Mastrobattisto Stupid pedal dont fail me now!!!
Yesterday at 10:23am

Bob Mueller Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he’s got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.
Yesterday at 10:26am

John Pellegrini Get back in there ya wuss! Hit the accelerator and keep going! You’ll make it!
Yesterday at 10:28am

Lysa Mathis Ohhhhh sooo much fun!!
Yesterday at 10:29am

Lysa Mathis Move over boys leta girl show ya how its done!
Yesterday at 10:29am

Kit Riley Cassingham Driving the side roads of America.
Yesterday at 10:34am

Taran Halarewich lets play dominos
Yesterday at 10:35am

Zero Mead Tachikoma Gravity’s for sissies!
Yesterday at 10:37am

ChefTyler Brown Ooohhhhhhhhh SHIT!!!! Now tip me back over so I can continue!!!
Yesterday at 10:38am

Tristan Whyatt im sure there a less fun way of finding the roll over point of a buggy
Yesterday at 10:39am

Michael Fanning I knew I should have taken that left turn at the light.
Yesterday at 10:42am

Andy Wulf Riley lock stomp and steer, no fear!
Yesterday at 10:48am

Steven Hopper Gas it
Yesterday at 10:51am

Brandon BzWires when in doubt, Gas it!
Yesterday at 11:01am

Kevin Callan Who taught you how to parallel park? ass face!
Yesterday at 11:02am

Josh Chavez You’ve just about got it.
Yesterday at 11:02am

Kevin Hanks hold my beer and watch this.
Yesterday at 11:06am

Jay Smith Keep rollin rollin rollin rollin , keep rollin rollin
Yesterday at 11:06am

John Fischer Who is your driver? Captain Francesco Schettino?
Yesterday at 11:11am

Kenny Berndt ‎”so there I was”
Yesterday at 11:23am

Brian Keen hold my beer and watch this….
Yesterday at 11:29am

Hrrsn Lws Dang..
Yesterday at 11:33am

Valley Rock Crushers I didnt roll it, and THAT, my friends, makes me “The winner” !
Yesterday at 11:54am

Chris Waterman you wanted a shot at the new roof, why are you way over there? silly camera guy…….
Yesterday at 12:16pm

David Wiganer Skett just wandering how much money you got in that ?? and how much was actually built by the owner ??? and driver,
Yesterday at 12:39pm

Michael Jones Relax, now I can reach out and set that cone back up.
Yesterday at 12:47pm

Mudsport Automotive ahh shit balls!
Yesterday at 1:02pm

Mike Figaro How a Rockcrawler does Yoga
23 hours ago

Graham Sparticus Entwistle For sale, one careful owner, last one didn’t give a shit….
22 hours ago

Jeff Fisher That’s the way we roll.
22 hours ago

Keith Steele that didn’t work!!
22 hours ago

David Vilbrin Oops did I do that
22 hours ago

Scott LeSage Winning!
22 hours ago

Jason Dornon Maybe I should have taken piano lessons instead.
22 hours ago

Jason Dornon I knew I should’nt have taken that left in Albuquerque!
21 hours ago

Barbara Feldman Momma said there’d be days like this!
21 hours ago

Matt Houck Front or rear dig? Decisions decisions…
21 hours ago

Tyler McNamee ‎”I got, I got. Nope don’t got.”
21 hours ago

Michael Wunder Got winch??
19 hours ago

Nathan Renford ¡ɹǝʌo ǝɯ ןןoɹ ‘sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ɟı
18 hours ago

Butch Baker I can make it!!!!
16 hours ago

Wade Lapp Gangsta lean.
15 hours ago

James Ryley After yet another late night, George Michael wakes up to find he’s not quite made it all the way home…. again..
9 hours ago

Ron Nissley Aw crap I hit a cone.
7 hours ago

Rich Markley can i park here?
7 hours ago

Chris Cox Spider buggy, spider buggy, does what ever a spider buggy does.
5 hours ago

Feel free to add your own right here or over on the original Facebook thread HERE. Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Alright, time to win some cold hard cash. We’re less than 3 weeks away from this years King of the Hammers and we know full well the budget gets tight this close to race day. Nothing’s worse than getting your rig ready only to find out there’s nothing left for food and gas. So, we’re happy to launch our GET ME TO THE HAMMERS! giveaway where one lucky person will win a $500 Visa Gift Card.

Entering is easy:

1) If you haven’t already, “Like” our Facebook fan page HERE.
-AND-
2) Leave a comment on this blog post (below).

One entry per person (multiple comments only count once, sorry guys & gals), but that’s it. The GET ME TO THE HAMMERS! giveaway ends midnight on January 31st, 2012 with the winner being announced on February 1st, 2012. Yes, this giveaway ends fast but there’s no sense in getting your gift card after the race. Best of luck and hope to see all of you on the lake bed.

It’s that time of year again where new rigs come together and old ones get repaired in preparation of the 2012 race season. We know it takes money to get those rigs ready, so hopefully this post brings some good news to your wallet. We’re proud to announce our contingency programs for 2012 which include all Ultra4 and W.E.Rock sanctioned events. That’s 26 events in total with over $30,000 on the line!

Spidertrax 2012 Ultra4 Series Contingency Program
http://www.spidertrax.com/Spidertrax-2012-Ultra4-Series-Contingency-Program

Spidertrax 2012 W.E.Rock Contingency Program
http://www.spidertrax.com/Spidertrax-2012-W-E-Rock-Contingency-Program

Be sure to check out our contingency programs above for full details and best of luck to all drivers and teams!

It’s always a risk testing out a new track, but in the end the all new 4Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix proved to be a top stop in the Ultra4 tour. With a blended mix of short course jumps, motocross tracks, & wicked mountain climbs, Ultra4 cars had their work cut out for them in this ultimate endurance style race. We partnered up with the Ultra4 crew to provide live text/photo coverage during the event (http://ultra4racing.com/live/) so we’ll take a break from writing a long “post event” recap. Instead, we just wanted to share the photos from the live coverage and congratulate Loren Healy (1st), Jason Picket (2nd), and JT Taylor (3rd) who captured the top 3 spots with rigs powered by Spider 9 Axles. Every event is a blast for us, but we can’t deny watching our axles power teams to the top makes it even better.

The 4Wheel Parts Ultra4 Grand Prix marks the end of the 2011 Ultra4 series. Next stop is the grand daddy of all Ultra4 events, The King of the Hammers. We can’t wait!

EDIT: Looks like the photos are NOT hyperlinked to the originals on Flickr (sorry about that). Check here for the entire Flickr set.

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun and this years Ultra4 season is certainly no exception. This weekend, October 22nd, marks the end of the 2011 Ultra4 Series. This certainly lends the question, have they saved the best for last? Time will tell but having personally been to this debut race course at Glen Helen I can say with certainty that everyone, from driver to spectator, is in for a blast!

Similar in style to the Ultra4 Stampede, I’ll be on course again with Harry Wagner providing the official live text coverage, via Cover-It-Live, for Ultra4Racing. So as to get the most out of this weekends live coverage, I wanted to share 3 quick tips that should make following the race that much easier.

1) All Live Feeds in One Place (Best for Desktop Users) - http://ultra4racing.com/live/
This is the best of the best in terms of live coverage. On this page you’ll find all of the live feeds available, namely a running video feed via Ustream and a text feed via Cover-It-Live. Keep an eye out for a third feed on this page, namely the score board which if all goes as planned will display the lap times and race leaders live.

2) Text Feed Only (Often Best for Mobile Users) - http://ultra4racing.com/livechat/
Sometimes mobile devices have a hard time displaying video and text updates together. If you fall into that category, you can always grab just the text feed following this link. The text feed is powered by Cover-It-Live and allows for text updates, in-line photos, and user comments on just about any mobile device. So if all else fails, you should still be able to follow the race on your mobile device.

3) Times to Watch - http://ultra4racing.com/the-inside-line/4wheel-parts-glen-helen-grand-prix-spectator-information/
The race is on Saturday, October 22nd, and starts at 11am PST. With the gates opening at 9am, it’s highly likely live content will find it’s way to the interwebs early.

That’s it for now. Best of luck to all the teams & drivers this weekend and we’ll see you at Glen Helen (or online)!

 

It feels like only yesterday when the Rock Bug, in all its Scat V4 glory, placed 4th at the 2010 Ultra4 Stampede. Although quite happy with that finish, the little motor that could was certainly not helping the Bugs quest for 1st. So, shortly after that race, we made the decision to upgrade the Rock Bug to an LS powered V8 (as detailed here) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, we’re just about finished with prepping the Rock Bug for this years Ultra4 Stampede and with the all new LS powered V8, we’re feeling pretty good about the upcoming race. Although we’re likely to post a few more updates before race day, here’s a few things to get you pumped and ready for this years Stampede:

Schedule Of Events
Race day is September 10th from 9AM – 6PM at Exit 28 Motorsports in Reno, NV. The complete schedule can be found on Ultra4s website at http://ultra4racing.com/the-inside-line/torchmate-ultra4-stampede-schedule-of-events/.

What’s The Race Like This Year
Dave Cole, the man behind the Ultra4 series, posted a great update on the Ultra4 website discussing this years course and what to expect. It’s well worth the read and guaranteed to get you fired up for competition so be sure to check it out at http://ultra4racing.com/the-inside-line/torchmate-reno-stampede-update-from-dave-cole/.

Looks like we’ll have about 50 teams competing again this year so the competition will be fierce. More updates to follow so stay tuned!

What an epic Round 4 competition! The battle was fierce all weekend long, but in the end Brent Bradshaw with his Spider 9 powered moon buggy walked away with not only the event win but the high honors of sweeping the entire Unlimited Western Series. Also, congratulations to Nick Campbell for winning both the event and series for the Pro Mod class.  Thanks to all who followed our live updates on Twitter and stay tuned as next up for us will be the Ultra4 Stampede where the Rock Bug will be back in action.

 

This weekend marks the end of the 2011 Western W.E.Rock series and the competition is guaranteed to be fierce. We’ll be out there in usual form, providing our “live” updates, photos, & videos in an effort to capture all the amazing action. For those looking to attend and/or follow our updates online, here’s your “What You Need to Know” cheat sheet.

1) Where Is It?
Donner Ski Ranch
19320 Donner Pass Road
Norden, CA 95724

2) When Is It?
August 6th & 7th (Saturday & Sunday) @ 10:00 am

3) I Can’t Make It…Will There Be Online Coverage?
If you can’t make it, we’ll be there posting updates every 10-15 minutes on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/Spidertrax . Also for all you Facebook junkies, we’ll be posting photos after the event so be sure to Like our fan page @ https://www.facebook.com/Spidertrax .

That should get you rolling and ready for the weekend. Hope to see everyone out there and for those that can’t make it, we’ll see you online!

 Kevin “Big Air” Sacalas clearing tabletops like a Pro4.

What do you get when you cross short course racing with rock crawling? Just one of the most brutal endurance races of all time. This new style of Ultra4 racing, call the American RockSports Challenge, made its debut last weekend at Miller Motorsports Park. It was an intense competition and demanded more out of an Ultra4 driver & rig then any other race to date.

In terms of format, the event had 2 preliminary races, 2 semi-final races, and 1 final race (there was also an LCQ race for those still trying to get into the semi-finals). The race course was the exact same short course track used by the Lucas Oil Short Course series. However, to make this a true Ultra4 event, the short course track was modified so drivers would also have to complete the rock crawling section used for W.E.Rock events.

Why is this so insane? Because of wear and tear on both driver & vehicle, a normal short course competition would typically consist of 18 laps in a single day. Here, Ultra4 rigs were expected to race a total of 32 short course laps PLUS 12 rock crawling laps all in one day! As Shannon Campbell put it, “keeping your junk together” was the name of game.

When the dust finally settled, Kevin Sacalas and his Spider 9 powered Ultra4 went home with top honors for the American RockSport Challenge. What’s worth mentioning here is Kevin not only won the event, but he also ran the LCQ race pushing his total amount of laps at 38 for short course and 14 for rock crawling!!! Congratulations Kevin for a well deserved victory. With that said, enjoy some of the videos and photos we took over the weekend and be sure to stay tuned to our blog for the next W.E.Rock competition coming August 6th.

Once again, the Pro Modified & Unlimited drivers of W.E.Rock take on the man made course of Miller Motorsports Park for this years Round 3 rock crawling competition. The battle was fierce for two days, but in the end Brent Bradshaw (Unlimited) & Nick Campbell (Pro Modified) would prove victorious with their solid non-stop performance.

As this blog post is about 2 weeks late (sorry), I’ll skip the long essay and let you dive right into all the photos and videos from this event. Hope you enjoy and don’t forget to clear your calendar for W.E.Rock’s Round 4 competition which heads to Donner Ski Ranch, CA on August 6th.